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Cyber Security - Phishing - What to do if Your Account is Marked as SPAM

Explanation of what happens when accounts are flagged as spam and what the user needs to do to re-secure their account.

If you have clicked on a phishing link and your account starts spamming others with phishing emails, then Microsoft will flag your account and mark it as a spam account. 

ITS does the following actions to your account in response:

1. All forwarding rules are removed from your Exchange Mailbox.
  • Sometimes when accounts are spammed, forwarding rules are put in place.
  • Forwarding will send all emails intended for your inbox to another account's inbox.
  • ITS deletes the email address put in the forwarding box to make sure your emails are still going to your account.
2. All mailbox rules are removed from your Exchange Mailbox
  • Sometimes when accounts are spammed, inbox rules are put in place.
  • Inbox rules have many capabilities.  For example, a rule could send your mail straight to the trash, send your mail to spam, etc.
  • ITS deletes any rules that could have been placed to make sure your emails are going into your inbox.
3. Your account is suspended. 
  • When ITS sees that your account has been flagged for spam, ITS immediately changes your password to make sure the spammer does not have access to your account anymore.
  • This means that you will not be able to sign into Canvas, email, WINGS, or any other university account until you change your password.
To change your password, follow the steps to Reset your Expired or Forgotten Password at https://kb.uwlax.edu/page.php?id=89101.


Keywords:
phishing, email, spam, forwarding, inbox rules, flagged, phish, hack, hacked, marked, mark 
Doc ID:
84801
Owned by:
David H. in UW-La Crosse
Created:
2018-08-10
Updated:
2024-07-25
Sites:
UW-La Crosse