Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.
Scamming - Fraud
The email message below with the subject: "Update Your Account to Avoid Being Shut Down," which claims that a request was made to shutdown the recipients' accounts, is a phishing scam created to steal Microsoft Outlook or Hotmail user names and passwords. The email message was not sent by Microsoft, but by cyber-criminals, whose intentions are to hijack email accounts and use them for malicious purposes. So, recipients of the same email message are advised to delete it, and not follow the instructions in it.
From: Outlook Team [mailto:alexkioussi @hotmail.com]Sent: Friday, December 9, 2016 2:36 PMSubject: Update your account to avoid being shut downDear UserWe received your request to shutdown your accountWe will process your request within 24 hours.To retain your account, kindly Cancel Request to continue using our services.CANCEL REQUEST & RECTIFY THIS PROBLEMC 2016 Inc. All Rights Reserved.
From: Outlook Team [mailto:alexkioussi @hotmail.com]Sent: Friday, December 9, 2016 2:36 PMSubject: Update your account to avoid being shut down
Dear User
We received your request to shutdown your account
We will process your request within 24 hours.
To retain your account, kindly Cancel Request to continue using our services.
CANCEL REQUEST & RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM
C 2016 Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The link in the email message goes to a fake Outlook or Microsoft website, which will attempt to trick the cyber-criminals' potential victims into entering their usernames and passwords on it. If the potential victims enter their Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Live usernames and passwords on the fake website, it will be sent to the cyber-criminals behind the email scam, who will use the information to hijack their accounts.
If you have received the same email message, please go directly to your email account instead of clicking on the links in the email message. And, if there is anything wrong with your account, it will be shown to you after signing into account. If you were tricked by the phishing email, please change your Microsoft Hotmail/Live/Outlook immediately. If you are unable to, click here to report it to Microsoft.
This scam is similar to the following:
3
Here is another scam:"From: E-mail Settings Sent: 26 January 2018 04:25 PMSubject: About to shutdown your Hi User,We received a request from you to shut-down/close your account which is . We are already working on that and your account would be De-activated within 24-hours of receiving this notification. If the request was made by you then you do not have to do anything with this notification and if the request was mistakenly made, then you are to CANCEL the request and update your account below.: To continue using your account, click the CANCEL REQUEST & VERIFY MY ACCOUNT button below. CANCEL REQUEST & VERIFY MY ACCOUNT To opt out or change where you receive security notifications, click here. Note: Your account will be disabled/deactivated within 24-hours if you did not cancel termination request.Disregard if the request was made by you.e-Mail security Dept. ©2018"
Hello,Today, I have rec'vd an email from OutookLikeMessage455-E-Mail.45527-evertek.com, Request 455. The name: Ariana Hsia, VP Customer E-Mail Service, Microsoft Dept, is printed at the bottom of the email. The email suggests that I click on a website provided in order to ensure that my email is not deactivated and that I have 48 hours to do so. I have rec'vd similar emails in the past and can usually identify them as SCAM but am unsure of this one. I would appreciate if you could inform me if this email is SCAM or if it legitimate and from actual Microsoft or OUtlook.Thank you.cecile.bonnar-hotmail.com
It is a phishing scam. Please delete the email.
