I’ve been targeted by this email scam three times already this week, so I thought I should share it with you. A version of this email turned up in my inbox 3 times in 24 hours. It claims there is some new version of Outlook that I must update to immediately. There’s a date given here, but they change that every time they send it.
Should I click on that New Version link, here’s where I end up. It claims to be a Microsoft page, but it’s actually a Google Slides presentation. What happens if I click to verify?
I end up on this page where it asks me to enter my email address and password. Of course, if I did, the scammers would now have my email address and password. Note that they designed their website on Wix and didn’t even bother to get the paid version that would remove the ad at the top.
Had I entered my information, these crooks would now have my password. I did enter something, but not my password or email address. Just a suggestion of what they could all go do to themselves. Once I entered my fake info, they directed me to Microsoft’s actual page to give the whole thing a legit look for people who might start to question what they’ve just done.
Remember to always think before you click.
It’s also a dead giveaway to check the sender’s email address: this “Microsoft” email came from a personal Outlook.com account. It’s either one the scammer created or a hacked victim… it’s definitely not from Microsoft.com!