With a Microsoft account, users have 5GB of free cloud storage space on OneDrive. This is where you store items on your account, including files, photos, attachments and apps. You also get 15GB of free email storage.
Once you've used up this free storage, you then have to either delete items to make more space or pay for more storage with a subscription.
But if you've received emails warning you that your storage is full, it's worth double-checking that they're legitimate. We've seen scam emails that will try to trick you into giving away personal data through a phishing email impersonating Microsoft to get more storage.
Read on to see how to spot, avoid and report this scam.
Outsmart the scammers‘Storage full’ scam email
The message comes from a random email address that has nothing to do with Microsoft, which is the first major clue something's not right.
It's says: ‘Your Cloud storage is full. You have reached your storage limit. Your Cloud storage is full. But, as part of your loyalty program, you can now receive an additional 50 GB for free before the files on your Cloud Drive are deleted.’
This leads to a website where you’re asked for your name, address, phone number and email address. You’ll then most likely be asked for your bank details to receive the extra storage.
This data can be used to scam you now or in the future as fraudsters can keep your information to contact you with more convincing scams.
A genuine email from Microsoft
If you’re over your storage limit, Microsoft will send you an email from microsoft@mail.onedrive.com telling you how much you’re over by and include a link to subscribe to get more storage.
It’ll also include links to your emails with large attachments, prompting you to delete them, as well as links to your OneDrive where you can delete items to free up storage space.
Reporting scam emails
To report scam emails on a Microsoft account, click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the email, select ‘Report’ and then ‘Report phishing’.
If you have given away any details, make sure you change your passwords and contact your bank immediately if you’ve given any bank information.
You can report scams to Action Fraud if you become the victim of a scam.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/scammers-are-targeting-microsoft-users-with-storage-full-emails-arQBs0f2afx4