Is there any point to reporting phishing emails?

Anonymous
2022-11-30T17:50:08+00:00

I'm using Outlook.live and I get upwards of 50 phishing emails a day. I report them all... every day. This has been going on for years. I get the same type and look of email even though the sender address constantly changes. Most are just a few block sentences, centered, no frills, that says Congratulations you won..., Click here for your prize..., Click here for this... Click here for that...

Blocking senders is a waste of time. They are always different. I thought Microsoft would be able to block based on content but I'm getting the same stuff over and over... Same stuff I've reported as phishing for years so it doesn't appear that the hundreds of thousands of emails I've reported are being looked at by anyone.

Is there no filtering on Microsoft's side? If there is, why is it not working... if not why report the phishing emails??

sr

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-09-11T13:40:52+00:00

    LETS ASK A.I. WHAT TO DO… …. …. …. TYPING….. …. 😳 AH HA! IT SAYS .. UMMM … GET A NEW EMAIL… 😩 …

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-09-11T17:00:00+00:00

    In Microsoft's article on how to reduce spam, one of the points is literally to use an email address other than your main address when you sign up for mailing lists. That doesn't stop spam, it just redirects it. If you're signing up for a mailing list for information that you actually want, you still have to check that alternate email address and deal with the spam there. How about if the email companies develop a robust system for actually weeding out obvious spam, like emails that contain my unique domain name, or that purport to be from Amazon, Apple, or Microsoft but aren't from their actual addresses? Or anything that comes from "infofeed.*****", which is going to be outright ****?

    My husband and I had an email address through our internet provider when we initially signed up for internet access decades ago. We literally abandoned it as it devolved into nothing but spam and spending hours a day clearing it out was nothing either of us wanted to do. At least junk mail takes no more than a second to throw in the recycle bin.

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  3. Ron-6928 4,991 Reputation points
    2023-09-11T17:15:25+00:00

    Don't rely on email providers to protect your account from spam. Use multiple mail accounts. They're free. I have 1 account dedicated to sign up for things. You bet there is a ton of spam in there. I don't even care about those spam.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-10-03T08:50:51+00:00

    Wow, In a way I am glad it's not just me who is frustrated at the obvious pointlessness of reporting spam / phishing mails. I used to get about 50 per day, so I started reporting them, they are now at about 150 a day after 3 months. Pretty much all are of the same message just from variations of the sender address. I set up rules to auto delete the most common elements in them but within 10 mins of setting the rule I had more coming through.

    Effectively what I have discovered is that if you try to report them you get more - it's like adding water to a mogwai.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-10-03T11:15:00+00:00

    Yes, exactly my situation also! Won't hold my breath for any solutions coming from Microsoft giant!

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