Microsoft email regarding Complete Purchase to keep account active for Entra ID tenant?

satxlady 60 Reputation points
2025-04-06T15:00:51.1566667+00:00

Received email that appears to be from Microsoft telling me that I have to complete a purchase by May 6 to keep my account active. "You are receiving this email because your associated Microsoft Entra ID tenant (tenant ID xxxxxxxxxxxx) has been inactive for more than 200 days. Required action: To continue using your tenant, make a purchase before May 6, 2025. If you don’t make a purchase before this date, your next purchase with Microsoft will require a new Microsoft Entra ID tenant to continue using Microsoft services."

I have no idea what they are talking about. I have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription but renew it using a purchased subscription every year (Military license) and my 365 subscription currently is valid for two more years. I haven't purchased anything else directly from Microsoft that I can remember for years. I also don't intend to purchase my subscription renewal through Microsoft unless they discontinue offering the Military licenses through AAFES.

Can I ignore this? I just don't want anything to happen to my 365 subscription because my family relies on it for OneDrive (and Office).

Microsoft Security | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Entra ID

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  1. B-Flow 0 Reputation points
    2025-07-13T21:29:05.6766667+00:00

    I got this email today on a hotmail account I have had for literally decades. I still get emails on it but have never used it for anything else, never made a Microsoft purchase with it, etc.

    So with that said, this make no sense whatsoever.

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  2. John Joyner 80 Reputation points MVP
    2025-07-17T13:56:42.5666667+00:00

    I also received the message, and the Tenant ID does resolve to an Entra ID tenant that we use with a on-premises Windows Server lab. The tenant type is Microsoft Entra ID Free. The only thing we use the tenant for is On-premises directory synchronization, which is an included free service with the Microsoft Entra ID Free SKU. Microsoft support says: "You aren't charged for the product and it's a free product. It remains active as long as your billing account is active."

    However, I can't understand how to keep the billing account active when only using Microsoft Entra ID free... which is free and has no bill...it seems like a Catch-22?
    I am not able to open a support ticket on this issue and the telephone support suggested by "New Support Request" 800-865-9408 offers no live human only a recording which hangs up.

    If anyone can shed light on what to do here, I would appreciate it very much. Bottom line: We are using the tenant actively in the free mode and don't desire that it is cancelled.

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  3. Herbert M. / Vancouver BC Canada 5 Reputation points
    2025-07-18T21:33:34.58+00:00

    I have just received a similar "Action required"... email. I suspect it is a legit Azure email, but for a (easily created) bogus Entra ID.

    It was delivered to my (aged) Outlook mail, and I am sure it is on many lists for spamming. The email alias readily identifies it as an Outlook/Microsoft ID.

    I do have a number of Entra (aka Azure) tenants, but the GUID used in the email was not associated with anything I had. Using some online lookup tools (listed below, they "seem" legit...) revealed it to be a simple/ad hoc/quick-and-dirty generated tenant based on my MSID (or perhaps it was crafted to look similar to such a domain alias) - see an example below. Other details show the association to be bogus/random (not sure if the "Organization Name" was also hijacked from somebody else). I would presume that an email on the initial creation of this Entra ID against my MSID would be sent and require a confirmation from me; I do not have a record of it... Maybe the Entra ID creation was started 200 days prior and nothing else since has happened?

    I suspect this is a form of "phishing" scam to catch people who 1) use their MSID for signing into Azure and 2) manage multiple tenants. Perhaps the goal is to get someone to think this is their Entra property and attach a credit card to it or add confidential information to it.

    Alternatively, this is some convoluted means to establish an Internet presence under the hijacked/assumed MSID identity?

    ex: bogus Entra ID domain (made up on the fly by me, not what I found, apologies if it matches an actual domain):

    fnamelastnamelive123.onmicrosoft.com

    This could be potentially associated with an Outlook email alias (aka MSID) such as:

    ******@live.com

    ref: https://tenantidlookup.com/

    ref: https://gettenantpartitionweb.azurewebsites.net/

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  4. Cristian Costea 25 Reputation points
    2025-07-19T08:33:12.0466667+00:00

    I have received the same email.

    I looked up the tenant ID from the message using https://tenantidlookup.com/

    It displayed a domain that was created automatically for an Azure subscription I used 10 years ago. These tenants are created when you buy Azure or Microsoft/Office 365 services. Probably you have purchased some services or someone set them up for you, in the past, that have no billing activity in a long time.

    If MS would have added the domain name or other information it would be easier for everybody.

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  5. DJ Jecker 10 Reputation points
    2025-07-21T15:01:31.9833333+00:00

    Questions about this (via search engines) go back into 2024. So, Microsoft is well aware that it is a concern and knows the answer, so they need to just CLEARLY TELL US WHAT this is, and WHY WE ARE GETTING THESE. Some of the answers in searches have been, "Well, turn it in to Microsoft to create a ticket". Why would MS be amenable to receiving tens of thousands of individual ticket requests for answers? Just ANNOUNCE IT, please!!

    The email goes on about something we have no idea what it is, never heard of it, yet it's saying that in order to keep "it" we have to make a purchase.

    NO!

    1.) Huh?

    2.) I don't "click on links in strange emails. We are trained NOT TO.

    3.) Not making some weird "PURCHASE" just because it says so.

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