I keep getting emails for a single-use code.

Anonymous
2023-08-07T16:14:20+00:00

Hi,

I keep getting emails for a single use code in my email. I probably receive 10 emails a day for the past few weeks. And I haven't been trying to request a code.

Email says:

We received your request for a single-use code to use with your Microsoft account.

Your single-use code is: 4*****7

If you didn't request this code, you can safely ignore this email. Someone else might have typed your email address by mistake.

Thanks,

The Microsoft account team

It's quite annoying. The email sender is from ___@___.___

I would like to stop getting these emails as I'm not trying request a code.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy

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Anonymous
2023-08-07T16:45:37+00:00

Hello Priscilla_A,

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

I'm a Microsoft user like you, I hope you're doing well?

I understand how discomforting it can be to receive a one-time security code for your account when you didn't initiate.

However, it's a good idea to ignore this code if you haven't requested it.

One-time code is an essential security feature that prevents unauthorized access to your account. One-time code is required to access your account. These codes can be used only once and has expiration time for their usage.

You may receive one-time code emails if:

  1. Signing into your Microsoft account from a new device or browser.
  2. Resetting your Microsoft account password.
  3. Making changes to your Microsoft account security information.
  4. Signing into your Microsoft account from a new location.
  5. Unusual and suspicious activity is detected on your Microsoft account.

If someone mistakenly enters your account email ID, you can't stop them, that's out of your control (you don't know who it is), All you can do is ignore it, as suggested in the email.

The same applies if someone may be trying to intentionally access your Microsoft account, a one-time code is a security feature that prevents this unauthorised access.

You don't control the actions of others, hence you can't stop it.

If there was a way to stop it, Microsoft would state it in an email rather than suggesting you to ignore it any one-time code you did not initiate.

I will suggest you check your Microsoft account sign-in activity to make sure there are no unauthorised access. You can see a list of devices and browsers that have accessed your account recently.

Microsoft account management website: https://account.live.com/Activity

Here are a few things you can do to make your Microsoft account more secured:

  1. Create a strong password for your account
  2. Use the Microsoft Authenticator phone app to sign in without a password
  3. Make your account easier to recover
  4. Make sure your operating system has the latest updates
  5. Never reply to email asking for your password
  6. Check your recent activity
  7. Keep your devices safe

Click link below for more information:

https://support.microsoft.com/help/628538c2-7006-33bb-5ef4-c917657362b9

If you are receiving blackmail emails, please report this issue to the nearest authorities.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Give back to the community, help the next person who has this problem by pointing out if this answer solved your problem. Click "Yes" or "No" below.

Warm Regards

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-16T12:52:46+00:00

    I understand. But, Microsoft is not the only service that asks for an email address, and we do not get these emails nearly as often from any other service where an email address is needed. Why is it only Microsoft? Hopefully you can do better.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-08-03T03:51:33+00:00

    I’m replying incase you, or others, still have this problem. I did too.

    I had to use the email address I was getting these at with Microsoft Forgot Username. This gave me an idea of email address aliases linked with that email address on an outlook.com account. Some were added by GoDaddy for domains I have.

    Anyway, I logged into that outlook.com account and removed the aliases. I checked activity to find hundreds of failed attempts in the last month from China, Russia, Latvia, Austria, and other countries IP addresses.

    I secured my account. Changed password, added two-factor and biometric, and removed the aliases. The failures were from the GoDaddy added aliases.

    These emails regarding codes requested shouldn’t be ignored. It is not a random mistype. If it’s 1 or 2 in years, then maybe, but multiple per week/month are indication you should find, secure, or close that Microsoft account.

    • M.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-08-01T13:00:33+00:00

    Lara,

    This thread is about emails from Microsoft. Have you perhaps received such emails from both Google and Microsoft?

    In short, yes, people have been trying to log in to your accounts, both Google and Microsoft. People are trying to log in to every Google and Microsoft account that exists, because of the value of those accounts and because so many are poorly secured. So you are not alone -- it's happening to every account, sometimes with more visible side effects than others.

    Make sure you have two-factor authentication set up on your Google and Microsoft accounts. If the emails resulting from attempts to break into Microsoft accounts bother you, read earlier posts in this thread where I explain what combination secures your account without eliciting those emails.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-08-01T06:46:44+00:00

    hello, today i recieved an email from google team saying that they recieved my request for a single use code , but i never requested it. checking out on possible attempt to log in into my google account i see that someone is trying to access it everyday for a month now, located in all different parts of the world, all the requests are listed unsuccessful, anyway i only today recieved the email for a request of single use code. i would like to know why i didnt recieve any email about it before and why i recieved it today. does it mean that someone could access my email? how can i stop this person in trying to hack my account or my email?

    thank you very much

    Lara

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