Microsoft Account: Recovery form doesn't recognize account after attacker deleted email and phone security info

Question

Microsoft Account: Recovery form doesn't recognize account after attacker deleted email and phone security info

Rinax Antonio 0

Service: Microsoft Account (personal/consumer account recovery)

Scenario: My Microsoft account was compromised. The attacker deleted both my email and phone number as security info, then added their own email as the new recovery contact. I received two official Microsoft security notifications confirming both deletions, arriving within minutes of each other, confirming an active takeover.

Result: The standard account recovery lookup and the account.live.com/acsr form both say my original email and phone "aren't recognized" as tied to any account — likely because they were deleted as security info rather than just changed. I'm unable to proceed past the identifier-lookup step of either recovery path.

Troubleshooting already done:

Submitted account.live.com/acsr with original email and phone — both rejected as unrecognized

Attempted normal sign-in with original email — also not recognized

No other accounts are linked to this Microsoft account for password recovery, so this is isolated

Question: Since both original identifiers are no longer recognized by self-service tools, is there a way to manually verify ownership using the security notification emails I received, which do reference the account? I'd rather not post my account email/phone publicly per the PII guidelines — happy to provide details through an official/private channel if a moderator can point me to one.

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Answer 1

Hi @Rinax Antonio

I’m very sorry to hear that your Microsoft account has been compromised and that the attacker removed the original email address and phone number from your security information.

If the system no longer recognizes the account’s original sign-in information, you may be unable to complete the standard recovery process. Support agents also cannot reset the password or directly change the security information on the account. The security notification emails may help explain what happened, but Microsoft does not consider them a separate method of verifying account ownership.

Please use another Microsoft account that you can access to contact Microsoft Support through the Contact Us page:

Select Show expanded list of products.
Choose Outlook > Get Home support.
Search for Account Recovery, then select Get Help > Contact Support.
Sign in with another Microsoft account if you cannot access the affected account.
Ask our Support Assistant > Type "Talk to live chat agent" > Contact Support
Select Other Products > Manage Account Security > Chat with a support agent via web browser.

Please have the security notification emails, previous passwords, purchase or billing information, and details of devices previously used with the account ready. Only provide this information when requested through an official and secure Microsoft Support channel.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas.

Thank you for your understanding.

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