Is this a genuine feedback request/email from Microsoft?

Question

Is this a genuine feedback request/email from Microsoft?

Bruce, Tina 20

Received an email a couple of days ago from Microsoft Feedback ******@email7.microsoft.com. Assumed it was potentially spam/scam/phishing and ignored - doesn't appear to relate to any contact I've had recently with MS, just a generic "what's working well, click your response", so ignored and deleted. I've now received a followup - is this a genuine contact from MS, or just a persistent scammer? Many thanks :-)

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Answer 1

Marcin Policht 109.5K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Yep - ******@email7.microsoft.com does not appear to be a commonly used Microsoft support or survey domain, so you were right to treat it cautiously. Microsoft typically sends legitimate email from domains ending in microsoft.com, office.com, outlook.com, or trusted subdomains such as mail.microsoft.com. A sender address like email7.microsoft.com can sometimes be used through third-party bulk email services, but it is also the kind of naming pattern commonly seen in phishing campaigns.

A generic “how are we doing?” message with clickable feedback buttons is a very common phishing technique because it encourages quick interaction without making the recipient think carefully. The fact that it followed up after you ignored it does not make it more legitimate - many automated scam campaigns send reminders.

The safest approach is exactly what you already did - do not click links or buttons, delete the message, and verify independently if needed. If you want to check further, inspect the full message headers and look for whether the message passed SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation for Microsoft-owned domains. Also hover over any links without clicking; phishing emails often redirect to unrelated domains.

If you have not entered credentials or downloaded anything, simply deleting the emails is sufficient. If you did click a link, monitor your Microsoft account activity at account.microsoft.com, change your password if anything looks suspicious, and ensure multi-factor authentication is enabled.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Bruce, Tina 20 Reputation points

2026-06-17T13:59:40.8666667+00:00

Hi Marcin

Thanks for such a comprehensive response. I agree with everything you've said, but the message passes all authentication checks -

Authentication-Results: spf=pass (sender IP is 98.97.250.39) smtp.mailfrom=email7.microsoft.com; dkim=pass (signature was verified) header.d=fra1.xm-feedback.com;dkim=pass (signature was verified) header.d=email7.microsoft.com;dmarc=pass action=none header.from=email7.microsoft.com;compauth=pass reason=100 Received-SPF: Pass (protection.outlook.com: domain of email7.microsoft.com designates 98.97.250.39 as permitted sender) receiver=protection.outlook.com; client-ip=98.97.250.39; helo=smtp-250-39.fra1.qemailserver.com; pr=C

I haven't clicked any of the response links, but hovering over shows it redirects to https//msftexperienceeu.qualtrics.com/......

So tricky to ascertain actual validity, as it looks very genuine, but one item of info in the personalisation is incorrect, so either wrong data held (unsure how they would get that), or a scam!

Tina
Marcin Policht 109.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-17T14:54:41.3633333+00:00

What you are seeing seems to be consistent with a technically legitimate bulk email campaign rather than a simple spoofed phishing message. The SPF, DKIM, and DMARC results all passing means the sender was authorized to send on behalf of email7.microsoft.com, and the Qualtrics destination is significant because Microsoft genuinely uses Qualtrics for customer surveys and feedback programs.

The xm-feedback.com DKIM signature is another clue pointing toward Qualtrics (“Experience Management”), which many large companies use to distribute surveys. In other words, this does not look like a forged email pretending to be Microsoft in the traditional sense.

That stated, “authenticated” does not automatically mean “safe” or “relevant to you.” Companies often use third-party marketing and telemetry systems that pull stale or incorrect profile data, especially if the email address was associated with a Microsoft product registration, support case, Insider program, Xbox account, M365 tenant, or other service at some point. An incorrect personalization field is therefore not, by itself, evidence of a scam.

The biggest question is whether you were expecting any Microsoft-related survey. If not, there is no obligation to interact with it. Even legitimate surveys can still be used for profiling, marketing segmentation, or data collection. Ignoring and deleting it remains a perfectly reasonable choice.

If you want to verify independently without using the email links, you can sign directly into your Microsoft account and check recent activity, messages, or support interactions. You can also search Microsoft’s support site for references to “Qualtrics” and “Microsoft Feedback” - Microsoft has used Qualtrics infrastructure for years.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin