Bot email/ phishing

Question

Hi can someone please help. All my emails are basically from @ quickmail check bot and it’s all taken over. How do I get rid of this ?

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.

This process can take 24 hours to take effect. So please do not expect immediate results.

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

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First, 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.

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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.

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Please also do the following in Security section

Change your password

Enable two-step verification

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

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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.

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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.

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If after 24 hours it still doesn't work, please do this:

Go to your Microsoft account online https://account.live.com> Sign in > Your info > Sign in preference. Add an alias - You have two options here:

Create new: this will allow you to use the native domain outlook.com to create a new alias.

Add existing: this will allow you to add a 3rd party email address, such as yahoo, gmail, as long as they are not already associated with another Microsoft account.

Once added, make this new alias your primary alias, do NOT delete the old alias. Then at the bottom, click on "Change sign in preference". On the next page, uncheck the box for the old alias. This means, from now one, the old alias cannot be used to sign into your Microsoft account, but it can be still used to receive emails, etc.

Answer 2

The behavior described is consistent with phishing or junk mail activity in Outlook.com. To clean it up and protect the account, follow these steps in Outlook on the web (Outlook.com):

1. Stop interacting with the messages

• Do not click any links or open any attachments in these emails.
• If any message looks like it is asking to “verify,” “upgrade,” or “fix” the mailbox, treat it as phishing.

2. Mark the messages as junk or phishing

• In the message list, select one of the “@ quickmail check bot” emails.
• Use the Junk/Phishing option in Outlook.com to report it (for example, right‑click the message and choose Junk or Phishing, depending on what is available in the interface). This helps move similar messages to Junk and improves filtering.

3. Block the sender

• Select one of the unwanted messages.
• Use the Block option (often under the Junk menu) to add that address/domain to the blocked senders list so future messages go directly to Junk.
• You can also manage this under Settings → Mail → Junk email and add the address/domain to Blocked senders.

4. Check for suspicious rules and forwarding If the inbox is “taken over” (messages moving or appearing unexpectedly), check for mailbox rules and forwarding that might have been created by an attacker:

• In Outlook on the web, go to Settings → Mail → Rules and delete any rules that move or create messages you did not set up.
• Go to Settings → Mail → Forwarding and remove any forwarding address that is not recognized.

5. Secure the Microsoft account If there is any suspicion the account was compromised:

• Change the Microsoft account password immediately.
• Turn on two‑step verification (multi‑factor authentication).
• Review recent sign‑in activity from the Microsoft account security page and sign out of sessions that are not recognized.

6. Use safe and blocked senders lists

• Add trusted contacts to the Safe senders list so their mail goes to Inbox.
• Keep the unwanted “bot” addresses in the Blocked senders list so they are routed to Junk automatically. See “Add senders to safe and blocked senders lists” in the referenced article for details.

7. Stay alert for phishing signs

• Look carefully at the sender’s actual email address and any urgent requests.
• Never open unexpected links or attachments; instead, go directly to the organization’s official website using a saved favorite or by typing the address.

If the problem persists after these steps or if there is clear evidence of account takeover (password‑change emails not requested, missing mail, etc.), follow Microsoft’s hacked‑account recovery guidance and contact Microsoft support via the official support channels.

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References:

• Phishing and suspicious behavior in Outlook
• Protect yourself from phishing
• Protect yourself from online scams and attacks
• Help protect your Outlook.com email account
• Hacker set up continuous draft ransomware email - Microsoft Q&A
• Need to speak to a agent I am getting pop up draft scam emails - Microsoft Q&A