My Outlook inbox is suddenly getting a ton of spam and I don't know how to stop it

I've had a paid msn account for probably 20 years and I'm having the same spam blasting which started, for me, in the past couple months, so I don't think it's a force the free to get paid accounts. I've read articles that the Chinese and/or Russian hackers have stepped up their game on the U.S. I do agree that there has to be something that they can do to combat it and I hope it's soon because this is well beyond the numbers I've ever received before on any email account I've had in the past.

Funny it is only on the Hotmail/outlook account I have not the gmail or yahoo accounts...

That's seems to be true for me also. I haven't checked my rarely used Gmail account and, you're right, it's not getting the same kind or amount of spam - it's like zero. It's almost like Microsoft turned off their spam switch. Maybe they should get their AI to work on this.

Blocking doesn't help, they just send from another address - reporting phishing also doesn't stop it. During a spam attack for several days, hundreds come into the Inbox - is there a way of keeping them out that doesn't involve listing each one?

>>is there a way of keeping them out that doesn't involve listing each one?

Many advisors here copy/paste the same replies (to similar problems or questions) regardless of the fact they won't work. If spammers are targeting you, there is little you can do to stop them. Effective spam filter may help to cut down the spam volume but in many cases spammers beat spam filter. The bottom line is when spammers get a hold of your email address, that account is doomed. I still see the same spam sent to non existent addresses (deleted 20+ years ago) hitting the mail servers (in the SMTP logs).