Added to groups without knowing

Question

Hi

This is the second attempt at posting because, ironically, it was deleted by to having the truth about the content I receive on my email address.

For 7 years now, I have been in conflict with MS regarding improving their tools to make spam protection better. They are in denial but actually, the Information Commission Office in [PII: Removed] launched an 8 months investigation and made suggestions to MS which have not been carried though.

Anyway, I have now been added to groups that I cannot leave or showing in the groups section. These are asking for relationships, explicit material, and so forth that I do not want. Only way is to block the actual email address but they are just random characters before the groups.outlook.com part, so impossible to stop.

MS just don't seem bothered about protecting its users but claim they do.

Any advice?

Thanks

Answer 1

Dear Fraser Mathieson

Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data. 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Community. I understand you are having problem with being added to unwanted groups and receiving explicit/spam content, where the groups may not be visible in the Groups section and you cannot easily leave them. I am happy to assist you. Please follow the steps below:  

Leave the group using the official “Leave group” path (works when the group is visible)  

• Sign in to Outlook on the web / Outlook.com. 
• Open the Groups section, select the group, then use Group settings > Leave group.  

If the group is not visible: locate the “welcome”/membership email and use its “Leave” link  

Search your mailbox (including Junk) for the group welcome/membership message (for example: “Welcome to the group”).  

Stop the messages immediately by blocking the domain (since senders are random characters)  

• In Outlook.com settings: Settings > Mail > Junk email.  
• Under Blocked senders/domains, add the domain groups.outlook.com (or block the specific domain you see in the From address).  
• You can block entire domains so future messages go to Junk.  

Use Outlook.com “Subscriptions” to unsubscribe/block when Outlook detects these as subscription mail  

• Go to Settings > Mail > Subscriptions.  
• Find the sender/subscription and select Unsubscribe; or use the three dots (…) to Block.  

Report the content to Microsoft from Outlook on the web   

• Right‑click the message in Outlook on the web > Security options > Report a concern.  
• Select the appropriate concern type and submit.  

Secure the Microsoft account (in case the address was added due to account compromise)  

• Change the Microsoft account password from the Security page.  
• Enable two‑step verification to prevent reoccurrence if credentials were exposed.  

I understand how upsetting and disruptive unwanted group messages can be. Please rest assured that these steps are to help you quickly regain control of your inbox and protect your account. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.  

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e‑mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

Answer 2

Hi Fraser Mathieson

I hope you are doing well ! I just want to check if you have had a chance to test the steps earlier? Please let me know if they helped resolve the issue or if you are still experiencing any difficulties. I am here to assist you further.

Best Regards