Is my Hotmail account secured?
Is my Hotmail account secured?
I noticed my Hotmail tab was logged out and the login attempt failed due to too many incorrect attempts. It seems there might have been an attempt to access my email account. However, recovery options are limited; the only solution is to reset the password and create a new one. There’s a reference from Google about a 'send a code' unlock method, but it required receiving a text message, which I don’t have. There’s no backup email code option available. What other steps should I consider?
In this situation, there is no place to deliver the unlock code, so you must complete the request form and provide all the necessary information. Once confirmed, a code will be emailed to the alternative address you provided.
However, there isn't a way to complete the forms or forward any information to another email address. Just reset the password.
Upon clicking "reset password," you will encounter several choices. Since no recovery phone numbers or email addresses have been configured, there should be an option to complete a password request form. You must provide an active email address for them to reach out to you.
It's becoming confusing.
I revisited the process and noticed an option to send the code via another email, which I used.
After logging into the second email account, IT reported the same 'locked' issue.
Trying a few steps seemed to work, but it led me to an 'account' page without an email.
Then I discovered an 'Outlook' app button that opened the mail and provided the code.
OK, positive update? I returned to the section requesting the code. It triggered a new error:
"We're unable to complete your request
server_error: The contextID supplied did not match any cookie"
maybe try running malware scans on this system.
Malwarebytes offers a good free solution.
it's possible that any/all saved passwords have been compromised and possibly changed by end user
or entire system has been hijacked.
It doesn't appear to be a malware problem, but I've run Malwarebytes and performed a scan. It's still at the final stage and hasn't detected anything. I suspect it's not compromised—I would normally see a 'wrong password' error, but instead I'm receiving a message about being locked out too many times with an incorrect password, indicating no access was granted.
It's even more strange. I tried logging in again, but it instantly opened my email. I'm concerned I might have landed on a fake page pretending to lock my email to get my password, but it seemed genuine and redirected to hotmail.com which also showed the same issue. I don't know what happened.