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
    2024-02-25T10:46:02+00:00

    exactly same case with me they trying from different parts of world. but why the heck and nonsense? what will they do, even if they enter emails?

    in my case the login attempt doesnt even ask for password, it asks directly the access code sent to other email. so if i enter that code then this MS email will open.

    two points.

    1. why the email access is not asking password first, but directly asking the one time pass code?
    2. where is that option of entering through only the pass code, and not through password was set? where is it in 'settings'?

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-02-25T10:40:14+00:00

    if you check your login activity, you can find from where its being tried, and whether its successfull or not.

    you can know the IP address also.

    i too keep getting such mails and i tried to decipher this, but only could see from where this is being tried etc. someone trying to access the emails of others. i got such activity and futile trials by some from Russia, Germany, Thailand, Turkey etc... there were more than 20 such attempts .

    something is happening, to all and keep trying to hack others emails.

    Like someone put a query, why is this not happening with other emails like Gmail etc. Gmail, has only an alert email to secondary email linked to just let us know, someone somewhere logged into your other gmail account. thats it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-23T18:16:14+00:00

    I just realized this was happening when I first started getting them in January 2024, so I'm late to the party. The hacking attempts had been going on at a fairly rapid pace for months, even years. No idea why the authentication code emails only just started coming to my inbox. If you go to your Microsoft Account and click on "Recent Account Activity," it will show you the times and places (and browsers used!) when and where someone tried to access your account. I did not even realize my account was being probed five or six times a night, lately from China and Turkey, but also from Germany, England, and Ukraine. Because of the time difference, the hackers are awake and working while people where I (and you) live are asleep. As long as they keep failing to enter the correct password, you're OK. You can also set up additional security features from that MS page. Good luck to all of us--it's a mean world. P.S. if you want to read a famous C20 account of hackers accessing US military computers via a UC Berkeley mainframe, read Clifford Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg." It's quite instructive about hacker sociology and methods.

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