Microsoft 'Important Mail' email is a scam: How to spot it

Scam emails are getting amended astatine looking official. This 1 claims to beryllium an urgent informing from Microsoft astir your email account. It looks serious. It feels clip sensitive. And that is precisely the point. Lily reached retired aft thing astir the connection did not beryllium right.

"I request assistance with an email that I'm unsure is valid. Hoping you tin assistance maine find whether this is simply a valid oregon a scam. I person attached 2 screenshots below. Thank you successful advance," Lily wrote.

Here is the important takeaway up front. This email is not from Microsoft. It is simply a scam designed to unreserved you into clicking a unsafe link.

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
Get my champion tech tips, urgent information alerts and exclusive deals delivered consecutive to your inbox. Plus, you'll get instant entree to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — escaped erstwhile you articulation my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.

WHY CLICKING THE WRONG COPILOT LINK COULD PUT YOUR DATA AT RISK

A person look astatine the sender shows a reddish emblem scammers anticipation you volition miss, a escaped email code posing arsenic a trusted brand. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

Why this Microsoft ‘Important Mail’ email is simply a scam

Once you dilatory down and work it closely, the reddish flags heap up quickly.

A generic greeting

It opens with "Dear User." Microsoft uses your name. Scammers debar it due to the fact that they bash not cognize who you are.

A hard deadline meant to scare you

The connection claims your email entree volition halt connected Feb. 5, 2026. Scammers trust connected fearfulness and urgency to short-circuit bully judgment.

A wholly incorrect sender address

The email came from [email protected]. Microsoft does not nonstop information notices from AOL. Ever.

Pushy nexus language

"PROCEED HERE" is designed to trigger a accelerated click. Microsoft messages sent to you to are intelligibly labeled Microsoft.com pages.

Fake ineligible language

Lines similar "© 2026 All rights reserved" are often copied and pasted by scammers to look official.

Attachments that should not beryllium there

Microsoft relationship alerts bash not see representation attachments. That unsocial is simply a large informing sign.

10 WAYS TO PROTECT SENIORS FROM EMAIL SCAMS

The fake Microsoft email uses urgency and vague connection to unit you into clicking earlier you person clip to think. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

What would person happened if you clicked

If you clicked the link, you would astir surely onshore connected a fake Microsoft login page. From there, attackers purpose to steal:

• Your email address
• Your password
• Access to different accounts tied to that email

Once they person your email, they tin reset passwords, excavation done aged messages and motorboat much scams utilizing your identity.

HACKERS ABUSE GOOGLE CLOUD TO SEND TRUSTED PHISHING EMAILS

Scam emails often scope radical connected their phones, wherever tiny screens marque it easier to miss informing signs and click fast. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

What to bash if this email lands successful your inbox

If an email similar this shows up, dilatory down and travel these steps successful order. Each 1 helps halt the scam cold.

1) Do not click oregon interact astatine all

Do not click links, buttons oregon images. Do not reply. Even opening attachments tin trigger tracking oregon malware. Strong antivirus bundle tin artifact phishing pages, scan attachments and pass you astir unsafe links earlier harm happens. Make definite yours is progressive and up to date. The champion mode to safeguard yourself from malicious links that instal malware, perchance accessing your backstage information, is to person beardown antivirus bundle installed connected each your devices. This extortion tin besides alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your idiosyncratic accusation and integer assets safe.

Get my picks for the champion 2026 antivirus extortion winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices astatine Cyberguy.com.

2) Delete the connection immediately

Once it is reported, delete it. There is nary crushed to support it successful your inbox oregon trash.

3) Check your relationship the harmless way

If you privation bid of mind, unfastened a caller browser model and spell straight to the authoritative Microsoft relationship website. Sign successful normally. If determination is simply a existent issue, it volition look there.

4) Change your password if you clicked

If you clicked thing oregon entered information, alteration your Microsoft password close away. Use a strong, unsocial password you bash not usage anyplace else. A password manager tin make and store it securely for you. Then reappraisal caller sign-in enactment for thing suspicious.

Next, spot if your email has been exposed successful past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager prime includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email code oregon passwords person appeared successful known leaks. If you observe a match, instantly alteration immoderate reused passwords and unafraid those accounts with new, unsocial credentials.

Check retired the champion expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 astatine Cyberguy.com.

5) Enable two-factor authentication

Turn connected two-factor authentication (2FA) for your Microsoft account. This adds a 2nd check, which tin halt attackers adjacent if they get your password.

6) Use a information removal work for semipermanent protection

Scammers often find targets done information broker sites. A information removal work helps trim however overmuch idiosyncratic accusation is publically available, which lowers your vulnerability to phishing successful the archetypal place.

While nary work tin warrant the implicit removal of your information from the internet, a information removal work is truly a astute choice. They aren't cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services bash each the enactment for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your idiosyncratic accusation from hundreds of websites. It's what gives maine bid of caput and has proven to beryllium the astir effectual mode to erase your idiosyncratic information from the internet. By limiting the accusation available, you trim the hazard of scammers cross-referencing information from breaches with accusation they mightiness find connected the acheronian web, making it harder for them to people you.

Check retired my apical picks for information removal services and get a escaped scan to find retired if your idiosyncratic accusation is already retired connected the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.

Get a escaped scan to find retired if your idiosyncratic accusation is already retired connected the web: Cyberguy.com.

7) Report it arsenic spam oregon phishing 

Use your email app's built-in reporting tool. This helps bid filters and protects different users from seeing the aforesaid scam.

Extra extortion tips for existent Microsoft notices

When Microsoft really needs your attention, the signs look precise different.

• Alerts look wrong your Microsoft relationship dashboard
• Messages bash not request contiguous enactment done random email links
• Notices ne'er travel from escaped email services similar AOL, Gmail oregon Yahoo

That opposition makes scams easier to spot erstwhile you cognize what to look for.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Kurt's cardinal takeaways

Scammers are counting connected you being busy, distracted oregon disquieted astir losing entree to your email. That is wherefore messages similar this thin truthful hard connected urgency. Your email sits astatine the halfway of your integer life, truthful attackers cognize a shutdown menace gets attraction fast. The bully quality is that slowing down for adjacent a fewer seconds changes everything. Lily did precisely the close happening by stopping and asking first. That azygous wont tin forestall individuality theft, relationship takeovers and a long, frustrating cleanup. Remember this rule. Emails that endanger shutdowns and request contiguous enactment are astir ne'er legitimate. When thing feels urgent, that is your cue to pause, verify connected your ain and ne'er fto an email unreserved you into a mistake.

Have you seen a fake Microsoft informing similar this recently, oregon did it unreal to travel from different marque you trust? Let america cognize your thoughts by penning to america astatine Cyberguy.com.

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report
Get my champion tech tips, urgent information alerts and exclusive deals delivered consecutive to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant entree to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – escaped erstwhile you articulation my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter. 

Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.