"Final Warning - Upgrade Your Account To Avoid De-Activation Now" Microsoft Outlook Account Phishing Scam
The email message below with the subject "Final Warning Upgrade Your Account To Avoid De-Activation Now," which claims that the recipients should upgrade their Microsoft accounts to prevent deactivation, is a phishing scam. The fake email message is being sent by cyber criminals to trick Microsoft Outlook account users into sending them their account credentials, by asking them to click on a link in the same email message that goes a phishing Microsoft Outlook website. The phishing website, which looks exactly like Microsoft Outlook' sign-in page, will ask potential victims to sign-in with their Outlook or Microsoft accounts’ credential, but once the information is submitted, it will be sent to the cybercriminals responsible for the fake website. The cybercriminals will then use the information to hijack their victims’ Microsoft Outlook accounts and use them fraudulently.
The Phishing Microsoft Outlook Account Deactivation Email Message
-------- Original message --------
From: Outlook Team - vil.lapacis@hotmail.co.uk
Date: 2017/02/20 6:18 am (GMT+00:00)
To: noreply@outlook.com"noreply@outlook.com
Subject: 🔔FINAL WARNING UPGRADE YOUR ACCOUNT TO AVOID DE-ACTIVATION NOW!
Your security info change is still pending!
Your Mailbox will expire on FEBRUARY 22, 2017
We are upgrading all Microsoft account. kindly update to keep your account info updated.
Update Your Account
NOTE: YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WILL BE DISABLE IF NOT UPDATED TODAY. (UPDATE IS FREE)
Thanks,
We are here to serve you better.
The Microsoft Team.
Microsoft account users should never click on a link in an email message to sign into their accounts. It is recommended that they go directly to www.outlook.com, www.hotmail.com, or www.live.com, and sign into their accounts from there. This is the best way to protect against phishing scams created by cyber criminals to steal online account credentials (usernames and passwords).
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Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.