Unauthorized Access, Email Change, and Inadequate Security Alerts

Hey there, Kaan Kara

For some reason, emails from Microsoft are consistently being delivered to my spam folder. Because of this, I did not see important security alerts in time.

Are these security emails going to your alternative account, or to your main Microsoft account?

If they are going to your alternative account, if the account is a Gmail account, or another email provider, the email provider's SPAM filter may have thought these were SPAM and moved them to the SPAM folder.

If these were sent to your Microsoft email account, then they shouldn't have gone to your SPAM filter.

However, when suspicious activity occurs on my account, the only instructions I receive are:

If you didn’t make this change, please follow these steps: Go to https://account.live.com/password/Reset to reset your password Go to https://account.live.com/ to change your primary alias

But clicking those links asks me for my password — which I no longer have because it was changed by the unauthorized user.

This is by design. If there was a change made on your account, you should be able to sign into your Microsoft account using your security information to log in and change your password.

I suspect you don't have security proofs on your account such as:

1. Microsoft Authenticator,
2. Alternative Phone Number,
3. Alternative Email,
4. Windows Hello,
5. Account Recovery Code.

Is this truly the level of protection Microsoft provides? Even small, unknown apps offer stronger security systems, yet one of the biggest technology companies in the world is allowing accounts to be compromised so easily — by attackers from foreign countries.

There a a few security measures people can implement for their accounts to prevent unauthorised access. These are as follows:

1. The Microsoft Authenticator app,
2. Two step verification,
3. Passwordless accounts,
4. Account recovery codes,
5. Security proofs

You can view an article on how to keep your Microsoft account safe here: https://v4.hkg1.meaqua.org/en-gb/answers/questions/2339062/(article)-keeping-your-microsoft-account-secure

This situation is unacceptable. I request immediate support to recover my account, restore my original email, and ensure that stronger protection is applied moving forward.

As you have had your account has been taken over, please can you reach out to Microsoft support using this link here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/home/contact?SourceApp=smc2&ContactUsExperienceEntryPointAssetId=login.live.com

You will need to search "Microsoft account hacked"

Once you click search, it will display articles that may help you. Please click onto "Contact Support" at the bottom of the page.

This will allow you to reach out to Microsoft support and tell them what has happened. They should be able to collect as much information as possible and share this with the right team for them to investigate.

Hope this helps,
Nathan