Netflix Phishing Scam
There is a new Netflix phishing scam causing alarm at the moment that could result in users handing over their personal details and payment information. It’s similar to another scam highlighted by experts earlier this year, and nobody knows how many users have already been affected.
Specialists from Mailguard claim the email scam is far from an amateur attempt, and it uses templates to send seemingly personalized emails to Netflix customers.
All recipients get the same email, but the sender field contains the name of the victim, which makes people think the email is a genuine customer service message from Netflix staff. The name is repeated within the body of text to reinforce the authenticity of the request. So, subscribers need to keep their eyes peeled for a subject line that says “Your Suspension Notification.” Anyone who sees that in their inbox should immediately delete the email and get in touch with Netflix directly to ask if they’ve tried to make contact.
The content of the phishing scam email is as follows:
“We are unable to validate your billing information for the next billing cycle of your subscription; therefore, we’ll suspend your membership if we do not receive a response from you within 48 hours. Obviously, we’d love to have you back, simply click restart your membership to update your details and continue to enjoy all the best TV shows and movies without interruption.”
Under the text, receivers find a “Restart Membership” button and a few dodgy links that encourage them to contact a help center. As soon as the individual clicks that button and enters their details, they have become part of the scam. Criminals can then sell the bank account numbers, addresses, and login credentials for a profit on the black market.
There are lots of darknet sites that provide a platform for hackers and criminals to sell information of that nature without revealing their identities. Indeed, anyone can download the TOR browser and take a look for themselves. The industry is enormous, and it’s making many less than honest individuals wealthier every single week.
People who want to protect themselves from the new Netflix phishing scam just need to use some common sense and keep their wits. It makes sense that the first step when discovering an email of that nature is checking the real Netflix account. If users are still able to stream movies and TV shows, there is a reasonable chance they are dealing with a scam. The second step involves sending an email to Netflix customer service and asking if there are any issues with the account.
If the movies play, and the Netflix team don’t have any complaints about the payment information, just mark the message as spam, and it should disappear from the inbox forever. Hackers often send thousands of emails at the same time, and they only need a few hits to stay in business. So, it’s down to average internet users to protect themselves and ensure they don’t feed into that criminal market. Technical Framework provides email security solutions among other services as a Fort Collins and Greeley IT Services company.
