Watch Out For This Convincing Fake

A reader forwarded a recently received email that purported to be from Microsoft and wanted to know if it was real.

While this email is fairly professional-looking compared to some scams, there are red flags.  First, I’ve never received a privacy policy update from Microsoft where they threatened to shut down and delete everything in my account if I didn’t respond within 24 hours. I tested this out (don’t try this at home) and it takes you to a nearly exact duplicate of the actual Outlook sign-in page. Fake site on the left. Actual Outlook.com on the right.

If you entered your info on the site on the left, the crooks would have your Outlook ID and your password.  If you think a notice like this is legitimate, just go to Outlook.com. Don’t click on a link. Type that actual address into your browser. If there are some terms you need to accept, you’ll be notified before you log in.

~ Cynthia