Outlook users express alarm as inboxes flood with spam
Not just Americans missed work on Monday in observance of Presidents’ Day. According to the complaints from users forced to sift through an unusually large number of spam emails that managed to bypass the filtering process and land up in their inboxes, Microsoft Outlook’s spam filters also took a break.
People’s inboxes started filling up with spam early on Monday instead of moving directly to the rubbish bin as is usually the case, suggesting that the web version of Microsoft’s Outlook email service, formerly known as Hotmail, was having issues.
Several impacted users took to social media to vent their irritation at having to spend time handling so many unwanted messages, which included the inconvenience of having their phone alert them each time one arrived.
The Microsoft customer service team made every effort to reply to each complaint, typically by sending a note stating that they were aware of the issue and were trying to fix it.
Numerous commenters claimed that while the spam issue had been rather severe for several days or even weeks, it appeared on Monday that the filtering mechanism had entirely failed.
As the issue developed, one disgruntled user posted: “What’s up with Outlook Live? Over 30 spam emails each hour are being sent to me. I continue to report “JUNK,” yet more keep coming.
Another person asked: “Did Outlook determine this morning that it was time to disable the spam filters?
Hallie Ruben hold, a writer and historian, claimed on social media that her Outlook email was severely impacted: “I’m being besieged. Someone, please put a stop to it!
The impacted customers began receiving this message from Outlook’s Twitter account on Monday night: “Thanks for contacting out. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. The problem has been fixed. If you need help and are still having problems, DM us. It has not yet revealed what went wrong with the screening system.
Although it appears that the issue has been resolved, impacted users may still need some time to clean up the mess in order to restore order to their inboxes. Still irritated? There are Many substitutes.
