Suspicious Email

Question

Hi, 

I recently received this email from an account called Outlook.com with the email of email@microsoft.com (See picture below). Although the email is from a genuine-looking email address, there are a few points that are raising suspicion for me:

1. My email address (hotmail.co.uk) flagged the email as Junk. This is usually reserved for spams and phishing attacks.
2. The email did not address my name or any of my personal details.
3. The email showed my full email address. Previous emails from Microsoft only displayed parts of my email address. i.e. ******@hotmail.co.uk would be displayed as ******@hxxxxil.co.uk
4. The sign off at the bottom of the email misspelt Intellectual Property.
5. The link attached direct me to a https://storage.cloud.google.com website which displayed the typical hotmail login but none of the other functionality of the page such as create an account, Sign in with a security key and Sign-in options work.

I have spoken to the Microsoft Helpdesk and I was told that this was a genuine email from microsoft based on the email address, but I'm still uncertain about this email. 

Can someone verify the legitimacy of this email for me, please?

Answer 1

Hello, SPKY13 !

Thanks for contacting us! My name is Crislayne, I am an Independent Consultant and a Microsoft user like you. I'm here the help you the best way I can.

According to what you reported, I understand that you received an email from Microsoft and need to know if it is genuine or not.

You received a phishing scam attempt. A phishing email is an email that appears legitimate but is actually an attempt to get your personal information or steal your money. Here are some ways to deal with phishing and spoofing scams in Outlook.com.

To protect yourself from Phishing, follow the instructions in the following article -

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-...

To better help you, I also leave a link to an article with all the information about Phishing you may need below. I believe it will be very useful for you.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/securi...

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

It is important for me to ensure that all your questions are answered and that you have a positive experience.

If you have a moment, it would be greatly appreciated if you would rate my assistance in handling your ticket and have a great day!

Best regards

Crislayne V.