Netflix users, don’t fall for this phishing scam

Received a strange email lately, Netflix subscribers? Don’t fall for it, it’s likely a scam.

Following similar scams in September and October 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning for an email phishing scam targeted at Netflix users.

In a blog post on Wednesday, the FTC detailed the phishing scam, in which scammers can use fake emails to pose as a company in order to steal your personal information, like account numbers, social security numbers, or passwords.

In this case, the FTC have warned Netflix users to avoid clicking on a suspicious email that looks like the below screenshot captured by Ohio police. 

The email asks users to click on a link to update their payment details, claiming their account is “on hold” due to the streaming service “having some trouble with your current billing information.”

Characteristic of a phishing scam, it looks pretty legit, like it came from Netflix itself. However, do not click through, lest you accidentally download some nasty malware that can do all sorts of things to your device, including locking you out of it.

Image: FTC via ohio police

According to Netflix’s security site, “Netflix will never ask for any personal information to be sent to us over email.”

 This includes:

• Payment information (credit card number, debit card number, direct debit account, PIN, etc.)

• Social security number for U.S. citizens (in any form), identification number, or tax identification number.

• Your account password.

Netflix told Mashable after the 2017 email scams, that while the streaming service takes user security very seriously, and takes many measures to protect its customers from scammers, issues like this are an unfortunately regular foe for companies.

We take the security of our members’ accounts seriously and Netflix employs numerous proactive measures to detect fraudulent activity to keep the Netflix service and our members’ accounts secure. Unfortunately, scams are common on the internet and target popular brands such as Netflix and other companies with large customer bases to lure users into giving out personal information.

So, you’ve received the email. Here’s what to do. 

First things first: do not click on anything within the email. The FTC recommends checking for telltale signs of suspicious emails like bad grammar and spelling, as well as if your name is missing. 

“In the Netflix example, the scammer used the British spelling of “Center” (Centre) and used the greeting, ‘Hi Dear.'” pointed out the blog post.

Netflix also offers up some advice in its FAQ section, noting that the company may indeed email users from time to time to update information, but to “be cautious of fake emails that may link to phishing websites. If you’re unsure about a link in an email, you can always hover your cursor over the link to see the linked URL at the bottom of most browsers.”

If you’ve been emailed, you can also report it to Netflix’s Help Center or forward the message to [email protected]. You should also forward it to the FTC, which recommended sending it to [email protected]. Plus, you can officially report to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

Mashable has reached out to Netflix for further information.