Locked out of hotmail *new problem* how do I contact a human at messenger support?

Casual

I tried to log into my hotmail earlier and was greeted with this,

Your account has been blocked
Why are you seeing this?
Someone may have used your account to send out a lot of junk messages (or something else that violates the Windows Live Terms of Service).
We're here to help you get your account back.
What do you need to do?
We'll walk you through a few steps to verify that you own the account, then ask you to change your password in case someone else has been accessing your account. It should only take a few minutes and then you'll be unblocked and on your way.
We've cleaned your account settings
Often customers get here because someone else has access to your account and is using it without your knowledge to send spam. To protect you and your contacts, we've removed any Hotmail auto-replies or linked accounts you may have had.

This wouldn't normally be a problem but the email it wants to send the unblocking code is apparently so old I can't even remember ever having had it (it only gives me part of the email address not all of it). So I'm faced with two problems, 1) how do I unblock my account and 2) do I need to worry about this being caused by some malware? A quick virus scan showed nothing and I'll do a full scan tomorrow when I have time.

EDIT:

Ok, I've gone in circles round a link maze for a while on the messenger support page which only offers a few FAQ's, none of which help me. Does anyone know how I can actually talk to someone who can help me resolve this?

NotYou

The same thing happened to me just a couple of days ago, as well as a lot of other hotmail accounts I heard. Basically my account just spammed my contacts list.

I got the same account blocked message as you. I just followed the instructions and gave it my phone number and it texted me a code. Then it worked. If you can't use that option, I'd suggest messaging their support staff.

The Ender

I have the same answer as NotYou: my personal Hotmail was brute-forced by some asshole with an AdBot, and it proceeded to spam my contact list with network marketing work-at-home bullshit.

There was a link to unblock the account that I clicked, and I gave it my cell number to text an authentication code to. I entered the code into a prompt in the browser, and it unblocked my account.

You should be aware that anything in your inbox will be deleted, though.

Casual

It's not even giving me the option of sending the code to my phone though. It'll only let me select an email adress I don't remember having.

Guess my only option is to hunt down their support then.

Jam Warrior

There's surely a pretty good chance that the nogoodnik who has done this has also set the recovery email to one of his choosing and removed your ability to recover by phone. If so, support is going to be your only option and I'd be ready for a battle and potentially not getting the account back. Sucks, but depending on what info you had filled in before you may have a really tough time proving you are the rightful owner.

Casual

New issue detailed in OP edit.

Malgaras

Casual wrote:

Ok, I've gone in circles round a link maze for a while on the messenger support page which only offers a few FAQ's, none of which help me. Does anyone know how I can actually talk to someone who can help me resolve this?

You could give this a shot:

http://gethuman.com/phone-number/Hotmail/

Siska

If it's a free account they will (probably) not help you over the phone. You will have to use what ever online account recovery or support chat/e-mail they have they have.

Casual

Siska wrote: »

If it's a free account they will (probably) not help you over the phone. You will have to use what ever online account recovery or support chat/e-mail they have they have.

Problem is there is no support email address I can see, and the password recovery can't help because I don't have access to the email address it's set to. Either it's a prehistoric email address I don't remember anything about or whoever hacked my account changed it to their email.

skeldare

Unfortunately Hotmail support really sucks. I don't think there is a way to get a live person to actually do anything. They have an e-form, but apparently you have to login to use it.

Have you tried their forum?

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/hotmail