‘Hotmail Account Suspended’ Phishing Email

Image: © depositphotos.com/Piter2121

According to this message, which purports to be from hotmail.com, your Hotmail account has been suspended and your email address has been removed from the database.

The message urges you to click a link to verify your account.

However, the email is not a valid notification and the claim that your Hotmail account has been suspended is untrue.

In fact, the email is just a rather crude phishing scam designed to steal your account login details.

Of course, Microsoft transitioned Hotmail to Outlook.com back in 2013. So, Hotmail is no longer a separate entity. The web address “hotmail.com” automatically redirects to Outlook.com.

That said, existing Hotmail users were able to retain their Hotmail email addresses and passwords after the transition to Outlook.com. And, there are still a great many people around the world that continue to use “hotmail.com” email addresses.

If you click the verify link, you will be taken to a fake “Hotmail” website that asks you to log in with your email address and password. After you log in, you may see a message claiming that you have successfully lifted the supposed account suspension.

Meanwhile, the criminals can collect your login credentials and use them to hijack your Outlook.com account. Once they have gained access, they can use your account to send spam, scam, and malware emails in your name. They can also collect personal information from your emails and access any linked services that use the same login details.

Online crooks regularly use fake email account notifications like this to steal sensitive information from users.