I received the following account alert from {removed email address} that said that my Hotmail account has been inactive for 20 days, and there's no way this is true?! I use my Hotmail account every day. I'm very suspicious to say the least, especially because the message provides a random link to fix the problem, and then enter login information and go through some "steps" to restore access. Why did I get this email? I'm going to ignore it for now because my Hotmail account is still working fine.

Here's the message:

During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures,
our records show your Hotmail account has been inactive for over 20 days.
To securely confirm and reactivate your account please click on the link bellow:

http://mail.live.com/?rru=inbox;&user={removed email address}

Once you log in, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access.
We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.
We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

© 2009 Microsoft

I too have received the exact same email today at 4 something am EST. I am also very active on my email account (send about 15 emails a day and am almost always logged on even if I'm not sending emails).

I agree with you about the suspicous email because for 1) The Windows Live logo in the email looks as if though it was just copy and pasted, looks to be of poor quality. I believe the real Windows logo is embedded in the email. 2) I made a courageous move and clicked on the link in the email and it took me to an exact replica of the hotmail sign in my page EXCEPT my email wasn't saved (like it should be) and the URL had something like "www.chineese-furniture.com//windows.live.ca or something (can't remember) so that was extremely suspicous.

From inspection it appears it is a cracking effort in an attempt to make people sign in with their real email and password which these crackers will use to login and send spam emails to all the emails contacts. It seems most people would fall for this since the sign in page is almost an exact replica of a real hotmail sign.

I hope a lot of people haven't gotten this email yet because it could cause a lot of havoc if it is a spam email. Hopefully Windows Live comments on the email soon.

@ sjma and Krutch11
 
That’s a hoax mail!  We don’t have 20 days inactivity. 
 
I suggest that you read the solution articles about phishing scam and for some info on how to identify common types of e-mail scams.  Check out these links:
 
http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!41528.entry
 
http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2008/10/25/phishing-scam-hotmail-warning-verify-your-hotmail-account-now-to-avoid-it-closed.aspx
 
http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2008/10/25/learn-how-to-recognize-the-5-most-common-types-of-e-mail-scams.aspx
 
To know how to report the sender of the e-mail, visit the link below:
 
http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2009/03/23/how-to-report-abuse-or-spam-in-windows-live-hotmail.aspx
 
BTW, I’ve moved this thread to the Managing Spam forum.