Like many other posters here, I've been unable to recover my email account for many weeks, despite numerous attempts to prove I am the rightful person to recover it. I've spent weeks filling out their online questionnaires with what I could remember, including
past passwords and titles of recent email messages and the names of folders in my email box. However, I kept being automatically rejected (often within a minute of submitting the verification forms with details) and told I was unsuccessful in fully validating
myself. Finally, after posting support requests at the support site under two incident SR numbers, I was told my matter was being referred to a more senior escalation support team and that I'd get an email from the escalations support people,
Here's my question: Yesterday, I received an email from someone named Gary from Escalations Supports asking me to provide more information to him. Here is the text of that email:
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• SRX1217376199ID - WLID Escalation - Other
Microsoft Escalations Support (*** Email address is removed for privacy ***)
Add to contacts
9/16/13
To: [REMOVED]@hotmail.com
Hello,
I am with the Microsoft account Support Team here at Microsoft and I received an escalation regarding your [REMOVED FOR PRIVACY]@live.com account. I see that you attempted to reset your password online but unfortunately the system was unable to validate you
as the account owner based on the information you provided. Can you please answer the questions below so that I can validate you as the account owner and reset your password? Let me know if you have any questions.
So that we may better assist you, please provide as many details as possible about your account.
The following information is used only for account identification purposes. Use the same information you provided when you registered your account to assist us in our validation process.
1. State (if applicable):
2. ZIP or Postal Code:
3. Your alternate e-mail address:
4. Your IP address (List the IP addresses from each computer that you use to access your account. To determine your IP address, visit http://www.whatismyip.com. The numbers that appear at the top of this Web page are your IP address.)
5. Your Internet service provider (home or work):
6. The last date and time that you successfully signed in:
7. The names of any folders that you created in addition to the default folders in your mail account:
8. Subjects of any old mail that is in your Hotmail Inbox or mail folders:
For Windows Live Hotmail customers:
16. Names of contacts on your Messenger contact list:
17. Your Messenger nickname (display name):
Customers who have paid services (Hotmail Plus, Office Live, or Xbox Live customers)
1. Xbox or Zune prepaid card number (The prepaid card information must match the Live ID that you used to sign up.):
2. Last 4 digits of the credit card used for services:
3. Expiration of the credit card used for services:
4. Name as it appears on the credit card used for services:
5. Any additional info that might be useful in validating the ownership of the account:
6. By submitting this information, you acknowledge it will be handled in accordance with the terms of the privacy statement. Privacy Statement
Kind Regards,
Gary
Microsoft Account Escalations
[END OF TEXT of the EMAIL I received yesterday]
If this is a legitimate email from Microsoft's Escalation Support team, I am glad to finally hear from someone who might help me. However, I feel uneasy, too.
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IT APPEARS HE IS ASKING ME TO PROVIDE THE INFO
VIA AN EMAIL, which I find rather insecure, considering the lower level MS escalation agents at the official Support Site asked me to post messages/communications over there.
His email to me has a different SRX number than the previous two SR numbers listed on the official MS support site (which were marked as closed on that site, even though they never resolved the matter for me). On the incidents list, there is no mention of the
new SRX number, but I was assured that I was to expect an email from an escalated level of support and that this one must be legitimate.
CAN I SAFELY RESPOND TO THE QUESTIONS ASKED BY GARY OF ESCALATIONS SUPPORT IN EMAIL FORM? Arguably, email format is not secure compared to the format for online communications used on the official support site. I have sent him a brief reply telling him that
I would be willing to provide info, but questioned the wisdom of doing so in an insecure format such as regular email. ANY ADVICE ON WHETHER I MUST PROVIDE THE INFO IN EMAIL FORM back to him?
FYI, the support site fails to list the new SRX number, so there is no place set up for me to respond to Gary's information request in the earlier secure site. I am baffled as to why an official ESCALATIONS SUPPORT team member would expect me to give confidential
information to him via ordinary, unencrypted email. It doesn't sound wise, Could it be Microsoft is just trying to collect more information about me while verifying my IP address used for email? Why would my case be handled with less attention to security
after being kicked up to a higher level of escalation support? Isn't this suspicious? What should I do? I want to get back inside my locked email, but I don't want to compromise my security in the process of recovering it.
LOCKED OUT IN PASADENA
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