Whether or not you have active Netflix or Apple accounts makes no difference to hackers looking to steal precious personal data. But you should be aware of a new Netflix email scam that’s using a fake iTunes bill to fool you into giving your credit card details to scammers, so here’s what you need to know about it so you can avoid it.
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Like any phishing scheme, these fraudulent emails contain fake bills for products you may not remember having purchased, according to This Is Money. The emails seem to originate from Apple, and they appear to contain receipts for purchases that you’d normally get in your email – if you have an Apple ID account and buy stuff from Apple’s digital stores.
This particular receipt concerns Netflix, and it tries convince you that someone impersonating you has gained access to your Apple account to subscribe to Netflix. Naturally, you’ll want to put a stop to it by clicking the available “refund” or “manage subscriptions” links in that email.
You’ll then get to a website that looks like Apple’s where you have to enter your account and credit card details for the refund. But what really happens is that those details are delivered straight to the scammers. And they’ll then put it to good use, meaning that you can expect real warnings from your bank in the near future.
So what should you do? First of all, if you don’t have an Apple account, then you’re safe. Secondly, never click the links inside an email like this. Instead, check with your bank to see if the fraudulent charges are real. You can also go to Apple.com directly and check your account – but, again, don’t use the links in that email. Just type the site’s address into your browser.
It might be Netflix and Apple today, but scammers could pair other hot products in the future to send similar emails. Consider the tips above best practices that you should always keep in mind.
