Is this a scam

Associate
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Just been to look at my nextdoor neighbours computer.
This afternoon he tried accessing hotmail > via a google search which takes you to hotmail.com then the outlook screen appears he enters his details, then gets a screen saying something like ... call us cautious but we need to give you a code for if you forget your eamil address or something. then there is a dropdown box with his phone number in.
Then an option for next or skip, remind me in 6 days. HE then said someone phoned him up and gave him a code.

Anyone else seen anything similar..... It looks legit but feels wrong
 
Soldato
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Its just a 2 step verification system so you log in first, then it normally texts you a code to put in to finally log in. Not seen it on outlook but it is on gmail and facebook and I have added it to a few sites at work too.
 
Associate
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I've also never seen this using Outook.

To be on the safe side, make sure you are on outlook.com and do a virus scan (that can never hurt)
 
Associate
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Yeah, never seen it on Outlook was it a person that phoned him or a computer? Try his login on another PC see if it does the same.
 
Soldato
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That is legit. It happened to me when I logged into my hotmail on the mac for the first time. I had to use my alternative account to unlock it. Its just extra protection for your account. :)

But, as said above, just do the usual checks as well.
 
Associate
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Google has been doing it for years on gmail.

Is the browser address pointing to outlook.com?
Is the certificate present is the owner Microsoft/outlook?

It should be OK if so. You can apply the same rule on any website you have suspicion of.
 
Man of Honour
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I don't see how one can begin to suspect this is a scam... you've given Microsoft your phone number in the past and they are just setting up a better system for password resets... how could they scam you by sending you a code?
 
Soldato
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It's the ultimate waste of time.

Do you use Yellow Pages to get a phone number you already know?

Hmmm

I open my browser, Google loads immediately and it's ready to search, I type "ye" followed by the down arrow twice and right arrow once and I'm on yellow pages.

Using your method, I'd open my browser, re-focus the cursor from Google search to the address bar using the mouse, then type in "yellowpages.com" and press enter.

Personally, I find the former much quicker.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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re-focus the cursor from Google search to the address bar using the mouse,
F6
then type in "yellowpages.com" and press enter.
By my rough estimate I can type that in a little over a second.

I suppose it all depends on your internet/typing speed which works best for you. I meant more when someone hunt/peck types a full url into Google and searches.
 
Soldato
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It's the ultimate waste of time.

Do you use Yellow Pages to get a phone number you already know?

I actually have my Hotmail account saved as a book mark. This is the fastest way of getting to Hotmail.

However, if I were using a foreign computer with no bookmark, I'd do the following:

goto Google (most computers have this bookmarked), type "HOT" and then click the first link (which will be hotmail).
This is faster than typing out "www.hotmail.com" in the address bar.

Nothing wrong with using Google.
 
Soldato
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I've had that before, went for the text option in my case. I get it if i try to access outlook from a new location on a new device. To stop nasty people getting on i guess, reading all my offers from ebay, sharing bad jokes with my contacts. Oh the horror.
 
Soldato
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Using your method, I'd open my browser, re-focus the cursor from Google search to the address bar using the mouse, then type in "yellowpages.com" and press enter.

Not a good example as it's actually yell.com :p

goto Google (most computers have this bookmarked), type "HOT" and then click the first link (which will be hotmail).
This is faster than typing out "www.hotmail.com" in the address bar.

Or you could type hotmail then press CTRL+Enter to do the "http://www." and the ".com" bits automatically. This keyboard shortcut is as old as the hills.
 
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