Hotmail Account Upgrade (Phish)
Hotmail’s spam filter failed to catch this “notice” of an “account upgrade” and let it slide right into my Inbox.
We are upgrading our database to serve you better. Your Windows Live! Account details are required for the upgrade and to keep your account active.
The information below are needed urgently for the exercise upon receipt of this mail to avoid an immediate deactivation.
Name:……………………………
User Name:……………………………..
Password:……………………………
Date of Birth :……………………………..
Country or Territory: ………………….
Ensure every detail requested above is provided correctly upon receipt of this notification to enable the upgrade.Incomplete details and wrong passwords forwarded will result in suspension or closure of your account for security reasons.
–Note: YOUR DETAILS WILL NOT BE SHARED.We’ll keep making Windows Live! the best email service around.
Sincerely,Windows Live Alert TeamMicrosoft Corporation
Okay… they made some text a red color.. and some text they made blue.. so it must be true..
Wow.
You know, I am almost at the point where I would not feel sorry for the victim of this scam… Anyone *naive* enough to fall for it – in 2011 – shouldn’t be on the Internet. Right?
But instead I’ll simply say: this is a CLASSIC scammer’s mass-mailed “phishing” email, hoping to snare some people’s passwords.
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
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I got thisand thought it was reaL AND FILLED OUT INFO. I CAANOT SIHN INTO MY EMAIL ACCOUNT.
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Nikki,
The Hotmail “help” page you need is here.
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thanks for the hotmail help page link.
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i used the link you gave me and was given a pin # and told i would be sent email to recover my account. it has been 4 days already and i have not gotten any help from msn as of yet.
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nikki,
When you first set up your Hotmail account (which is free, and does not have tech support) you were asked to provide an alternative email address – something other than your Hotmail – a secret question, etc.. You may have provided a cell phone number..
A password reset would be sent to the alternative address, or “text-ed” to your phone.
Of course, the hackers who now own your mailbox (because you gave them the keys) could go in and change those entries.. and thus you will never receive the reset email..
I suggest you try using the links again. Particularly, doing the steps here, http://www.windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=bf5d34bf-db28-44ca-ac9a-93838d81b2d6 – reading very carefully at each step.
And, perhaps, it is worth it to you to try calling Microsoft’s tech support and see if they can/will help you (possibly/probably for a fee). (1-866-PCSAFETY, tell ’em your account has been hijacked.)
Good luck.
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that number you gave me does not help with my issue .Told to go to website. . i looked in the forum and read that some people went without help for a while . basically got run around.
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nikki,
I suspected that would be their answer (I did put part of my reply in bold..).
With millions of Hotmail users, it might take a while to get a reply; but the form – carefully and fully filled out – is your only real chance at getting your account back.
(This is true of all the free webmail services.They’re not getting paid to help us, so what’s their motivation? They tell us to be careful, we’re on our own, when we sign up.)
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