got a text message from 51789 saying they it was from Microsoft

Though anyone with the ability to send you a text message obviously already knows your entire phone number, so that portion with 2-digits displayed really means nothing regarding the validity of the message itself, the last portion containing the URL appears to be a valid Microsoft link.

I say this because a search quickly finds other threads in Microsoft and other forums that indicate the //aka.ms/ portion of the URL is simply a shortened version that only Microsoft employees are allowed to create (on the domain itself), so regardless of what the /alcs portion directs you to, this would be a Microsoft created shortened link to something.

< EDIT > Here's the domain registration Whois information for that aka.ms shorthand domain name. Notice that Microsoft Corporation is listed in the pages below as the Organization.

https://www.whois.com/whois/aka.ms

Since clicking that link takes me directly to my own main Microsoft Account page, it's clearly intended to open your account from a shorter URL than the https://account.microsoft.com/ that is normally offered here or provided in links from various Microsoft web pages.

So, unless there's something else contained in that text you received, it's likely this was simply the warning message sent by Microsoft that an attempt had been made to access your account, which you already mentioned had been listed in account activity as having failed due to an incorrect password.

Another clue in this case is that since your phone number was indicated as the source of the attempted account request (may have been either login or another like password or other account change, for example), it's likely the phone number itself was to attempt the login, since a phone number associated with the account can substitute for your more typically used email address as the account identity. That's likely why the notification was sent to you using the text message, since if it had been you, it's possible you'd only have the phone device available and be physically unable to access another laptop or desktop device if you have one.

Since you hadn't personally made the access attempt that triggered the notification, as Dave mentioned your action to verify this yourself directly via the Microsoft account Sign-in activity page was the safest method. This is just a long version of his earlier post with more detail.

My only purpose here was to assure you that the text you received was truly from Microsoft and how you can recognize these shortened URLs displayed in Microsoft's text messages in the future.

In other words, the shorthand URL aka.ms stands for "Also Known As . MS (Microsoft)".

Rob

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

Those messages may or may not be from Microsoft, you are performing the correct steps, if you are unsure about that message, then delete it and check the activity on your Microsoft Account online, if the attempts to access your account have been unsuccessful, then your account is safe, if you have your account protected with a good strong password, then it should be safe, or you could add two factor authentication to your account for an extra layer of security.

My mother on July 24 2024 almost gave these guys her credit card and allowed them full access to her computer!

She is a senior and if I had not walked into her Senior's Res when I did... She could have given away the piggy bank so to speak!