Locked out of my account and unable to contact the Data Protection Team

Question

I have fallen victim of the dreaded MFA loop - that I had no idea existed until I made the mistake of changing my phone and my Authenticator went into a death spiral. I managed to speak to a human to register my case yesterday and then spent three hours on hold trying to get through to the Data Protection team. Tried to contact them again this morning following all of the advice I read in this community - using the phrases such as "GLOBAL ADMIN LOCKOUT DATA PROTECTION" with no joy. I am the only person in my company so I am currently missing important client emails and at risk of losing revenue. I am based in the UK and wondered if anyone had found another tip for getting through?

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Moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For business | Windows

Answer 1

Hello @Rachel Healey-Harris,  

Thank you for reaching out to the Q&A forum! 

I’ve carefully read your information, and I understand that you’ve already tried to reach the Data Protection Team by phone. However, I’m a bit confused about a few details, so before I guide you toward the correct next steps, could you please confirm this point: 

You mentioned that you spoke to a human yesterday who helped you register your case; did they provide you with an IT support case number? 

If yes, you can share your case number in private message to help protect your personal information.

Note: To access private message platform, please reload this thread page and select "View messages" as below screenshot. 

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If you did not receive a case number, or if you’re still unable to reach an agent by phone, you may consider trying an alternative method: 

Create a New Trial Tenant to Submit Support Request: (Recommended)           

1.Set up a new trial tenant (Trial subscription): 

If you still can't reach the agent, there's a solution. You can sign up for a new trial tenant by subscribing to a business trial using this link: Microsoft 365 Business Plans and Pricing | Microsoft 365 

You can follow the guided setup process to create a new account for a new trial tenant.  

2.Access the Admin Console for new tenants to request privacy support for a previous tenant:

• Once you've signed up for the new Microsoft 365 trial and created the tenant, sign in to the: Microsoft 365 Admin Center with your new trial tenant credentials.                
• Please follow this article: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn 
• On the right bottom corner, click on "Help & support".  

• In the ticket description, you clearly state that you're trying to regain access to your previous tenant and want to be connected to the Data Protection team for assistance. You can infer this sample: 

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"Hello,    

I am the sole Global Administrator for this tenant. I am currently unable to access any Microsoft 365 admin portals because I lost my Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) method.   

I created this new tenant to request assistance. I want to be connected to the Data Protection team to reset my MFA to restore access to my original tenant.            

Here are some details about the previous tenant to confirm my identity:”

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I understand this is a long response, but please read each step carefully as these are the methods I’ve successfully used to help many users regain their admin account when all access was lost.      

I truly hope you’ll be assisted soon by our dedicated technical team. And if you receive any updates or insights, please feel free to reply here.                 

Looking forward to hearing from you!

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