🇨🇦 English, 7 October 2026, phishing prevention
8.3 billion email-based phishing threats detected in Q1 2026
Attackers use fake CAPTCHA pages, QR codes, Teams chats, and AI-written messages to trick users.
Phishing is no longer limited to badly written emails. Attackers now use fake CAPTCHA pages, QR codes, Teams chats, AI-written messages, OAuth flows, voice calls, and real-looking sign-in pages.
Microsoft said in its Q1 2026 email threat report that it detected about 8.3 billion email-based phishing threats during the first quarter of 2026.
By the end of the quarter, QR-code phishing had become its fastest-growing attack vector.