The Worst of 2018: Netflix Phishing Scam
Posted by : Admin
Nowadays it’s hard to meet people who know nothing about the World Wide Web or who don’t use it for their own purpose. Despite a huge number of advantages, the Internet provides people with, there are many traps which you should avoid. The Internet is a favorite source of earnings of many scammers since many people conduct bank transactions, use electronic payment services, and exchange confidential information there, and the number of users is growing with every day. You know, there is a category of people who are attracted by easy money when you just get control of someone’s bank account or social network and do your ugly things, luring the required information from a clay pigeon.
This type of Internet scam is called phishing which involves deception of users with the aim of obtaining their personal data, including login, passwords, phone or bank card numbers. Phishing is most common for mail network systems, social networks, Internet banking, and electronic payment systems. You might have heard that some well-known corporations deceive their users as well.
There were many reports from victims who had got messages allegedly from the Netflix company about blocking the account due to outdated payment information. To restore the account, the victims of the Netflix scam email report were offered to follow the link and update the details. It’s interesting that the situation drew the attention of law enforcement officials after the incident when one of the officials had got a Netflix email scam letter even though they didn’t have a Netflix account.
How Does It Work?
A huge number of people uses Netflix daily. The scammers create its fake website with a view to collecting the required data from the user's bank accounts. A presumed victim gets a phishing Netflix scam email about the expiration of a Netflix subscription. A user is provided with the information that it’s impossible to update the subscription due to some problems with payment and to activate the subscription manually it is necessary to press the red button, which is given below in the letter.
If you think that this Netflix phishing scam is something new, then you are mistaken since this type of scam is as old as history, but it looks quite dangerous. When you press the red button, you find yourself on the fake Netflix site, which doesn’t differ much from the real one. Nothing makes you feel worried since even its web address starts with the https prefix, so you are sure in its security. After that, you are offered to enter an email and a password that you use for your Netflix personal account and fill out a profile, including information about your bank card. When you are done with that, you are automatically redirected to this Netflix site, and scammers get all the required information to get your money.
However, this is not the only way to fall into the trap of advanced scammers since some of them like to lure users, using pop-up banners. As soon as you click onto it, you are redirected to the site where you will be asked to enter, for example, your phone number or email to check or confirm some information. Besides, the reasons for such confirmation can be pretty different, for example, you may be asked to confirm that you are not a robot. It’s quite a widespread practice. As soon as you enter your number, you will be subscribed to a paid service.
How Can You Detect Phishing Scam?
After such harmful episodes, the Netflix company has provided its users with additional information. You can find it on the official website of the company. So, how can you avoid Netflix payment scam?
If you have received such a letter, you should better delete it or at least visit the official page of the company and try to enter the site. If you want to avoid such a trap, you should never enter your personal and financial data after clicking on the link in such strange e-mail letter.
If you don’t delete the message and decide to look through it, don’t click on links or open attachments in the emails, especially if you’ve received it without any obvious reason.
If you are sure that you’ve got Netflix email scam, don’t respond to it, but you should better send it to the company’s security service. If the link in the email looks right, it doesn’t mean that it’s safe, and it can lead to a fake site.
Remember that scammers are aware of human psychology, so don’t rush to open the letter if its subject promises you something enticing like a special discount or offer.
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If you’ve received an email, which informs you that your account was deleted or blocked, don’t give in to despair and trust it. The best thing you can do is to not follow the provided links but visit the official website to confirm the given information. Always pay attention to the subject of the letters you’ve got from the famous online services, if something seems strange to you, then it’s better to double-check than to become a victim of scammers.
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If you get an official letter, then it should be necessarily written in your language. If you don’t live in an English-speaking country, it is unlikely that you haven’t configured your native language in the settings of your account and receive messages in English. Besides, you should better check the URL, which you can find in the address bar of your browser to be sure that you will not be redirected to some other domain address.
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You should remember that all well-known company doesn’t send aggressive letters, which make you follow the instructions as soon as possible. All such companies are user-friendly and loyal to their users, so if you see in the letter something like, “If you don’t verify your account within 24 hours, your membership will be canceled,” don’t hurry up to do what they want. Every company values and appreciates their clients, so it is unlikely to cancel your subscription only due to such a problem.
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If you have received a letter where you are not called by name, then you can boldly close it and delete. In addition to it, you may find an incorrect contact phone number and other inconsistencies.
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Many programs, browsers, email clients, antiviruses can provide you with ani-phishing tools, which will help protect your personal data. Some sites can block phishing links since they have advanced anti-spam filters. The same goes to desktop antivirus programs, which are capable of blocking phishing attacks. However, you shouldn’t rely only on antiviruses. Your attentiveness and carefulness are the most reliable guarantee of your protection. Even experienced users often ignore browser or antivirus warnings, taking them as standard unsubscribes or excessive computer caution. Nobody reads licensing agreements when installing programs, so scammers successfully use people’s habit of skipping boring information.
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To cut the long story short, phishing is the most widespread form of scam on the Internet. Attackers have been luring thousands of people, and the number of victims has already passed the limit of prudence. One person out of ten thousand is on the hook, and scammers get access to accounts and personal data. So, be careful and pay attention to Netflix scam warning signs, which are provided by experienced users.