Early this morning I received an email about my Netflix payment not going through. Scams often come in the form of payment requests, so I normally ignore these emails. However, yesterday my wife subscribed to Netflix and I wasn’t sure which email she used. While on the bus I looked over the email, but I couldn’t look at the email source since I’m using my phone. I had no way to check where the email came from. For a moment I thought my Netflix payment failed. Finally, I spotted a grammar error and saw the from address didn’t include Netflix in the address. So, I decided to open the email at work for further review.
In the office I found the link doesn’t lead to Netflix and I confirmed Netflix doesn’t own the suspicious email address. Since I knew what I was getting myself into I safely checked the link but received a 404 page not found error. The hosting provider took the site down.
If someone else received this email after they signed up for Netflix (and if it didn’t have the grammar mistakes or the user didn’t check), I have no doubt some would click the link and maybe even put their payment info in.
Evidently, others received this Netflix scam email recently. In an article that came out yesterday, Adrien Gendre found Netflix spam emails grew 8.2 percent since last quarter, becoming the most exploited subscription service over HBO, DirectTV, and Spotify. If you receive one of these emails, don’t click any links and check your Netflix account directly on Netflix.com for any notices.
I had something similar happen the other day but it turned out to be a legitimate e-mail. I have been wondering why it is not possible to check the e-mail header info on a phone or is this possible and I just missed it somehow? It would certainly be a helpful feature.
Cameron, you didn’t miss anything. There isn’t an easy way to access the email header.
A tell-tale indicator is when the greeting is something generic, like “Hi Customers” or “Hello [email protected]“. There’s a better chance (although still not guaranteed) the message is legitimate when the message addresses you by name.
Good suggestion, although sometimes they will put your name it the email to so it could still be a fake.
I wish it was easier to see message source from mobile email apps. Seems like a major oversight by all of the major mobile email app devs (Apple, Samsung, etc.)