Hotmail was Hacked and language changed along with most all emails missing.

Question

I had trouble logging into my account that I had not checked in over a week; would not work so I changed the password. Once in my Hotmail it was in another language and most emails were missing- hundreds of important emails!

They even sent me an email saying they have my password which was correct and demanding $500 to get my emails back or else they will release private information. I have since change my password again.

On the main Microsoft page I have verified all language settings are English but Hotmail remains an unidentified language making navigation impossible.

Speaking or chatting with anyone working for Hotmail appears impossible, I have spent hours on trying.

Is there any hope on changing the language and recovery some emails?

Thank you, ST

Answer 1

Hello,

I am going to share with you the comprehensive list of things to do, please feel free to skip those you already did, but do not skip any steps you haven't done. This process can take a bit time (up to 24 hours to see results), so please be patient as you go through it. Deleted emails may or may not be recovered - you will need to see if the recovery option is still in the Deleted items folder, if not, then I am afraid they are gone.

Please complete these steps on a computer, not on a smartphone or tablet.

First, get your language changed. Go to www.outlook.com >Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings. Then use this screenshot to guide you to the location to change the language back

====================

Then, go to https://www.outlook.com and sign in.

Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.

Under Mail, review the following areas:

Rules

If any rules are listed, delete all of them.

Conditional formatting

If anything is set up there, delete it.

Forwarding and IMAP

If you see any entries or settings you did not create, remove them. Turn off POP and IMAP.

Junk

Review Safe sender and blocked list. If you don't recognize any, remove them.

After that, exit Settings and return to outlook.com.

Open the To Do section by clicking the blue checkmark icon on the left side. Delete anything there that was not created by you.

====================

Go to https://account.live.com.

Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on the account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it.

Next, go to the Devices section of your Microsoft account and remove any devices you do not recognize.

====================

Please also do the following in Security section

Change your password

Enable two-step verification

====================

Go here https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/app-access Click on "Don't allow" for anything you don't recognize.

=======================

Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in and make sure all contact information belongs to you.

On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords.

Also on the same page, click on Sign out everywhere. This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still be connected. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect.

====================

In addition, this problem can sometimes be caused by a malicious script or infection on one of your devices.

Are you using a Windows computer to check email? Do you use an email app such as Outlook Classic or New Outlook?

If so, please open the app and remove the account from the app settings.

Then go to the Microsoft Safety Scanner download page:

https://learn.microsoft.com/defender-endpoint/safety-scanner-download

Download the 64-bit version, run a full scan, and let me know what the final results say.