My Account Is Locked or Shows a Suspicious Sign‑In

Category: Cybersecurity · Audience: Customers & Technicians · Est. time: 5–15 min

Summary

A locked account or an unexpected "new sign‑in" alert can be harmless (you mistyped a password, or travelled) or a sign someone has your credentials. Treat unexpected activity seriously.

If your account is locked

1. Wait a few minutes — many lockouts auto‑clear after a short period.
2. Reset your password at aka.ms/mfasetup or via the "Forgot password" link, using your MFA/recovery method.
3. Repeated lockouts with no obvious cause often mean an old password saved on another device (phone, tablet, a mail app) is retrying and locking you out. Update the password everywhere it's saved, or contact BBN Support to find the source.

If you got a "suspicious/new sign‑in" alert

1. Was it you? A new device, a VPN, or travel can trigger it. If you recognise it, no action needed.
2. If it wasn't you — act now:

• Change your password immediately from a trusted device.
• Approve nothing — if an MFA prompt appears that you didn't start, deny it.
• Contact BBN Support right away. We'll review sign‑in logs, sign the attacker out of all sessions, and re‑secure the account.

1. Review your recent activity at mysignins.microsoft.com — it lists where and when your account signed in. Report anything unfamiliar to BBN.

Warning signs your account may be compromised

• Sent items or rules you didn't create (auto‑forwarding to an outside address is a classic attacker move).
• Contacts receiving spam "from you."
• MFA prompts arriving when you're not signing in (MFA fatigue attack — always deny these).

If that doesn't work / it looks compromised

• Escalate to BBN Support immediately. We can force a password reset, revoke sessions, remove malicious mail rules, and check what was accessed.

Prevention

• Use MFA, a unique password (a password manager helps), and never approve MFA prompts you didn't start.