We have been getting frequent comments lately from readers of this blog who’ve received a suspicious e-mail message asking for their password and other personal information and claiming to be from the Hotmail or Windows Live team. It says that their account will be closed unless they reply with this information within 24 hours, 2 weeks, or something similar.

If it looks anything like the e-mail below, then yes, it is a scam! Please don’t reply or click any of the links. Your account will not be closed. 

Here is a sample of this fake e-mail notification (there are several similar variations being circulated):

Dear Account User

CONFIRM YOUR WINDOWS LIVE ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR FREE HOTMAIL ACCOUNT NOW !!!

This Email is from Hotmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every Hotmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Hotmail accounts so we are shutting down some Hotmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account.

Due to the congestion in all Hotmail users and removal of all unused Hotmail Accounts, Hotmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.

* Username:
* Password: 
* Date of Birth:
* Country Or Territory: 

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Sincerely,
The Windows Live Hotmail Team

Spot other scams

There are a lot of other e-mail scams out there. How can you tell if an e-mail is legitimate?  Most e-mail scams have a few telltale signs that can help you spot them.

  1. It sounds too good (or bad) to be true. It probably is a scam.  This is a rule of thumb that applies to almost every e-mail scam out there.
  2. It asks for your personal information. Microsoft will never ask you to provide your username, password, date of birth, country, credit card information, etc. via e-mail. Never enter your password anywhere besides the official Windows Live ID sign-in page.
  3. It looks unprofessional. Telltale signs are incorrect English grammar, random capitalization of words in the middle of a sentence, like “Email User Accounts Owner,” or graphic images that don’t match those shown on the official website of the company referred to in the message.
  4. It’s urgent. Scammers want you to feel that you need to make a decision quickly, so that you won’t have time to research the legitimacy of the message.
  5. It promises you free money. You’ve supposedly won money in a foreign lottery, or there is unclaimed money from an inheritance due to you. If you didn’t enter that lottery, or aren’t related to the person the message says you’ve inherited money from, it’s probably a scam.
  6. The “From” name doesn’t match the actual e-mail address. This is not the case for every e-mail scam, but when it occurs, it is a pretty sure sign. For example, it may say it is from the “Microsoft Promotion Team”, but if you look at the e-mail address, it came from somebody @ example.com or another completely unrelated address.
  7. It looks like it’s from real friend of yours, and asks for money. If your friend has fallen for a phishing scam, someone may have taken over their e-mail account and is now trying to get cash from everyone in their contact list, including you. This is what phishing scams are all about. If the story doesn’t sound like your friend, or if you aren’t sure, call your friend (don’t e-mail them) before you do anything else.

What should you do?

If you receive a message that you suspect of being a scam, here’s what to do.

1. Investigate it.

  • Check for similar e-mail scams listed on http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/default.aspx
  • Check for similar scams listed on http://www.snopes.com
  • Never click a link within the e-mail. Instead, search for the website of the company that it claims to be from, and then contact their customer service reps to verify the validity of the e-mail. Or if it claims to be from a friend of yours, call your friend and ask.

2. Report it.

  • In Hotmail, click Junk, or better yet, click Mark as, and then click Phishing scam.
  • If you want to provide more details to Hotmail, send a message to abuse@hotmail.com.
  • If the scam claims to be from another known and legitimate company, contact that company to inform them of the scam (but don’t click any links in the e-mail… see the last point under “Investigate it”).

3. Protect yourself and your computer.

  • If you think someone has accessed or stolen your Hotmail account, if the Windows Live ID sign-in page looks fraudulent, or if you receive an e-mail that tries to confirm a password change you didn’t authorize, please follow these steps from the Hotmail Support team. (Updated March 17, 2009)
  • Help ensure that your PC has not been infected with a virus or malware by running a free full-PC scan.

Look out for these scams, too

Here are some more scams that are going around, all researched and explained on Snopes.com, which is a terrific resource for this sort of thing:

For more info, see this article on the 5 most common types of e-mail scams or this one on protecting your identity online.

Stay safe!

Antonia
(From the real Windows Live team)

How to

March 16, 2009

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