Blocked Hotmail account. SMS verification...

[DoubleCheese]

A friend's Hotmail account has just been hacked and is sending spam emails. He's tried to log in but it's blocked and is asking for a phone number to send a verification code. He's cautious about this as why doesn't the scammer just do it and take full control with a new PW?

Any advice?

 

[Skidilliplop]

The number shouldn't just send a code to whoever sticks one in. It'll only do it if the number he puts in matches the one he's previously entered in the account.

The hacker won't be interested in his hotmail account, they're just harvesting valid username password combos to allow their spam bots to relay spam mail off of hotmail's SMTP servers. Primarily because it's unlikely anyone is going to blacklist them because of the sheer number of users.