Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.

Outlook Phishing Scam - "Microsoft Verification (May, 2016)"
Outlook Phishing Scam - Microsoft Verification (May, 2016)

The email message below with the subject: "Microsoft verification (May, 2016)," which claims the recipients need to sign in and validate their Outlook accounts to help stop automated programs from sending them junk emails, is a phishing scam sent by cybercriminals, and not by Microsoft. The fake email message was created by cybercriminals to frighten and trick the recipients into clicking on the link within it. The link goes to a phishing website or a fake website looking like Microsoft’s website, created by cybercriminals to trick potential victims into entering their Microsoft account usernames and passwords on it, by asking them to sign in. But, any attempts to sign into the fake website, will result in the victims’ Microsoft account usernames and passwords being sent to cybercriminals.

Once cybercriminals have gotten their potential victims’ account credentials (usernames and passwords), they will use it to hijack their Microsoft accounts and use them fraudulently. Therefore, recipients of the phishing email message (see below) who were tricked into clicking on the link within it and have attempted to sign into the phishing or fake website that they were taken, are asked to change their Microsoft account passwords immediately, before they are hijacked and used fraudulently by cybercriminals.

The Phishing Microsoft Account Update or Upgrade Email Message

Microsoft verification (May, 2016)

Outlook.com team (services0.2@ outlook.com)

Dear Customer,

To continue sending messages, Please sign in and validate your Outlook.com account.

This helps us stop automated programs from sending junk mails.

Thanks for your help and patience

Thanks,

The Microsoft team

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