Billing question

David Trezise 0 Reputation points
2026-09-08T17:32:21.08+00:00

I don't understand an email that I received a couple of days ago, notifying me that I am going to be billed $199.99 for a subscription that I didn't know I had to Microsoft 365 Family. Please explain this purported charge.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | MacOS
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  1. EmilyS726 265.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-08T18:08:58.2833333+00:00

    Hello

    If you have a Microsoft account, you can always double check directly in your account https://account.live.com > Subscriptions, see if you have a Microsoft 365 Family listed there. If so, you can check its expiration date and see if renewal is coming up. You can turn it off there then.

    It is possible that this email itself is phishing scam. Typically you can right click on any URL/link in the email body, copy the address, paste to notepad for example to example the actual URL it is taking you to. If it is taking you to non-Microsoft.com domain, then it is not to be trusted.

    Another possibility is that someone else might have left your email address as their contact info for their Msft account. This is usually done by typo, so you are getting emails meant for them.

    Bottom line is, if you don't see it in any account you are aware of, it is likely nothing to worry about.

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  2. Bulldog 4,465 Reputation points
    2026-09-08T17:57:28.3466667+00:00

    I get that type of email every week - dozens of them. I'm being charged some crazy amount for an unpaid account or something I didn't buy, etc. etc. They are all scams, which I'll explain below.

    FIRST, I know for a fact that my subscriptions with Microsoft are up to date and paid in full. I can easily confirm this at any time. That's how I know these messages are scams the minute I see them.

    If you aren't sure what you purchased from Microsoft (or anybody else) and whether your subscriptions are paid up, you need to find out. In your case, you didn't subscribe to a Microsoft 365 plan in the first place, so you know that this message is phony right out of the gate.

    SECOND, for fun, I rest my mouse pointer (never click) on the name of the sender. That pops up a small window that shows you the sender's real address. That's the other way I know it's a scam as soon as I see it.

    WHY DO YOU RECEIVE THEM? The sender has no idea who you are or whether your subscriptions are unpaid. You are just one of thousands of email addresses that received the same spam. The sender wants to alarm you, so that you'll open the message, which gives the sender an opportunity to phish your account's username and password.

    This points out another advantage of a passkey over a username/password combination. With a passkey, there is nothing you need to enter to be signed in to a website, so there's nothing that can be stolen from you (or forgotten.)

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