Why do I constantly have to change my hotmail password? I am running out of passwords or get an error every time

Hi there TOosterbaan. I am Lumie and I would love to assist you today.

I am so sorry you are having issues with your account passwords.

What is likely going on is that the account is being attacked by a botnet. (Which is called a brute force) This means Microsoft will try to protect your account by forcing you to change your password.

Please keep in mind, these passwords should be new, not from a dictionary of commonly used password. This is to protect your online experience.

You can see if they are trying to break into your Hotmail by logging into this part of your account: [account.live.com/Activity]

In order to fix this, we can change your alias, the leaked information is no longer relevant and you will no longer receive spam log-ins.

"Go to Add an alias.

Sign in to your Microsoft account, if prompted. [https://account.live.com/AddAssocId]

Under Add an alias, do one of the following:

Create a new Outlook.com email address and add it as an alias.

Add an existing email address as an alias.

Select Add alias."

Now you can go to this site: [account.live.com/SignInPreferences] and turn off your sign in options for the past alias.

Your email address will operate completely as normal, but now you must sign in with another email address.

These steps and more information can be found here: [https://support.microsoft.com/office/459b1989-356d-40fa-a689-8f285b13f1f2]

I hope this helps!

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. -Lumie =)

Thank you for your response ToosterBaan!

I am very glad to hear this helped you. I am also very sorry to hear your account was also already compromised. That is awful.

If you have changed your alias, you have already created a very effective stop gap between you and the attackers.

I shall provide a set of steps to fully secure your account.

It would also be good to contact your bank for fraud prevention.

It's best to secure your account by operating off this dashboard: [account.live.com/proofs/manage/additional]

The two most important steps are changing your password and enabling two factor verification. The better version is the 'Passwordless option'.

Then you should update all of your recovery information to ensure you at least have 3 forms and then generate a 25 digit code. After, this you can sign everyone out.

You can find your Order History here: [account.microsoft.com/billing/orders], you can talk to billings about any unauthorised purchases.

That email is a common scam, you should be fine. I would always recommend running an antivirus scan on your computer.

All you have to do is type 'virus and threat protection' into your search bar (or easier... scan) and then click the icon. You can then chose the 'Scan options' in blue and click Full Scan. You can also try the Microsoft Defender Antivirus Offline Scan if you wan to be very sure.

This should be all you need to do. I hope this helps!

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. -Lumie

Thank you for your response!

Have you tried changing your alias to non-primary? You can go here: [account.live.com/names/manage] and change your main alias from primary. This may be effecting it?

It could also be because it is a trusted device. If you are no longer receiving log-ins then you should be fine regardless.

I hope this helps.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. -Lumie

So why can I still login with my old info on my other computer?

That worked thanks, it looks like my email was hacked and someone sent a bunch of explicit images to random people. Also I have some email saying there is a trojan horse on my pcs and I should transfer 500 USD to some bitcoin address. Obviously I am not going to do that, but this email address is tied to pretty much all my important government and personal things etc. What can I do so that at least that stuff is safe for the future?