Locked out of Microsoft account

[Larry Sabo]

My customer has been locked out of his hotmail account and has no idea why. Multiple attempts to unlock the account yield a message saying...

"We evaluated your appeal and verified your account was properly closed for a serious violation of the Microsoft Services Agreement. https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement/default.aspx#3_codeOfConduct.

Pursuant to our terms, we cannot reactivate your account, nor provide details as to why it was closed. "

He has no idea what terms he violated and there appears to be no way to recover his account. He has messages going back years and hasn't been able to access them for months. He can't recall the subjects or recipients of those messages but messages he sent using an iCloud account show up in the sent folder of his hotmail account on his iPad??? He can't send messages from the hotmail account on the iPad but somehow messages sent from the iCloud account appear there. Bizarre.

I guess there's not much he can do but it serves as a warning about the folly of depending on a MS account and being conned or forced by MS to use one. This has been going on for years with other users, with equally heavy-handed action by MS.

/Rant

 

[timeshifter]

My best guess is that someone else was in his account doing seriously illegal things.

 

[nlinecomputers]

My best guess is that someone else was in his account doing seriously illegal things.

This. Phished account used for spamming or worse.

 

[nlinecomputers]

He can't send messages from the hotmail account on the iPad but somehow messages sent from the iCloud account appear there. Bizarre.

Are you sure about that. The mail app on iOS has a combined view mode. All sent mail from any account can be seen in the same folder.

 

[britechguy]

As an aside, one can associate any email address with a Microsoft Account. None of mine use an email service such as Hotmail or Outlook.com as the user ID.

Also, unless something seriously illegal were going on, one's email account and Microsoft Account proper are disjoint things. Either can be locked without effect on the other, but occasion for either to be locked like this is a rare occurrence.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Are you sure about that. The mail app on iOS has a combined view mode. All sent mail from any account can be seen in the same folder.

I suspect that's what he was looking it, however, when I challenged him on it, e replied...

1. On the Inbox on IPad I can see no messages under the Hotmail A/C.
2. I can see Sent messages on the IPad under Hotmail A/c.
3. I can’t send any message on the Hotmail A/C.
4. I,m sure it,s the Hotmail A/c. I just read an Email I sent on Hotmail in February this year.
5. All of the Messages shown in the Sent section of the Hotmail labelled A/c I can read and the Sender (me) is shown as <his e-mail address>@hotmail.com

I've only been dealing with the issue by remote support, so have not examined the iPad account settings. What is most concerning, is that there appears to be no means of resolving the problem.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Either can be locked without effect on the other, but occasion for either to be locked like this is a rare occurrence.

Not from the hits I get when I search on the violation message.

 

[britechguy]

One can get many hits for a self-selected set of complaints.

If cars or computers malfunctioned as often as reading the tech support forums for either would suggest, they'd have been failed products.

I have never, I all my years in this business had a client so affected nor known of one in the technician circles I am part of before now. That, even though anecdotal, is more than enough for me to stick with my earlier assertion.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I suspect that's what he was looking it, however, when I challenged him on it, e replied...



I've only been dealing with the issue by remote support, so have not examined the iPad account settings. What is most concerning, is that there appears to be no means of resolving the problem.

That contradicts what you said about iCloud. Of course he can see his old sent emails. They are cached.

 

[Larry Sabo]

That contradicts what you said about iCloud. Of course he can see his old sent emails. They are cached.

Sorry, I don't follow.

He sent messages using his iCoud address and they appeared on the iPad in his Hotmail account Sent folder. I understood that these were sent after his hotmail account was locked. He seemed pretty certain it was under a hotmail account and said the From address was his hotmail address. I have no idea how that happens. This whole thing is just so bizarre.

My remote support (other than e-mail exchanges) was limited to guiding him through the account recovery form data entry. Unfortunately, part way through filling in the form he hit Enter instead of Tab, so the form got sent without him providing as much info (names, subjects of mail sent) as he could have. He says the hotmail account Sent folder contains entries from back in February, before he lost access to the account. In a subsequent re-try of the form, he included messages sent via the iCloud account, hoping they would help (since they indicate they were sent from his hotmail account). Before that second attempt, he received notice that he had submitted insufficient info in his first submission but also received the snark e-mail about having violated the MS terms I cited in the OP.

 

[carmen617]

If the account is associated with a Microsoft 365 home or family subscription he can try accessing Microsoft tech support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

However, I have had clients lose Hotmail accounts permanently. Not for TOS violations, but because they were phished and the hacker put their own 2FA on the account.

 

[Markverhyden]

This is a situation where you really need to get your hands, as in physically, on things. To be honest it sounds like someone who doesn't grasp how things really work. So much of what the customer has provided you doesn't make any sense.

 

[nlinecomputers]

This is a situation where you really need to get your hands, as in physically, on things. To be honest it sounds like someone who doesn't grasp how things really work. So much of what the customer has provided you doesn't make any sense.

I agree. Honestly it sounds like a phishing attempt to me. He wasn't locked out of his account until he tried to "recover" it and gave the hacker his password.

 

[Larry Sabo]

This is a situation where you really need to get your hands, as in physically, on things. To be honest it sounds like someone who doesn't grasp how things really work. So much of what the customer has provided you doesn't make any sense.

Agreed. I haven't done any on-site work since Covid-19 hit and that certainly makes it difficult to get the full story and to validate what I'm being told. The customer agrees so much of it doesn't makes sense.

 

[Larry Sabo]

If the account is associated with a Microsoft 365 home or family subscription he can try accessing Microsoft tech support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

However, I have had clients lose Hotmail accounts permanently. Not for TOS violations, but because they were phished and the hacker put their own 2FA on the account.

Thanks for the suggestion and link. I think he is resigned to never regaining access to his Hotmail account and the loss of many messages that are so important to him. I think the messages were with family and friends who have since passed and are somehow related to family tree research. Just a guess, however.

 

[Fred Claus]

My customer has been locked out of his hotmail account and has no idea why. Multiple attempts to unlock the account yield a message saying...



He has no idea what terms he violated and there appears to be no way to recover his account. He has messages going back years and hasn't been able to access them for months. He can't recall the subjects or recipients of those messages but messages he sent using an iCloud account show up in the sent folder of his hotmail account on his iPad??? He can't send messages from the hotmail account on the iPad but somehow messages sent from the iCloud account appear there. Bizarre.

I guess there's not much he can do but it serves as a warning about the folly of depending on a MS account and being conned or forced by MS to use one. This has been going on for years with other users, with equally heavy-handed action by MS.

/Rant

That is a pain in the rear. I had a client where that happened and she never could get back in.

 

[MudRock]

Waiting until someone big enough and enough money to have fun, gets locked out of their computer because their Microsoft account is locked out and Microsoft is gone after for loss of revenue. Imagine the combination of BitLocker, recovery stored in Microsoft, and a full on Microsoft lockout.

I feel for you. Trying to get back into Microsoft (Or Gmail) accounts can be quite the brawl.

 

[britechguy]

Waiting until someone big enough and enough money to have fun, gets locked out of their computer because their Microsoft account is locked out and Microsoft is gone after for loss of revenue.

I have no doubt that this has already occurred. I also have no doubt that Microsoft's lawyers made certain that their terms of service were crafted such that the suit would very likely have been dismissed.

When it comes to technology companies, much like casinos, the odds are with the house.

 

[MudRock]

I have no doubt that this has already occurred. I also have no doubt that Microsoft's lawyers made certain that their terms of service were crafted such that the suit would very likely have been dismissed.

When it comes to technology companies, much like casinos, the odds are with the house.

As I said "Big Enough" - I think media attention would be needed, and clearly not important until Brad Pitt loses his stuff.

 

[Sky-Knight]

As I said "Big Enough" - I think media attention would be needed, and clearly not important until Brad Pitt loses his stuff.

Even then I doubt anything will change. End users have no right to anything, because they aren't PAYING for anything. They are the product, and products have no rights.

Now, should something like this happen we might be able to generate enough political will to get our government to create digital property rights, but I'm not going to hold my breath.