For those who have had some strange behavior with your Microsoft apps over the last few days (Sept 26 – 29), yes there have been some issues with the Microsoft servers. Microsoft admits to a multi-hour outage over the weekend. I suspect that they were hacked and Microsoft brought the services down to protect users. Evidence? Monday morning I attempted to load MS Edge onto a machine and the antivirus stated that the update was being abandoned because it contained a virus. Also, a number of cloud and email users of 365 and outlook products had the passwords from their products and Microsoft password storage purged during this same period.
If you are one of those impacted, it looks like Microsoft has cleaned up the mess and you can return to using those services. If your password(s) for one or more services was purged, go ahead and supply your passwords manually (as requested by the service in a pop-up) and then look into changing any affected passwords at your earliest opportunity. As always, it is very important to verify which service is requesting a password; if it is for a web service, look carefully at the address and make certain it matches the address for the appropriate service.
There are so many scams in operation out on the world wide web right now that it is likely you have seen or been called by one of the scam operations. There are several places you can look for help recognizing a scam; I can recommend fcc.gov and the many resources they maintain. In addition, a simple google search or bing search will often highlight what others have already encountered and identified. Your favorite neighborhood computer consultant or technician is likely to have already encountered and dealt with any but the very latest of scams and can be an excellent resource before and, sadly after you get involved with a scam.
A few tips, Microsoft is not monitoring your system (well at least not to spot scams or viruses) and will not call you to help you, will not put a full-screen popup on your computer, and will not email warnings to you. Any of these things are evidence that someone is trying to scam you. Generally, these scams are aimed at getting money from you, getting useable information about you or your financial footprint. It is extremely important that none of us give out this information to the scammers, no matter how harmless or helpful it or they may seem, and of course, do not give money in any form to anyone you do not already have a business relationship with.
Another tip, if the nice people who sent you a message or popup or warning offer to install McAffee products for you, or Symantec products, they are quite likely scammers. Why? Symantec owns both families of products and makes them available in bulk for at virtually no cost so they are easy choices for scammers trying to look legit.