Did a Phishing Scam Steal Your Netflix Account?
February 25, 2016
Popular streaming service, Netflix is in the news. It seems that it is so popular, now that it’s gone worldwide everyone wants to watch it. The trouble is that some just don’t want to pay for it. So now those credentials can be found on the black market. How do those credentials wind up on said black market? Malware, of course.
Malware is being distributed that goes to a page that appears to be an official Netflix screen. It asks for user name and password information as well as payment card details. The malware is being distributed by phishing email messages as well as in advertising messages.
So, be aware of email messages and texts that are suspicious at all or come from an unfamiliar sender. Even if you know the sender, but a strange message shows up, use extra caution and confirm it before taking any action. You will find out in no time if it’s fake once you call your friend and ask about it.
In addition, beware of advertising messages found on the sides of the computer screen or that flash around on mobile devices. While most of them truly are just trying to market something to you, some of them contain malware and others will send you to a screen asking for private information. In this case, that screen is the familiar red of Netflix.
In addition, take a little bit of time to check your account information. You can see where the recent logins originated and if they don’t look right, do some additional investigation. Also, make sure to change passwords for all online accounts often, at least quarterly. Use strong passwords and phrases and make sure each set of credentials used online is different from any others.
The sellers are going to great lengths to make sure users of the logins are not busted. They even give them instruction not to change the password, as that will alert the actual owner of the account.
In some cases, the login information that is gathered is being sold for a mere 25¢. Sellers claim there are 300,000 of these in “stock.” That’s a lot of quarters.
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