Don’t mistake this Microsoft Security Alert for spam

Recently I received two security alerts from Microsoft. I tried to login to my account. The email contained a link to review your activity and reset your password, as well as a link to learn how to create a password. My account is more secure. To be honesthis email is…off To me, and I have dismissed them almost completely. Spoiler alert: I quickly decided tIt was kind of legal.someone tried break down to my account I was thinking security Alert from Microsoft It was spam.

Microsoft security alert like spam for you

Why We Think Microsoft’s Security Alert Is A Phishing AttemptFirst off, this account was not one I used often.? In fact, I can’t remember when I last logged in.my thought is why this account now?

Second, they just Looked spammy.The design of the email didn’t go as planned Microsoft is Summarize. The big blue “Security Alert” message at the top of one email and “Unusual sign-in activity” in another email didn’t match the other text elements and looked sloppy. The signature too–“The Microsoft account team”—Throw me in because I thought Microsoft would capitalize the full name. By the way, the email was sent from the “Microsoft Account Team”, address Reads as “account-security-noreply@accountprotection.microsoft.com”. Not bad, but it seemed too complicated for an official email address.

So I googled it and found I wasn’t alone.there is Support page filled with Man Ask, “Um, is this spam or am I really the one with the problem?”But what turned the tide for me was this Microsoft support page Learn why you might receive security alerts in Office 365, and see images of such alerts. identical to one of my emails. The purpose of this article was not to confirm whether the warnings are legitimate. As far as Microsoft was concerned, it was a given.

I decided to log in to my Microsoft account.behold, someone had actually got Access it. Luckily they didn’t seem to really do anything with that power. I was able to log in and reset my password and security settings without issue. As you were warned, we can confirm that someone in Europe has successfully compromised your account..

How to check if the security alert is legitimate

Merecent years, sCamer got smarter Create Phish email that look This is why even a legitimate email from Microsoft can make you vigilant. However, there are some signs that reveal the authenticity, or lack thereof, of the email.

Of course, there is the “smell test”. felt like spam? Are there any spelling or grammatical errors? Is formatting off? Does it read like a formal message, or a more informal one? Most likely, if it sounds fake, it probably is. However, as you can see in my experience here, it doesn’t always work.

Also check the sender of the email. It’s easy to spoof the sender’s name, but the email always shows up when you click on her address. In my case, the address annoyed me, but gave Google something. After all, “account-security-noreply@accountprotection.microsoft.com” is a real Microsoft support email.

Opening spam emails rarely does real harm. The links (or attachments) within it. That’s the real threat. We don’t want to click on bad URLs, so it’s important to verify the authenticity of hyperlinks before opening them. So always hover your cursor over the link to see the actual URL. In my case, all the links pointed to legitimate Microsoft support pages, not God knows what horrible strings of text and numbers.

But if in doubt, don’t click the link. I completely avoided the link even though the hover trick was checked out. Instead, I went to his Microsoft’s her website myself and logged in from there. This allowed us to confirm that someone had compromised our account. Also, never open unfamiliar attachments.

Remember, Google is your friend. If the emails are purported to be from a big company like Microsoft, chances are other people have received them as well. There’s a good chance they asked about the email on the forums and support pages. I hope someone has figured out if the message is fake.

With cyberattacks on the rise, it’s never a waste to be careful.make sure it’s not So be careful other Scammers also get through.