Spam Draft

Question

On My outlook I'm getting a spam Draft sent to my inbox. The draft itself is popping up and going away instantly in Drafts Folder.

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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Answer 2

The behavior described (drafts appearing and disappearing, spam content) indicates suspicious or potentially compromised activity on the Outlook.com account. Immediate security and cleanup steps are recommended.

1. Secure the Microsoft account

• Change the account password immediately from a trusted device (not the one where the issue first appeared).
• Ensure the new password is unique and not reused from other services.
• Turn on two-step verification (2FA) for the Microsoft account if not already enabled.

2. Check for compromised devices

• Run a full antivirus/anti-malware scan on every device used to access Outlook/Hotmail (PC, phone, tablet).
• If the issue started after setting up a new device, consider a factory reset of that device after backing up important data.

3. Review mailbox behavior and drafts

• In Outlook on the web, check the Drafts folder and delete any suspicious drafts.
• If a draft keeps reappearing, it may be created by a connected client or app; remove access for any unknown or unused apps/devices from the Microsoft account security page.

4. Adjust junk and spam handling

• In Outlook.com, go to Settings → Mail → Junk email.
  • Review Blocked senders and domains and remove anything that should not be blocked (for example, own domains or trusted senders).
  • Add clearly malicious senders or domains to Blocked senders and domains so future messages go directly to Junk.
• Remember that junk email is retained for 30 days before being automatically deleted.

5. If drafts contain blackmail or extortion content

• Treat this as a security incident: do not pay, and preserve evidence (screenshots, headers) in case reporting to authorities is needed.
• Inform contacts via another email/phone that the account may have been used for spam or threats so they can ignore suspicious messages.

6. If access problems or suspicious drafts persist

• Use the official Microsoft support channels (Outlook.com Help → “Still need help” → chat with a support agent) to report:
  • Ongoing spam drafts being created automatically.
  • Any sign-in or recovery issues.
• Be prepared to describe when the drafts appear, what they contain, and which devices are in use.

These steps help both stop the spam drafts and reduce the risk that an attacker or malicious app continues to use the account.

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References:

• Filter junk email and spam in Outlook
• New email messages automatically move to the Junk folder in Microsoft Outlook
• 10 tips on how to help reduce spam
• Need to speak to a agent I am getting pop up draft scam emails - Microsoft Q&A
• My personal hotmail account hacked by hacker with authentication app enabled. - Microsoft Q&A