Email Threat Landscape: Q3 2026 Trends and Insights
Microsoft, Thursday, November 5th, 2026
Microsoft detected about 7.3 billion phishing emails in Q3 2026, with September up 41%, as QR phishing fell and CAPTCHA-gated lures rose.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence detected about 7.3 billion email phishing threats from July to September 2026, including nearly 3 billion in September, up 41% from August.
QR code phishing stayed far below its early-year peak, while CAPTCHA-gated phishing rebounded, partly through SVG attachments.
About 129 million malicious messages spoofed business-service sender domains, and many were delivered because configured exceptions overrode protections.
Campaigns included salary-review QR lures leading to device code phishing against legal firms and payroll lures delivering Agent Tesla, while Tycoon2FA-linked messages fell 99.8% after its March disruption.