Is this a scammer and their phone number?

Question

Is this a scammer and their phone number?

Hiroshi Avanitele 20

Hello,

My phone has received a call from +14256352970 but I did not manage to pick up because I left my phone while I was out with family for their food shopping.

I also received an email from Bhagyashree C ******@techsupport.microsoft.com about a MFA issue I had called to Microsoft Support before.

Is this person actually from Microsoft or is this a scammer?

Regards,

Hiroshi

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello! There’s no phone number pattern or name to watch for, since scammers can fake both. What matters is who started the contact. The email domain is the red flag here: techsupport.microsoft.com is Microsoft’s own, but anyone can register a free techsupport address on onmicrosoft.com, so check which one the email really came from.

The safest move is to skip the call and the email and sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center yourself. Find your case under Help & support, and reply there or use the support number listed there. If you’re not the admin, ask your IT admin to confirm the case.

And whoever contacts you, never share passwords or MFA codes, and don’t approve a sign-in prompt you didn’t start.

Please note that this is a public forum. I will do my best to respond within a short time, and I apologize for any delay. I’m simply another user sharing insights and information that may be helpful to others.

Answer 2

Ferdinand Nanalig 33,570 Independent Advisor

Hi, let me help you.

Is the MFA issue that you called about before already closed or still ongoing?

Hiroshi Avanitele 20 Reputation points

2026-10-25T09:41:09.6366667+00:00

Hi @Ferdinand Nanalig ,

Still ongoing. I saw "an expected response within: 8" so I do not know if its in hours or days.
Ferdinand Nanalig 33,570 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-25T10:06:37.21+00:00

Hi, Caller ID and display names are both easy to fake. The 425 area code is the Redmond/Bellevue region where Microsoft is based, which is exactly why scammers like spoofing it, so it doesn’t prove anything either way. The fact that you did contact Microsoft Support about MFA makes a follow-up plausible, but scammers also time their outreach to recent support activity.The fact that the case is still showing as open is a good sign the case is real, but it doesn’t verify that the caller or email sender is. I’d still wait for the response through the portal itself, and if someone claiming to be Microsoft contacts you, ask them for your case number and compare it with the one you see when signed in.
Hiroshi Avanitele 20 Reputation points

2026-10-26T05:42:01.7333333+00:00

Hi @Ferdinand Nanalig ,

How can I tell if it's an actual Microsoft tech support? If calling has a possible chance of scammer trying to get the information I am trying to pass to the tech suport, is there a specific pattern in phone numbers I am supposed to watch out? or the email that was given to me by @techsupport.onmicrosoft.com, who's name should I watch out for or who should I respond to in case of scammers?

I am sorry if this is repeating. This is my 1st encounter with the ongoing MFA issue with a business user account.

Answer 3

The email domain techsupport.microsoft.com is one of the domains Microsoft support uses to send emails, so that email address can be genuine.

The phone call alone is not enough to prove legitimacy. Microsoft states that it will not cold call to tell someone there is a problem with a device. However, if support was contacted first about an MFA issue, a follow-up contact from support can be legitimate.

Use these checks:

Verify the sender domain exactly matches techsupport.microsoft.com.
If the email asks to call a phone number, click a link, open an attachment, or provide unrelated personal information, treat that as suspicious.
Real Microsoft error messages do not include phone numbers.
If unsure, do not reply to the email or return the missed call based only on that message.
Instead, sign in through Microsoft’s official support entry points or use the official website to confirm whether the support case exists.

If the contact was unsolicited, or asked for remote access, passwords, payment, or sensitive personal information, treat it as a scam.

References: