Outlook and Hotmail email accounts hit by spam attack

Microsoft has apparently now fixed an issue with its Hotmail and Outlook spam filters that meant its users were being flooded with spam emails.

The company admitted on its support page that it had uncovered a problem, saying, "Some users may be receiving excessive spam mail," although it would not reveal exactly what went wrong.

Shortly after releasing the update on its service page, Microsoft rolled out updates to Hotmail and Outlook that fixed the filters and its own infrastructure to prevent it happening again.

"One will provide short term relief preventing spam reaching your inbox," reveals Microsoft. "The second will be a longer term fix which should stop spam reaching our infrastructure," the company explained.

The problems went on for around 17 hours according to users, which certainly left a bad taste in thier mouths. As expected, annoyed users posted messages of frustration on social media, ensuring Microsoft and their friends and followers knew of the problems.

Erica Jean wrote on Twitter: "HEY @Outlook @hotmail WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE SPAM EMAILS TODAY? I've had almost 60 overnight and they're NOT GOING AWAY," while other users seemed to be in competition to announce how many spam emails they had received.

However, some users saw the lighter side of being spammed by spam.

"Look at all of these great deals I've been missing out on for years," Peck Ed wrote on Reddit. "Now if you chaps will excuse me, I'm off to become a... millionaire getting a great deal on my car insurance with my new Russian bride at the Casino with my free bets."

Jonathan Lakeman joked on Twitter: "Thanks to @hotmail the only genuine e-mail I got all day was from my desolate Nigerian Uncle (I didn't know I had). #slamdunkthejunk #spam."