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Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
National
David Snelling & Aaron Morris

Warning as Microsoft PC users are flooded with dangerous spam emails

If your Outlook inbox looks a little busier than usual, then there's some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that you're not alone, however, the bad news is that Microsoft users are complaining that they are suddenly seeing surges of spam mail.

It is thought that Microsoft's usually tight filters are currently experiencing breakdowns, allowing malicious spam and phishing emails to slip through the net.

Read more: Second-hand shoppers warned of online scams as experts explain key warning signs

The Express reports that it's now vital that all Outlook users check their inbox carefully and delete anything that doesn't appear to have come from a trusted source as nasty malware, scams or phishing campaigns are likely to have bypassed email security. The worrying bug appears to have begun earlier today with Outlook users taking to social media to complain about the glitch.

"What’s happening? Lots of spam getting past all the filters and filling my inbox, almost nothing going into junk folder!" said one Outlook user, while another named Angie, added: "Is it just me or has @Outlook’s spam filter decided to take a holiday?!?! It is beyond ludicrous to have this many emails break through the filter into my inbox."

Along with mentions across Twitter and other platforms, outage monitor Down Detector is also showing a large number of reports of Outlook being down. There's currently no word from Microsoft on what is causing the bug but it's still an ongoing issue.

If you weren't aware, spam filters check each email as it arrives in your inbox. If something causes concern then the message is automatically placed inside a Junk e-mail box. This keeps it away from your main messages and can help cut down on nuisance correspondence and the chance of being targeted by malicious emails.

It's these filters that appear to be broken which is why so many people are being flooded by unwanted messages. It's unclear how widespread the problem is or how many users are being affected by the glitch but if your inbox is now flooded with bizarre messages you might want to spend some time carefully deleting anything that looks out of the norm.

Cyber criminals often use emails to tempt users into downloading malware-packed files. Links are also sometimes included that take people to fake websites where user names and passwords are siphoned and used to hack accounts.

Hopefully, Microsoft will release a fix soon. We'll update this article should we hear more.

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