Everything You Wanted to Know About Netflix Phishing Scam

The Internet is of great interest to scammers – on the Internet, people perform banking transactions, use electronic payment services, and exchange confidential information. Of course, the ability to gain control over someone else’s bank account or account on a social network attracts scammers, and they often simply lure the necessary information from trusting users. This type of Internet scam is called phishing. Phishing is a deception of users for the purpose of obtaining their personal data, such as login, password, phone number or bank card. Phishing is most common in email systems, social networks, Internet banking, and electronic payment systems.

Recently, there appears information that the famous company deceives its users. There have been many applications from victims who got messages ostensibly from the entertainment company Netflix about blocking the account due to outdated payment information. To restore the account, the victims of Netflix payment scam were offered to follow the link and enter actual details. It is noteworthy that the situation attracted the attention of law enforcement officers after one of the policemen in Ohio received a letter from the scammers, without even having an account on this site.

How does it work?

Experts have identified a new phishing attack against network users. The attackers have created a fake website of the largest online cinema Netflix to use it to collect data from bank cards users. A potential victim receives a phishing Netflix scam email report about the expiration of a Netflix subscription email. The letter states that it is not possible to renew the subscription because of a problem with payment, so it will be canceled, of course, if the user doesn’t activate it manually. For the “activation of the subscription” there is a red button in the letter. This kind of phishing campaign is not new, but this one looks much more dangerous than most others. The “activation” button leads to a fake Netflix site, the design of which copies the real one. Moreover, a phishing site has a security certificate, and its web address starts with the https prefix. On a fake website, a user is prompted to enter an email and password from a Netflix personal account, and then fill out a profile, including information about a bank card. After that, the user will be redirected to this Netflix site, and the data will be available to scammers.

Another popular way to lure a user to a phishing site is pop-up banners. Most often, by clicking on them, users get on the site, where they are asked to enter a phone number to check or confirm something. The description of the reason for such a “check” on the site may be different. For example, “prove that you are not a robot”, “receive money to the account” or “you have won a prize, enter the contact number”. After entering the number, users are subscribed to a paid newsletter or service, for which money is withdrawn from their accounts.

Easy ways to detect a phishing attack

On its official website, the company has posted additional instructions to customers:

• If you want to avoid Netflix scam, first of all, never enter a username or financial data after clicking on the link that was in an email.
• Never click on links or open attachments in emails or text messages that you received suddenly, regardless of the source.
• If you think that you got Netflix email scam, don’t respond to it, but send it to the company’s security service. You should be wary of any links in suspicious emails. The link may look right, but it leads to a phishing site. If you put the cursor in the link, the real address to which it leads is displayed.
• Look at the subject of the letter. If the letter offers you to take an unconditionally advantageous decision in a short time, for example, to take advantage of a unique discount or a special offer, be critical to this. Scammers often use psychological techniques to dull your vigilance.
• Also, don’t trust emails with messages like “your account has been blocked” or “your account has been deleted”. If you received such a letter, don’t follow the links from it. Go to the official website and check for yourself whether everything is okay with the account. Since it is assumed that the letter is sent from such a reputable company, you can expect that the letter will be more substantive and linked to the essence of the message itself. Therefore, if you received a letter from this company or any other well-known online service (whether it is paid or free), with some incomprehensible or inadequate subject of the letter, then be careful. It is advisable to check everything.
• The message should be written in your language. If you don’t live in an English-speaking country, it is unlikely that you haven’t configured your communication language in the settings of your account and receive messages in English. In addition, we recommend you to check the URL that is displayed in the address bar of your browser to make sure that you are not redirected to some other domain address.
• The second paragraph in this Netflix phishing scam message can look like this: “Failure to conduct the verification process will lead to suspension of your membership”. Such a text aims to ensure that victims have a quick response to hurry to update their access credentials. However, this message looks too aggressive to be a real communication appeal of such a well-known company, and the respected Netflix company is unlikely to cancel the subscription only because of a problem on its platform.
• Its moderators ask all Internet users to remain vigilant since fake messages are sent not only on behalf of this famous company. Pay attention to inconsistencies. So, in this phishing campaign, scammers call its customers “Dear user”, not by name. And they may indicate the wrong contact phone number.
• Tools to deal with phishing are provided in many programs: browsers, email clients, antiviruses. Some sites block phishing links, and anti-spam filters of the largest email services can recognize phishing emails well. Antivirus, which must be installed on the computer, is also capable of blocking a phishing attack. However, don’t rely solely on antiviruses. The most reliable guarantee of your safety is attentiveness. Even experienced users often ignore browser or antivirus warnings, taking them as standard unsubscribes or excessive computer caution (even if sometimes it is). Nobody reads licensing agreements when installing programs and fraudsters successfully use the user’s habit of skipping boring information.

So, phishing is the most popular form of fraud on the Internet. Since the invention, from year to year, attackers have been fooling thousands of people. This method takes not quality, but quantity. One person out of ten thousand is on the hook, and fraudsters get access to accounts and files. So, be careful and pay attention to Netflix scam warning from experienced users and other sources of information.