Stop changing the display of email addresses to names on outlook. This is supporting CYBERSECURITY Criminals.

Reported
Anonymous
2023-12-01T19:38:31+00:00

When I type an e-mail address to someone, Outlook changes it to the name in my contacts instead of leaving it alone as the actual e-mail address.

For example, I received an email from an unknown contact (a scammer) whose email address is **removed for privacy reasons**@gmail.com and outlook displays my CEO's name instead of the scammer's email address. How and why is my CEO's name displayed from an email address that has random letters??

The way Outlook is currently displaying names instead of email addresses makes people extremely vulnerable to scams, phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity threats.

Furthermore, I am not the first person to raise this issue. Please see this same issue raised at this link: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/show-the-actual-e-mail-address-instead-of-the-name/09baa36a-b494-456c-901f-475032c72b8d?page=1  Microsoft needs to address this issue and stop giving responses on forums that are unrelated to issue at hand. Instead please ESCALATE this issue to appropriate party responsible for making decisions and TAKE ACTION immediately.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-12-03T03:42:37+00:00

    Thanks for your help. I’ll try that and confirm if it works.

    With regard to the 2nd paragraph in your response, the email address the scammer used (which I provided in my original post) was a set of random letters. Furthermore, the email address was not saved in my contacts. With that said, could

    you please adjust your response and address why was it displaying a name? I think this question has been raised multiple times with Microsoft and no one has yet got a straight answer.

    Yes, I agree it is important to verify the senders email address before responding to any emails … it would be easier to do that if Microsoft displayed email addresses instead of names, or at least created an advanced option to do so for users.

    It’s 2023; there’s no reason your response to this should be “currently we don’t have that as a feature or option” or “if the person is in your contacts” excuse. In this cybersecurity landscape, if users NEED email addresses displayed regardless of who’s on their contact list, that should be presented as an option by Microsoft.

    Thanks for escalating this issue. This issue is important and has been raised multiple times. It would be nice for this to finally be addressed in a real way.

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  2. Reported
    Anonymous
    2023-12-02T15:15:22+00:00

    Hello! Sanjana Chowdhury

    Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community

    I understand your concern regarding the display of email addresses in Outlook. Outlook automatically displays the name associated with an email address if it is saved in your contacts. However, you can change this setting by going to Outlook.com settings, selecting "View all Outlook settings," clicking on "Compose and reply," and then selecting "Always show email address." This will display the actual email address instead of the name associated with it.

    Regarding the issue you mentioned with the scammer's email address displaying your CEO's name, it is possible that the scammer has spoofed your CEO's email address. This is a common tactic used by scammers to make their emails appear more legitimate. It is important to always verify the sender's email address before responding to any emails, especially if they are requesting sensitive information or money.

    I will pass along your feedback regarding this issue to the appropriate team for further review. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

    Thank you,

    Vince

    Microsoft Community Moderator

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