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Netflix 'verification failure' email targeting millions relying on streaming amid pandemic

Posted at 1:14 PM, Sep 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-06 13:14:10-04

Netflix has helped get many of us through the pandemic, giving us great shows to binge watch instead heading out to bars at night.

That's why you might perk up if Netflix says there's a problem with your account.

"Ozark," "The Crown," Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance," "Sherlock," "Stranger Things," and more shows helped us through the shutdown.

But you might think you are in a real life "Twilight Zone" episode if you fall for one of the slickest phishing scams in recent years.

It's an email from Netflix saying "notice of verification failure," alerting you to a problem with your billing credit card.

It asks you to update the card, or your Netflix account will be canceled.

People who have clicked through ended up on a captcha page, which looks very legitimate.

But it's all a scam according to tech sites and Forbes Magazine.

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Netflix phishing email

Why you may not know you were scammed

And from the "doesn't that stink" file, why you may not even know you fell for a scam.

Forbes says once you reenter your credit card number, you are redirected to Netflix's real page. So it appears everything is now good, and taken care of.

It all seems fine, until your credit card is soon hacked. And that stinks.

Remember that a legitimate email from a company you do business with should include your name or account number, and not just say "Dear Customer."

That way you don't waste your money.

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