I recently received an email supposedly coming from Microsoft. However, it is clearly a phishing email purely designed to entice users into giving up their Microsoft Account login details.
It’s also a prime example of common phishing traits:
- The “Microsoft” heading has been inserted using bright blue text in an attempt to make it appear more official
- The generic address “Hi outlook User” is a dead giveaway. Any legitimate email will almost certainly address the recipient by name
- The URLs obfuscated behind the embedded links are identical, both leading to a fake Microsoft account login page
- Note the attempt to create a sense of urgency: “Failure to accept our new terms might lead to account deactivation“
- The generic signature. Companies, such as Microsoft, will generally insert an official signature
BOTTOM LINE:
I cannot remember ever receiving such an obvious phishing email. As I said earlier, this one includes pretty much all of the common phishing traits and is a prime example of what to look out for.
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