Phone number locked in verification spam loop — Requesting Moderator Escalation

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Phone number locked in verification spam loop — Requesting Moderator Escalation

Zee Rawalpindi 0

I am from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. For the past month I have been receiving unsolicited sms on my phone from Microsoft. These are 6 digit codes and the message is like;" use verification code 790845 for Microsoft authentication." After receiving these messages I researched online how to secure my account from these hacking attacks. I have two Microsoft accounts, I changed password for both and have linked both to Microsoft Authenticator App. Still I continue to receive these unsolicited verification sms from Microsoft, both through regular sms and Whatsapp texts.

I have tried to look up which accounts are linked to my phone number as I may have another account or an old skype address that I don't remember, but Microsoft Account Recovery Portal does not let me do so. Upon entering my phone number it always gives error "Verify another way. This method is not working right now"

I also tried calling Microsoft support number listed for Pakistan that reroutes through Singapore, but the automated system does not forward my call to an agent.

Other than the two Microsoft accounts that I have, I want every other account to be blocked permanently and my phone number unlinked. Please help.

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Answer 1

EmilyS726 269.8K Independent Advisor

If someone knows your email address, even if they don't know your password, they can go to Microsoft website to use the "forgot password" option to trigger a 2FA ask. Doesn't mean your account is compromised, it is just that they are trying to reset your password, but if you don't approve the 2FA they will not succeed.

I get that this can get annoying if you receive a lot of these alerts., You can do this to prevent it.

Go to your Microsoft account online https://account.live.com> Sign in > Your info > Sign in preference. Add an alias - You have two options here:

Create new: this will allow you to use the native domain outlook.com to create a new alias.

Add existing: this will allow you to add a 3rd party email address, such as yahoo, gmail, as long as they are not already associated with another Microsoft account.

Once added, make this new alias your primary alias, do NOT delete the old alias. Then at the bottom, click on "Change sign in preference". On the next page, uncheck the box for the old alias. This means, from now one, the old alias cannot be used to sign into your Microsoft account, but it can be still used to receive emails, etc.

Zee Rawalpindi 0 Reputation points

2026-10-02T15:45:05.1166667+00:00

Thank you for the detailed advice regarding sign-in preferences. However, please note that the spam codes are not being triggered by my email address.

The automated bot or attacker is typing my mobile phone number directly into the Microsoft login screen, which triggers both standard SMS and WhatsApp verification codes.

Because they are using my phone number, changing my email aliases will not stop these texts. Furthermore, because my phone number is locked in the 'Verify another way' loop on the Account Recovery Portal, I cannot see which unknown account has my number attached to it.

I need help from someone with backend system access to check phone number allocations, could you please escalate this thread or tag a Microsoft Support Specialist/Forum Moderator who can open a secure Private Message with me to investigate this backend phone alias issue? Thank you
EmilyS726 269.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-02T16:13:47.3333333+00:00

So you’re saying neither Microsoft account lists your phone number as security information?

What about guest access to an organization’s tenant? Has either Microsoft account ever been invited to an organization as a guest, where your phone number may have been registered as an authentication method there in their tenant?

Microsoft external staff or moderators may be able to contact you privately, but they cannot see or change backend account-security information either. No one in the community forum can access that, especially when it involves account security.

Another possibility is that someone accidentally entered your phone number as security info when creating their Microsoft account. If they mistyped their own number, they may now be repeatedly requesting verification codes and wondering why they never receive them. They might enter their outlook.com address correctly and password correctly, but the code was sent to you. Microsoft won't show them the full number, but the last 4 only during verification, so they may not even realize the typo. That could also explain why the account lookup is not working properly if the account was never fully verified. Or eventually that account can be blocked due to too many attempts.

If that is what happened, Microsoft cannot simply act on your request to modify or recover that account, because technically the account belongs to someone else, even though your phone number was entered on it.