PHISHING SCAM – ‘Request to Terminate Microsoft Account’
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Email purporting to be from Microsoft Account Services claims that you have submitted a request to terminate your Microsoft Account and the process has already started. The email includes a link to cancel the termination request.
Scheduled Maintenance
Dear Microsoft account user,
You submitted a request to terminate your Microsoft account and the process has been started by our Microsoft Mail Team, Please give us 3 working days to close your Microsoft Mail Account.
All folders in your Microsoft Account including (Inbox, Sent, Spam, Trash, Draft, Folders) will be deleted and access to your Microsoft Account will be Denied.
To cancel the termination request click
CANCEL ACCOUNT TERMINATION REQUEST
For further help please contact support department.
Regards,
Microsoft Account Services
What the fact-checkers found
The email is not from Microsoft. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your Microsoft Account login details. Clicking the ‘cancel request’ link opens a fake login box designed to look like a genuine Microsoft login page.
This email, which claims to be from Microsoft Account Services, advises that you have submitted a request to terminate your Microsoft Account.
The message informs you that the termination process has already started and that, within three days, all account information will be deleted and you will no longer be able to access the account.
The email also includes a link that supposedly allows you to cancel the termination request.
However, the email is not from Microsoft and your account is not being terminated as claimed. The email is a phishing scam designed to steal your Microsoft Account login details.
The scammers behind the campaign hope to panic recipients into clicking the ‘Cancel Termination Request’ link without due caution.
If you do click the link, you will be taken to a fake website that features what looks like a genuine Microsoft Account login box. A ‘Microsoft Account’ is the name for what was previously known as a ‘Windows Live ID.’ The same login credentials can be used to access several Microsoft services, so they are a valuable target for scammers.
Be wary of any messages that claim that your account is set to be disabled or deleted or that you must click a link to rectify a supposed account issue. These are very common phishing techniques.
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