Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

Will MSN Hotmail tell me who logged into my account?

by

Question:

I own a Hotmail account which someone hacked into. I managed to get back the
password which they had changed, as they must have felt guilty and sent the new
password to my brother on MSN Messenger. I went into my account which I hadn’t
been able to get on for months – turns out they have caused a lot of trouble for
me – changed passwords for other websites which I can no longer access, sent
out personal emails to family and friends. They also contacted my friends and
family with vulgar and abusive language pretending it was me!

As you can imagine, I am very upset and angry, it has really got me down. I
have a feeling I know who it is but cannot point my finger yet. I was told that
if I contacted MSN support they could give me all of the IP numbers which
signed onto my account at that particular time, and find out who it was. Is
this possible?

To be honest, I’m still fairly shocked at how often this question comes up.
Apparently there’s a lot of account hacking going on, though poor password
management is actually more likely. Regardless of exactly how, accounts are
hacked into, and havoc often results.

I’m not at all surprised that people want to track down the culprit.

Unfortunately, for most of us, I believe that the news is not good.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

Tracking down who logged into your account is highly unlikely.
There are at least two huge issues at play here:

  • MSN Hotmail may simply not keep that information. I mean, that’s a
    lot of data that they would have to track, given the millions of
    subscribers and millions upon millions of logins that happen every day. From a
    purely practical point of view, I can’t imagine them keeping that information,
    or if they do, keeping it for any length of time.

    But, having said that, it’s certainly possible that they do, so…

  • They’re not about to give that information to just anyone. In fact, I would
    be very concerned if they did give it if you simply asked. There are major
    privacy and security issues that result if they were to provide that
    information easily. There may even be possible legal liability issues for MSN
    if they responded to that type of request.

“… my bottom line belief is that it’s simply not
practically available to us.”

The third issue is simply that the IP address may not be enough to help you
anyway. See the related articles below for more on why that might be.

So, ultimately, I believe that the information, if it exists at all, is just
not available to “mere mortals” such as you and I. In fact, you and I
want it to be difficult to get, simply to protect our own privacy in
normal use.

I’ve said this before: if this type of information is available at
all, I believe it would take law enforcement or a court order to get it. So, I
suppose you could try pursuing with your local authorities, and if they find
that there’s legitimate reason to act on it, they probably can.

But my bottom line belief is that it’s simply not practically available to
us.

Your best action is simply to learn from this, and do what it takes
to properly secure your account. Typically that means not sharing your password
with anyone, and choosing difficult to guess passwords, and where
appropriate, difficult to guess answers to your “secret question”. In my
opinion it also means not using free email accounts for anything
sensitive or important.

Do this

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

I'll see you there!

92 comments on “Will MSN Hotmail tell me who logged into my account?”

  3. i am not able to open my mail box, but i can acess my MSN messanger, why, i forgotten my Secrect question and some details like name all of the information i need can u pl retrive my message box.

    Reply

  4. Hey Leo,
    I’ve got kind of a simple question really, and it would solve a lot of problems: Can I find out the NUMBER of times my account has been viewed in say, 2006?

    Reply

  9. I changed my password a few months ago because i felt that someone is hacking into my account. its been over 2 months now and i have’nt been able to access my msn account, and im sure that someone has hacked into it again; and changed the password. my msn account that i can no longer access is atrisscat@hotmail.com
    is there anyway that i can access my account again?

    Reply

  12. hi leo, this is muna. i really am tensed and worried. i had my last email(blessy14243) checked on 24th of may. don’t know who has hacked my password.i am afraid if he or she takes the advantage of it. i really am in trouble . so plez’ could u help me out? i would be very greatful to u .
    thanks

    Reply

  14. hey leo my name is melissa, someone has hacked into my msn and i would likeit back is there anyway to help me my email address is pineapple_8720002hotmail.com but for now i have to use my boyfriends email to get information from you so if you get this message please send it to gillie_902 please help me get inot my msn again please really want it back my whole life is in there please help email me back as soon as you can thank you .
    melissa lowe

    Reply

  16. well my msn has been hacked in into and whom ever has hacked into it has been harassing everyone on there please sind out who has been hacking into my msn. thank you

    Reply

  17. Ok my physco X gf has hacked into my computer and im worried that she is talkin crap how do i find out how she did that and how can i get it back!

    Reply

  24. After reading your articles on hotmail & MSN I can see why everyone is having trouble We have had our share, depending on your pc and the programs you run you may find out a newer version of Mac or Windows is the best way to go. Good Luck & I hope you have alot of patience.

    Reply

  29. hey pplz ok well my ex thinks i hav deleted all her contacs nd its really anoing coz i didnt i went in2 her acount 2 see if she blockd me nd then the next day her mum calls me nd tells me 2 stay out of her acount but the strange thing is the onley one left was my acount she says??? i dont no if she has set me up but her mum calld me so probaly not plz tell me how 2 find out whos been in your acount coz i hate getn blamed for somfn i didnt do
    matt

    Reply

  31. my e-mail has been hacked into and they’ve changed my password so i can’t access it. they’ve been using my e-mail to cause trouble by sending rude messages to my contacts. How can I delete my account without my password?

    Reply

  32. My x recently hacked my account and changed all my passwords and secret questions,how can I get the account back.It has all important stuff for work!!!

    Reply

  33. my msn account has been hacked into and I cannot delete it as my hacker has changed my password AND secret question. I have made a new accoutn but recently been told that the hacker has been talking to people on my old account, I am worried about this as it could cause no edn of trouble and they have acess to my msn space which has pictures me of and friends. NO ONE, not even my mum knows my msn password and its not an easy one to guess so I don’t know how they managed t hack my account. Is there any way of deletng my old adress even though I do not no my password and have no proof that it was my old account? please help im desperate!! my odl account was frankie_norton@hotmail.com but is now frankie-norton@hotmail.com as I made a new account.

    Reply

  35. sir im in deep troble my account has been hacked by someone and it include my improtant information + family pictures and ammm soo soo sad and disturbed ….i need dat man and my id back at any cost!!
    can u help me!!!!
    reply me at hadia_mehar@hotmail.com

    Reply

  36. i want to no who sighned on mi msn and y r theese people cuzz they r takin off people and sayin stuff thats not ture lol

    Reply

  39. Im not sure what to do about my msn account. I recently intsalled beta live because I thought it would be better and now I cant get into my account. Its been almost a week now. Is someone else using my account and changing my information so I cant use it??? Please help. RR.

    Reply

  40. how can i get my msn aqccount details back? cos iv bn hacked by someone and need my account bak cos i got all family contacts on there and work related issues, please help me!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

  41. some one has hacked into my password and i had to make a new account. They have also stolen a pick of me and pretended to be me. i no this because i made a new account and added this person to my contact list. can you please help me and get back to me asap

    Reply

  42. someone hack in to my old accoutn which i really need to get back i think i no who did it but i just wannna no for sure plzz can u help me

    Reply

  45. id like to delete my account because iv found out that some one has acess to my msn but i cant delete the account or change the password fo some reason and i now have more sympathy for people who have had msns hacked into.plez plz plz help me

    Reply

  49. I think i have been hacked into, but i can’t tell who did it or when! is there anyway that i can tell who it was? they havent changed my password but they sent threatening messages to my family and freinds through my account! i have changed my password and i think that wiil stop another occurance but i can’t be sure! im really confuessd and worried and i need help! please tell me what i can do to stop them from getting into my account and tel me if a can trace who did it. i hope you can fix this… :(

    Reply

  51. Ive been very badly bullied by two people and the latest thing they have done is hack into my old Msn hotmail account, which i no longer use, however all my contacts are on there which are also on my new account, and these people still associate me with this account.
    I think they have hacked in to it because I blocked them on my current account and it was their way of getting a message to me. However, they have changed my password and my secret question , and i no longer have access to it, and I am worried they may cause a lot of trouble. Is there any way I can delete the account without the password? I am really stressed about this so would be grateful for any help, please?

    Reply

  55. WHEN I TRY TO DELETE OLD CONTACTS IT TELLS ME AN ERROR HAS OCCURED THEN I CLICK ON IT AND IT ASK ME IF IM SURE I WANT TO DELETE THEN ONLY GIVES U THE OK BUTTON TO HIT WHEN U DO THE CONTACTS ARE STILL THERE HOW DO I GET THEM OFF MY ACCOUNT

    Reply

  56. What to do or what is happening when mail is being sent to you but my name or IP address is not in the header. One day it starts and when I report it to the police (I suspect an estranged husband and his attorney) it stops. Can I glean anything from the headers? Anything to give me a lead?

    Thanks. Cate

    Reply

  57. What to do or what is happening when email is being sent to me but my name or IP address is not in the header. One day it starts and when I report it to the police (I suspect an estranged husband and his attorney) it stops. Can I glean anything from the headers? Anything to give me or the detective a lead? Includes personal emails and a range of sites like TicketMaster. Help! I think that they may have also stolen my identity.
    Thanks. Cate

    Reply

  59. I cannot delete hotmail contacts. They were added to my contacts without my knowledge and now they will not delete. I am changing my password. I saw this question by someone on Nov. 12, 2006 by someone else, but I could not find the answer.

    Reply

  62. someone hacked into my old account bout 2-3 years ago and ever since i have been trying to find out who could do such a thing this person apparently knows me very well are you able to find out who is responsible for this and what do i do if i find out who did this and let me know by email on this emaill address lazy_bitch1987@hotmail.com thank you very much

    Reply

  65. My password will not let me in to my account. I would like to know if there’s any way of finding out why? I suspect someone tried to access it “girlfriend” but have no proof! Is there no way of checking the history of password attempts as this would help solve my problem. Any help would do.

    Reply

  68. I’ve had this account for over 6 months, and I am unable to log in using the password I had.
    I have created a new password, but my account is gone; there are no emails posted, and should have many! Help?

    Reply

  69. I just wanted to know what my options are as my daughter is been bullied due to an instance that occurred on saturday evening where a group of girls hacked into my daughters account and thought it would be fun to upset everybody in her contacts my daughter is now been threatened and as a result of this she can’t prove that she wasn’t online. I know that when you log in it puts a stamp using the ip address. I know the kids concerned as they are all in the same swimming club and have been laughng about it i would appreciate some advice as i have tried to speak to the parents and they just think it is funny they don’t realise the hurt and pain my daughter is going through and is dreading going to school as she doesn’t know what has bee said.

    Reply

  70. Hi.

    2 days ago I had my e-mai account hacked into. I had similar horrible messages sent our saying that I had caught HIV and that I was on my way out – not the nicest thing in the world is it!.

    I was SHOCKED by how amazing microsoft were!. I submitted a form on-line and they got in touch with me aking for lots of credentials. Once i supplied these they gave me a link to get back in. All my contacts had been deleted but are easy to get back through the “options” menu.

    I think this was one of my best friends which I fell out with, bottom line, there is nothing you can do but keep your password safe, change it every so often and keep a cool head. Remember, what’s done on-line can be un-done and, though it may be difficult to start with, eventually you will win the battle.

    chin up people!

    Reply

  71. hi every one! i just wanna say that someone has logged into my accout i dont now who and that person deleted all of my contacts and open spcial people massges i now how to let people not to hake ur email follow these:
    dont make ur email’s secret qoustion easy.
    the alternate email should be yours or ur cousi who u really trust or sister brother and soo on.
    thnk u!

    Reply

  72. Hi, my name is Vivian and I have just recently read your article ” Will MSN Hotmail tell me who logged into my account?” and “I’ve lost my Hotmail password, can you help get it back?” and you have given a lot of information on that topic, which made me realize that there is pretty much little I could do. I did, however, read some of the comments that others wrote, more in particular, Russell Booth-Atkins where he mentioned microsoft and how he submitted a form to them and had credentials? His situation was successful, but would you happen to know more information about it? if so please, reply, thank you so much :)

    Reply

  73. Hi Vivian! so sorry for the late reply!!!

    On hotmail.com or .co.uk etc. you will find a help page, from there you can go through all the options which will include forgetting your password etc.

    Once you have gone into this section (which is very eary to find) there is a form, which on 1st Glance you wouldnt think of filling in as it does not mention being hacked.

    Fill it in anyway! You can add comments and they will all be read.

    Provide a new e-mail address and they will e-mail you back asking a LOT of questions about your account, such as details when it was set up, DOB etc. etc.

    within a day and half, upon providing the information you will receive an e-mail with a link which will take you into your account to create a new password!

    REMEMBER!!! CHANGE YOUR SECRET QUESTION STRAIGHT AWAY!!!!! this is under account settings!. If someone has hacked in, its a defo that they will have changed this, as after you change the password, they can answer the secret question and change it back! then you will have to wait for microsoft again!.

    Hope that helps!

    and to comment about lost contacts! Go into your settings and where it shows your allow list (you know when you have and have not blocked someone) they should be in there, as 9 times out of 10 the hacker uses “delete and block” therefore not getting rid of them totally!. This is also an easy thing to do as you just click “add to contacts” and watch them come back 1 by 1.

    Good luck all!

    xx

    Reply

  75. if they sent an e-mail and you still have it, then their ip address will be in the mail headers, in outlook you can get this by opening the message, then clicking view-options, the bottom pane shows the headers, and in there there should be a line that reads:
    X-Originating-IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
    where xxx… is the ipaddress that sent the e-mail,

    Reply

  77. hey leo thank god i found your site ..i was reading and i wanted to ask you 4 years i aint used my account bcoz my brother hacked into my account and changed it and 2 days ago i emailed hotmail saying this is what happend i know my infm n i knw wen i frst signed up to my account and i know who i aded is this enuff for them 2 believe its me its babyhuni_asc@hotmail.co.uk also i told them which computer i used my account on do you think they reopen it and will my measges and conacts still be on there plz
    reply thank you or plz reply to me babyhuni_786@hotmail.co.uk

    Reply

  78. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    No.

    Leo

    —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)

    iD8DBQFIUp2wCMEe9B/8oqERAn9HAJwKmV7HTs4tKHwfSfiDCmVoC44lxwCfWlzN
    0qKtwBzbur+HxKNlzB0dynY=
    =XKzJ
    —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

    Reply

  79. someone hacked into my msn and could see who i have on my msn messenger and my pictures who i am sending what through msn contacts , what do i do and how can i tell if someone hacked in to my computer.

    Reply

  80. Hey guys

    Just to let you know this does happen, I have just found out that the account i was using had been used to talk to my friends online about personal stuff, access my e-mails, take perersonal information about my family etc etc. and then hold conversations with people using all the info that I had in my mails.

    it does happen, so make your self secure.
    Craig

    Reply

  81. Hello my hotmail account was hacked into by my ex. He changed my password & my secret questions. Lucky for me he is not very smart & has sent txt messages 2 my phone admitting it was him. So what do i do now is it worth going 2 the police about or will nothing come of it?

    I think that the only practical answer is that it depends on your police department, whether they have the time to deal with this, whether they think this is important, and the severity of any crime committed. Personally I’m not hopeful that they’ll help, but they’re the only place I know to turn.

    – Leo
    09-Oct-2008
    Reply

  82. Hello… My MSN ID got hacked and Amazingly I got it back not once , not twice but 3 times. all u have to do is e-mail Microsoft staff they will contact u within 24 hours and ask u about the information u provided while making that e-mail address which got hacked and after matching those figures they give u the password change link through ur coresponding e-mail address..

    Reply

  83. jahanzaib please can you gv me the email address used to regain your msn address, my addy has been hacked and i would like it back please, thanks

    Reply

  85. Hi i would just like to say if you have another msn you could wait until they come online and then maybe try and trick them to telly ou who they are ?? its worht a try :) suffering the same problem from me :)

    Reply

  86. hi, i think one of my friends is hacking into my add. I have kept my password secure etc bt somehow he seems to knw the password (or hints that he does) whenever i change it. Im just wondering is that possible? thanks

    Reply

  88. Although Hotmail does not allow IP tracking, GMail does. At the bottom of the screen on a GMail account, the last 5 IP addresses from which the account was signed into, are listed.

    Reply

  90. My MSN chat was hacked into. 2 people were on my account at once, talking to my friend and I.

    This site is obviously not safe or secure.

    Reply

  91. One tip: If the hacker sent a message to a friend or family member, approach that recipient and ask to see it (just as it appears in their own e-mail inbox). Hotmail is one of the e-mail providers that still includes the X-originating IP number in each message header. Unless that’s changed, the IP number there is the originating one. Of course, if it’s really a random hack it’s likely foreign (China or Russia), but if it’s personal, it may be an IP the victim would be familiar with.

    Actually Hotmail seems to be really inconsistant about including X-OriginatingIP

    Leo
    19-Oct-2011
    Reply

  92. I have no idea how really but I happened upon this article as I was researching the top 10 email providers. And I just want to say that your sentence “But my bottom line belief is that it’s simply not practically available to us.”.

    Is absolutely rubbish. Take a look at some of the other providers, like Google for example? Their email service gmail keeps track of the last account activity without any problems. Also take a look at Facebook, they also keep track of recent account activity. They used to only keep track of the 5 most recent activity but now they keep track of 10.

    It is ignorant to say that its a lot of data to keep track of an therefor poor Microsoft can’t handle it.

    I’m not saying that they couldn’t do it. I’m saying that they don’t.

    Leo
    15-Jan-2012
    Reply

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Additional information is available at https://askleo.com/creative-commons-license/.