Scammers are abusing an official Microsoft email address to send spam | TechCrunch

Scammers have used a loophole to send spam emails from an internal Microsoft email address used for legitimate account notifications. The abuse appears to involve creating new Microsoft accounts as if they were new customers, then using that access to send emails that appear to come from Microsoft. Recipients may be tricked by subject lines resembling official fraud alerts or by messages claiming a private notification is waiting at a link included in the email body. Anti-spam monitoring has observed the same notification address being used for spam for several months. Microsoft has been notified but has not yet provided confirmation that the abuse has been stopped.

"For months, scammers have been taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to send spammy emails from an internal Microsoft email address typically used for sending legitimate account alerts. It's not clear how the scammers are abusing the system, but they have been able to set up new Microsoft accounts as if they are new customers, and use that access to send out emails purportedly from the tech giant itself, potentially tricking people into thinking that these emails may be genuine."

"Last week, I received several, similarly structured emails containing subject lines and web links to scammy sites from Microsoft across different email accounts. These crudely made emails were sent from [e-mail], an email account that Microsoft uses to send important notifications to users, such as two-factor authentication codes and other critical alerts about their online account."

"Some of these emails' subject lines resembled official emails that would alert users to fraudulent transactions, while other emails claimed to have a private messaging waiting for the recipient at a web address mentioned in the email body. Microsoft doesn't yet appear to have gotten a handle on the issue."

""Automated notification systems should not allow this level of customization," wrote Spamhaus. The non-profit added that it has notified Microsoft of the issue. When contacted by TechCrunch earlier this week, a Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged our inquiry, but has not yet commented or said if the company has stopped the abuse of its account notification email."

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