How long does lockout last on hotmail

The first mail contained the following text:. I read a couple of blogs you posted about arbitrary blocking of Microsoft accounts. I received a notice that my account has been suspended for a violation of the terms of use.

I believe that all my content and actions within the Microsoft ecosystem are above board. I attempted to follow the process only to receive a message that I violated their terms of service and my account will not be restored.

The facts are well known and outlined above. The user's account was blocked out of the blue. The accusation is "violation of the terms of use". If the trap strikes, the affected party goes round in circles with Microsoft. Because the nature of the violation is not named and no account is unlocked again. After I replied to the affected person, he got back to me with additional details. With his permission, I am posting these on the blog — as an example for potential victims:.

I will give you additional details about my situation in case you are collecting data or want to blog more about the issue. I've had my account since the late 90's. It was a hotmail. Never had issues with my account. Started on Amazon S3 with the Jungledisk encryption program.

Used Amazon for quite a while no issues. Mid's, my lifetime Jungledisk purchase was changed to a subscription based license. O started to rise, I saw cost savings by switching to OneDrive.

Started using OneDrive then a little bit later started using BoxCryptor subscription-based software on my important files. Sometimes BoxCryptor can be a pain to operate. Sometimes it crashes, sometimes it has issues with offline files. Up to this point, it was a usage scenario that millions of Microsoft users were familiar with. But then something went wrong, as can be seen from the user's description:. It was looking to trim some of my online subscriptions e. I thought my data was reasonably safe on OneDrive.

I had 2-factor enabled. I decided to decrypt my important data e. The mention of encryption rings an alarm bell in the back of my head. My conclusion, some time ago: As soon as encryption is used, you are on swampy ground when it comes to OneDrive.

The disaster then took its course for the person concerned although he unencryptes his stuff and uploaded it to OneDrive Personal Vault, where Microsoft uses Bitlocker for encryption. I ultimately ended up trying to log into my account on a PC to get the dreaded 'your account is locked due to violations to the terms and conditions'.

I booted my XBox to find that I am unable to use it at all. I filled out the required form to get my account reviewed and received a response within 2 hours that 'there was a severe violation to the code of conduct and your account will not be restored. They asked for my ticket number, but have not yet heard back. Outlook email: You can unblock your Outlook account using a few simple steps Image: Getty. Your inbox could be flooded with dangerous porn blackmail again.

You don't need a smartphone to receive a security code. Text messages may come from either "MSFT", a short number, or a mobile number. If you have requested a security code, you can trust the message that arrives. If you get this email from BT broadband, you're not going to like it Porn site users warned their personal details may have beed exposed.

What to do if you can't unblock your account: There could be several reasons if you still cannot sign in to your Outlook account, from forgetting your password, to travelling, or using a new device. Clear your browser history, or try signing in to your account from a different internet browser. Outlook email: There are ways to recover your Microsoft account Image: Getty. Yes, I have access to all prior emails but if any one in the country that I have arrived in, wants to tell me that there has been a cancellation of my booking or any other change then I have to wait 24 hours until I have completed the verification process before I can know about the change.

And every time I have to answer the same list of questions. I have been a Hotmail user for around 20 years. Microsoft have been receiving these complaints for many years now and have done nothing about it. Sorry Hotmail but I cannot take this risk that I will miss a critical travel email with you anymore.

I am off to Gmail. Okay, so my account was reset this time in much less than 24 hours, maybe two or three. I had to change my password again and no doubt will have to do so twice more in the next week as my holiday progresses. Every time I change my password I have to change it in my Apple mail account and in my Samsung phone. Gmail does not seem to require this level of messing around just because I am on holidays.

There really should be a setting to allow me to tell them I am on holidays and not to block my account. I am sticking with my decision to move to Gmail. I mainly use it as an alternate email address to authenticate my other accounts when necessary, but it can be used as your main freemail provider. So I expect them to be around for a while. So is Gmail, and any of the other free services. The catch is that the account has to be set up properly. All recovery features set, tested, and kept up-to-date.

Suddenly they are cut off of their accounts and have very little recourse. Mark and I have done numerous tests while traveling. We have even set up new Hotmail accounts with no recovery and then on purpose got ourselves locked out. Once I had someone back home simply log in and authenticate, and I was back in business. I set my VPN location o Munich, and many sites are blocked like Netflix and Comcast, along with some mail, and my news sites are in German.

VPN is not the solution to all problems but they do work. The problem we are having during overseas business trips as regards hotmail accounts can be solved easily by just add an extra very sensitive password requested only when the person arrived in a new country, which means that every country he visited he must applied for a new password, thus, when he returned back home he need to get back to his original password.

Yes I was surprised when my Hotmail account was blocked when travelling. I had been using for years on various holidays abroad. I do not use a cell phone and my security number was my home land line. I tried the security questions and was able to answer questions but this was only because I use the account regularly; I was also lucky to access my gmail account which I do not use in normal circumstances.

There also seemed to be an assumption that I had an x box or had registered my credit card with MS!!! I was hoping to add my tablet as a trusted device but the feature does not seem to be available for an android tablet which is a shame.

Literally just crossed from Thailand to burma right next to each other and it happens again! This is a relatively new feature of Hotmail that was created to help with the huge problem of hacking. More than likely, in the future, Microsoft will suddenly change things again.

I have travelled 4 hrs away from my usual home. I stayed within Germany. I logged in whilst at my hotel and immediately got locked out due to suspicious activity.

When will Microsoft realise people travel for a living. I now have to go through a process of receiving a verification code via phone not feasible sometimes if roaming or via another email address. This can take a while as Microsoft are not the fastest at sending verification emails. So I have done this 3 times previously at the same hotel in the last year.

Always tick the box saying I use this device. My advise which I will take when I go home is migrate to another provider. Thanks for reading my story. I travel a lot and find that most free email providers take you through a few steps while traveling, although Outlook. I also have several recovery email address for all my important accounts. Actually Microsoft also locks you out if you change provider.

Even though using the same computer at the same location. A VPN is the only solution. The only thing we can think of which may possibly work is to get someone at home to either get the code from your phone, or log into your recovery account for you.

We tested that once while one of us was traveling and it did work. It might be that the US cell phone service providers block you from receiving texts unless you have a roaming upgrade.

So your phone would have be on and able to recieve texts. I should try that. You can use your Magic Jack number as a recovery number. If I send a text to my home phone here in Germany, I get a phone call and a robo voice reads me the text. So something like a Magic Jack could be a relatively inexpensive way to get account verification texts abroad. I would imagine that would work on most VoIP apps. I got both to send a code to my webmail great!

In each case they sent me a 7 digit code. One worked right away. When I tried to log in this am, the 4th code must have worked. My guess is it started the message with the code before my outgoing message started.

Have you heard of this before? The problem with the spinning page might be a browser cache issue, or a bad internet connection. Lots of times when traveling we end up on overloaded wifi. It works great one moment, then stalls out.

Unfortunately, not really. PS: your choice of name here cracked me up, because:. This is really f…. What are security questions for then???? I travel a lot and get really mad when i cant connect to my account because my location or the device i use is different… and it always happens at the worst time.

Plus when you re abroad, the phone number you associate with your account for security reasons doesnt work because guess what….. I hate hotmail recovery system, it sucks it sucks it f…. What would not be retarded is to give the user the option to activate or not this f…. GFY Outlook hotmail. I think much of it is a reaction to the fact that Hotmail was ruined by spammers and scammers. The most positive thing I can think is that they are over-reacting now and that will clean up their reputation as an email provider.

Maybe in the future they will get it together. Meanwhile, frankly, use something else. Is it worth all that aggravation! When you travel, Gmail will continue to retrieve your Hotmail emails. So I read the comments going back to and the verdict is almost unanimous: Microsoft is stupid. But when it comes to travel, so is Google Gmail. It seems that the concept of travel has never occurred to these developers. Having to verify yourself via a different email or phone creates the same authentication problem in a circular loop.

Some suggestions:. If traveling in Europe, get a paid email account from ions. This will allow you to get phone calls locally over WiFi. Of course, as much as possible, use fake information to register.

On the scale of travel related stupidity, Microsoft is more stupid than Google. Write down passwords, codes, security questions, etc. So it makes total sense that these services would have higher security standards for an account that is suddenly attempting to be accessed outside of its home country. Yes, they may over-protect, but given the choice: would you rather have your account hacked?

Of course not. So as you outline, awareness and preparation are the keys to success here. I see this has stirred up a bunch of comments. I too have this same problem, I do not use Outlook mail but I do use Gmail which does exactly the same thing.

As several others have commented here, there HAS to be a better method. There is a better method and it has been in existence for many years. Of course, you need to plan ahead and set it up before you travel. No, but if people are so concerned about a hacked email address then they should use different email accounts for different purposes they are free, so you can have several.

Use an address exclusively for financial matters in your home country, one for friends, one for shopping, one for travel, one for all the nuisance online site registrations. Too much effort? We call it life and we need to deal with its minor adversities. Since you need to plan ahead, why not plan ahead by making sure you have recovery codes with you? Or whatever other techniques the mail service will support to verify your identity overseas? Leo mentions that in this article and has a link to his article on it.

Unfortunately, this is not a highly publicized feature, I never heard about it till I saw it here. Security features become somewhat superfluous and not very effective if all the features are based on the same concept and subject to the same vulnerabilities. An extra code is nothing more than another form of password, subject to the same vulnerabilities. This is also very similar to the debate over how 2-factor authentication should be implemented.

Hackers are much smarter than we give them credit for. OK, this is my last message on this topic. Thanks for reading. Two-factor codes, for example, prove you are in possession of that second factor — a significantly higher barrier than just a password. Backup codes are a forced to be completely random and long, and b when stored securely are never exposed in the ways that passwords and secret question answers frequently are.

Totally agree that secret questions should no longer be used, and their use is, indeed, diminishing. And I believe that Microsoft knows how to protect its recovery code database from hacking. Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam.

All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication. I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read. Search Ask Leo! It happens often. Image: canva. When your email is suddenly accessed from a new location, it could mean someone other than you is trying to log in.

Email providers like Outlook. Each time I travel overseas, my Outlook. Locked out while traveling? Related This issue occurs outside travel. Related Questions How long does a Microsoft account stay locked? How do you unlock a locked Microsoft account? Why does Hotmail not recognize my password?

What do I do if I get locked out of my Hotmail account? Do this: Subscribe to Confident Computing! I'll see you there! Podcast audio. Video Narration. I'll show you a couple of possible signs. I'll review common causes and steps you can take to determine what's happening on your computer. I'll walk through one common solution.

All you need are two or three security questions as a safeguard. I Do all three in case one fails. Alfa Reply. I do not. Desktops not affected. The solution for my laptop is to use Firefox; works like a charm for both email accounts. I have a small business and make many contacts with vendors and perspective clients. Any time I deal with people who use free email I am most unimpressed and consider these people to be extremely unprofessional.

Free email is very bush league. If you really need your email pay for it! I have never experienced anything like a lock out. If I have a real problem I can get on the phone and talk with a real live person. Free email for anyone but kids is a pet peve of mine.

Try another browser like Firefox or Opera as an experiment. Try access from a library or another computer to eliminate problems with your own PC as a source. I use hotmail for its convenience and have had no problems fro over 10 years. ISP come and go so hotmail enables you to keep the same email address which is very convenient Jp. Hi I have experienced the same problem with being locked out from Hotmail for more than a month.

I tried a lot to regain access, but to no avail. Then for some other reason, I had to stop my router, and restart….. I in a few days found out that my Hotmail worked again. I have not understood why, but I think you should know, it could help…maybe…others. May I suggest that you abandon HotMail? Also ensure there has been no message installed in the vaction message text box.. You might be sending out spam and be completely unaware..

Great spam filters, reliable service, no problems with lockouts. I also have a Yahoo! Hotmail is my 1 account for business, I have no problem with it. Either you have malware on your computer or someone most likely someone you know is trying to be nosy or is doing this to pester you. With so many logon attempts every day, it would be hard to nail someone down. But I would get in touch with customer service to get to the bottom of it.

I always have to put my password in twice. The first time I always get this error message: The e-mail address or password is incorrect. Please try again. You could configure Hotmail to forward a copy to an alternate account. How do you get to the login page? If that works, then the answer is that you have probably been going to a phishing site, and giving them your login information every time.

Think about this.