Phishing in Irish Streams

Netflix is warning users in Ireland to be on the lookout for another phishing campaign that’s impersonating the streaming service, Extra.ie reports. The emails inform recipients that their account has been suspended until they update their payment information. The branding in the emails is convincing, but the messages contain grammatical errors that may well tip off observant users.

“We’re have been hold your account because you’ve been fail to continue your monthly subscription,” the emails say. “Please retry your card or update payment method with login to [link].” See what they mean about the dodgy grammar?

A Netflix spokesperson explained that people should be wary whenever they’re asked to enter sensitive information online.

“Phishing scams are, unfortunately, very common and often exploit well-known brands,” Netflix stated. “Internet users should always be cautious when they receive an email requesting any personal information or credit card details. Phishing is an attempt to acquire your personal information by pretending to represent a website or company you trust online.”

The spokesperson added that Netflix won’t ask for sensitive information via email.

“Phishers will go to great lengths to try to hijack your account or steal your personal information,” the spokesperson said. “They may create fake websites that look like Netflix or send official-looking (but fake) emails asking for your personal information. Netflix will never ask for any personal information in an email.”

Many phishing emails can be spotted without further investigation. In this case, the poor grammar should tip you off immediately, and hovering over the link in the email would reveal that it didn’t lead to Netflix’s site. If you’re still not sure whether an email is legitimate, you should navigate to Netflix in your browser and log in. If there actually is an issue, you’ll be able to fix it from there.

“Be careful if you receive an email message asking you for this or any other personal information,” the Netflix spokesperson concluded. “If you’re unsure about a link in an email, you can always hover over the link to see where it goes (you’ll see the real, linked web address at the bottom of most browsers). If you’re still not 100% sure that the website you’re on is the real Netflix site, you can always type www.netflix.com directly into your browser.”

New-school security awareness training can teach your employees how to avoid falling for these types of phishing tactics.

Extra.ie has the story: https://extra.ie/2020/06/25/news/irish-news/netflix-warns-beware-phishing-scam