These days, most of you have become fairly adept at spotting phishing emails (the ones that trick you into clicking bogus links, and providing account login information or credit card numbers). These scam artists aren’t always the most skilled at creating convincing emails. The infamous “Nigerian prince” might come to mind. These emails are often poorly formatted and littered with a variety of spelling and grammatical errors.
On the other hand, some scam artists are becoming increasingly clever. They know we’ve caught on to them! So occasionally, a highly convincing phishing scheme will come to our attention, and we want to let you know about it. Such is the case with the recent “Netflix” scam.
If you receive an email from “Netflix”, warning that they couldn’t verify your billing information and your account is soon to be suspended, we urge you to exercise extreme caution. Do not follow the link provided by the email!
These emails look nearly identical to genuine Netflix communications, and will direct you to a login page that appears legitimate. After entering your Netflix login information, which is captured by the scammers, you will also be asked to “update” your billing information. Now they have your credit card number, which could prove to be disastrous for you.
If you want to check on your Netflix account, open a new browser tab and type in “Netflix.com” yourself. Log in and check your billing information if you’re worried, but chances are good that everything is just fine.
The takeaway lesson from this phishing scheme is that scam artists have definitely realized that we are skeptical of their poorly-worded, awkwardly formatted emails. They are updating their methods to reflect greater consumer awareness of phishing schemes, so continue to exercise caution with any email that asks you to follow links. Also remind your employees, who might use your network to send and receive private emails, that clicking on a dangerous link can have consequences for the company as well as the individual. And, as always, give us a callat 888-RING-MY-TECH if you have any network security concerns.
