The email message below, which appears as if it came from Microsoft Outlook, claiming the recipients' email accounts have some security issues and need to be fixed immediately to avoid email suspension, is a phishing scam. The phishing email scam was sent by cyber-criminals and not by Outlook or Microsoft, to steal Outlook users’ account credentials by frightening them into clicking on a link that the cyber-thieves claim will update the recipients' accounts and fix the problem. So, recipients of the same email message should delete it and should never follow the instructions in it.
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The Microsoft Outlook Phishing Scam
From: "microsoft account team" <verificationsecurty20152@ outlook.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 2:05 PM -0800
Subject: 133 - Account Alert! (Jan. 2016)
Dear Valued User,
We received a request that your mailbox will be temporary suspended
Microsoft Outlook!
Dear Email User,
Your email account has some security issues and need to be fixed immediately to avoid email suspention.
In order to help you fix this problem, you are required to follow the below link immediately and update your account.
CLICK HERE TO UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT
You have less than 48hrs to update or you might loose your account permanently.
Thank you
Security Protocols
Copyright © 2016 Microsoft.
The links in the phishing email message will take potential victims to the following fake Microsoft Outlook website created by cyber-criminals:
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http://bridgeloadtest.com/administrator/ Loginjhgf/logResult.html
The fake website will ask potential victims to submit their user names, email address, password, phone number and zip code. If the potential victims enter the requested information, it will be sent to the cyber-criminals, who will use it to hijack the victims’ Outlook accounts and use the accounts fraudulently.
Outlook users who were already tricked by the phishing scam, should change their Outlook account passwords immediately. And, for those Outlook users who are unable to change their passwords, should click here to contact Microsoft Outlook.
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