Online scams are on the rise, and in 2024 alone, the FBI reported losses exceeding $16.6 billion. Scammers are constantly finding new ways to trick people into giving away money or personal information, and the latest tactic involves emails that look like they come directly from Microsoft.
These emails claim that you need to pay for a transaction on your account, but in reality, it’s a trap. They just want to access your information through fake official Microsoft emails.
How the Scam Works
Microsoft offers many services beyond Windows, including Power BI, a business analytics tool designed to help organisations visualise and share data. Power BI sends legitimate emails from the address “no-reply-powerbi@microsoft.com”, and Microsoft even recommends adding this address to your email’s whitelist so you do not miss important notifications.
Unfortunately, scammers have started taking advantage of this trust. Recently, a user reported receiving an email from this address claiming a $399 transaction had been made on her account. Instead of asking her to click a suspicious link, the email instructed her to call a phone number to “cancel or get an instant refund”.
When she called, she was asked to install a remote access app on her computer, exactly what the scammers wanted. Once installed, they could potentially access her device and steal personal information.
This pattern has been repeated in other cases. On a Microsoft forum, another user shared that an email claimed a $600 Bitcoin purchase had been made on their account, with instructions to call a number if they did not authorize it
How Scammers Make It Look Official
You might wonder how scammers can send emails from a real Microsoft account. Power BI allows anyone to add an external email as a subscriber to a dashboard. Those subscribers then receive emails from “no-reply-powerbi@microsoft.com”.
The problem is that whoever adds your email can edit the content of the emails. Scammers exploit this feature by adding random addresses, customising the email with fake transaction details, and sending it. Because the email comes from a legitimate Microsoft address, many people are tricked into believing it is real.
Although the email does mention at the end that you are receiving it because your address was added to a Power BI dashboard, many users miss this small print. Microsoft has temporarily disabled this subscription feature while working on a permanent fix.
How to Protect Yourself
Power BI is not the first platform to be exploited for phishing, and scammers have also targeted services like PayPal and Google. In order to stay safe, there is some important information about which you must look out for, which is
- Check the sender’s address carefully. Look for small typos, like “mirosoft.com” instead of “microsoft.com”. Look for mistakes. Poor grammar or awkward phrasing is often a red flag.
- Never install apps or call numbers from suspicious emails. Legitimate companies won’t ask you to install remote access apps or pay for unauthorised transactions.
- Use built-in scam detection tools on your devices and email services to filter potential threats.
Awareness is your best defence. If an email seems off, pause and verify before taking any action; it could save you from becoming the next victim.
