My Windowslive E-mail Account Has Been Compromised

Hotmail accounts can get hijacked in a number of ways and are often used by thieves to spew spam, phishing messages and malware to everybody in the account’s address book. Along with its general Hotmail support portal, Microsoft has an article on recent reports of Hotmail account hijackings and what you can do to try and rescue your account.

If you can get to it, the first thing you should do is change the account’s password — and change it to a strong password made up of letters and numbers so it’s hard to guess. You should also update your machine’s security software and run a system scan to see if any viruses or malware from the hijackers has infected your computer. (If you have a PC and don’t have any security software, consider the free Microsoft Security Essentials program.

Microsoft’s Windows Live Solution Center also has a section devoted to account recovery and security with steps to take if you still have access to the compromised Hotmail account.

If you try all the suggested steps there and still can’t get back into your account, try the Windows Live ID Account Recovery page, which might help you reset your password by way of the secret question and answer you set up when you created the account, or by sending password information to the alternate e-mail account you supplied when signing up for the Hotmail account.

E-mail scams “from Windows Live”
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Windows Live Dev Team
3/16/2009 2:29:36 PM
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

E-mail scams “from Windows Live”
Share
Windows Live Dev Team
3/16/2009 2:29:36 PM
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.