The email message below with the subject: "Microsoft verification alert," which claims the recipients need to verify their outdated email account version to prevent account closure, is a phishing scam sent by cybercriminals, and not by Microsoft.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 "Update to 2017 Outlook - Microsoft Security info" Phishing Scam
From: Outlook abdco@live.com
Date: 12/01/2017 10:41 (GMT+07:00)
To: norelpy@hotmail.com
Subject: MICROSOFT VERIFICATION ALERT.
Microsoft verification alert!
Hi User,
Your Mail version is outdated, failure to verify will lead to permanent account closure because our Administrator is shutting down every unverified e-mail address on its server soon.
VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT NOW
Enjoy the Microsoft experience.
Thanks,
Microsoft Team
Microsoft users should never click on a link to sign into their accounts, they should instead, go directly to https://account.microsoft.com/ and sign-in from there. If there is something that needs to be done to their accounts, they will be notified. This is will prevent Microsoft users from visiting phishing websites disguised as legitimate Microsoft website that steal account credentials.