Check if the Hotmail account has been stolen
Check if your Hotmail account has been stolen it is essential to proceed, if necessary, to its recovery. To verify this, connected to this web page, type yours email address in the appropriate text field and click the blue button NEXT. Then enter the Password log into your Microsoft account and click the blue button Log in.
At this point, click on the button SMS to [the phone number indicated in the registration phase], enter the last four digits of your phone number in the appropriate text field and click on the button Send code. The Microsoft team will send you an SMS containing a numeric code, thanks to which you can confirm your identity: enter it in the text field Code and click sul bottone Verifica but I will complete the operation.
If you have no way of confirming your identity through your mobile number, for example because you have changed your mobile number and have not updated this information in your account, click on one of the other options that are shown to you, for example Use a verification code from the mobile app o Email to [alternate email address], depending on the identity confirmation options you have set up for your account.
If you can't use any of these solutions, click the link I don't have some of this info and follow the instructions on the screen to verify your identity.
As soon as you have carried out this verification, you will have access to the complete list of accesses that have been made in the last month. If you see logins from devices that aren't yours, your account has obviously been stolen.
Then click on the link Protect accounts (under the heading Is the business unfamiliar?, in correspondence of the suspicious access) and follow the instructions on the screen, to secure your e-mail box: it involves resetting the password and checking the security information relating to the account.
After completing the procedure to reset your password, you can finally get back your Hotmail account and use it safely. If, on the other hand, you were unable to carry out the verification procedure described above, evidently the cybercriminal who stole your account has also changed your password. You can find useful information on how to proceed in this case in the next chapter of the tutorial.
Recover stolen Hotmail account
If you are reading this chapter of the tutorial, evidently your Hotmail account has been stolen and you have not yet managed to re-enter it because the cybercriminal who took it has also changed his access password. In this case, how can you recover your stolen Hotmail account? I'll explain it to you right away.
First, connect to the login page of the site Outlook.com (as I already explained to you in my tutorial on how to access Hotmail, now Microsoft has wrapped all its email services in Outlook.com), click the button Log in (located towards the center of the page, on the right), type theemail address that was stolen from you and click the blue button NEXT.
At this point, you will be asked to type the Password to log into your account. Since the passkey was changed by the thief who took over the account, click on the link I forgot the password which is located at the bottom of the login form.
On the page that opens, the Microsoft team will ask you to confirm the email address for which you want to recover the account. After typing it, click the button NEXT and choose one of the options used to verify your identity.
Put a check mark on items such as Send email to [email address], SMS to [telephone number] o Use mine app di authenticazione and then follow the instructions on the screen to proceed. For example, if you have decided to verify your identity using your phone number, type le in the text field provided last 4 digits of the telephone number and then click on the blue button Submit the code. Within a few minutes, you will receive a numeric code: type it in the text field Immetti il codice and by clicking on the button NEXT.
If you have no way of confirming your identity through the cellphone number (for example because you changed your mobile number and did not update this information in your account), click on the link I don't have some of this info and follow the instructions on the screen to identify your identity.
In case you have set up an account recovery code, type it in the next text field and then click the button Use recovery code. If, on the other hand, you have not set it up, click on No.
In the latter case, in order to regain possession of your account, you must fill out a form dedicated to its recovery. First check that, in the field Email address, telephone or Skype name, the correct email address to be recovered is indicated, then enter an email address other than the one you are trying to restore in the text field below, named Contact email address.
In the text field next to the entry Enter the characters you see, then type the code CAPTCHA that is shown to you on the screen. If you can't crack the code, click the button New, in order to generate another one or, if you prefer, click on the button Audio to hear a sound code. After entering the code, click the button again NEXT.
As a last step, type the recovery code obtained from the alternate email address, in the next text field that is shown to you, and click the button Verifica.
Now you can finally reset your password and regain possession of your account. To do this, type a secure password in the field New password, repeat it in the field Confirm Password and click sul bottone NEXT.
If everything went well, you will see the reassuring message "Your account has been recovered". To conclude, click on the button NEXT and log in by entering your email and your new password in the login form.
Even if you carefully followed the procedures described above, were you unable to regain possession of your Hotmail account? In this case, I suggest you visit the support page that Microsoft has set up on its website: there you will find other information that will be useful for recovering your account.
How to protect your Hotmail account
After having your Hotmail account stolen, I bet you don't want to repeat an experience like that, do you? Then let me give you some advice on how to protect a Hotmail account and avoid the theft of access credentials to the latter.
- Use a password that is strong enough - to be considered secure, the password must consist of almeno 15-20 characters (the "minimum wage" is 8 characters, but the longer the password, the more difficult it will be to intercept) and must contain nnumbers, letters (both lowercase and uppercase) and symbols,. Furthermore, it must NOT contain elements attributable to you (eg your date of birth, the names of your family members, etc.) and must be different from the passwords used for other accounts. If you want to have some more tips on how to create secure passwords, read the in-depth study I have published on the subject.
- Enable two-factor authentication - in this way, even if someone unfortunately intercepts your password, they will not be able to access your account because they will not have the second access key, which will be sent by the Microsoft team via SMS to the mobile number indicated during the activation phase. To enable two-factor authentication on your account, go to the Security Settings page and log in with your Microsoft account. Then click on the entry Set up two-step verification (in the section Two-step verification) and follow the on-screen instructions.
