The success of streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO, Disney Plus or Prime Video has attracted, as it could not be otherwise, the interest of cybercriminals. The fact that many users in Spain have this type of platforms has inspired different scams that, in the opinion of experts, put their clients at risk.
This has been warned by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), which has warned about the emergence of different strategies of smishing, one of the most common cyber attacks in current times. Knowing what it is about is the best way to avoid falling into the trap.
This is how cybercriminals use Netflix, according to the OCU
Platforms like Netflix are the lure with which some cybercriminals try to attract users through the scam known as smishing. That is, to trick people through a well-known name (in this case a popular streaming platform) so that they end up providing some sensitive data, usually related to their bank account.
The hook couldn’t be simpler: victims receive a message warning that their subscription to the platform, usually Netflix, has expired, or is about to do so, so that they provide their information in order to renew it. In some cases, the possibility of getting several months of free content is also offered.
As is usual in these cases, cybercriminals not only have no qualms about using the name Netflix, HBO, Prime Video or whatever, but also about accompanying their message with some type of image related to their logo, menu or something that Awaken the confidence of those who are going to be deceived. In general, everything is reasonably believable.
This scam It is carried out, like so many others, through a Traditional SMS, thus forming part of the smishing attempts that may appear on your mobile phone, such as that of a family member in trouble or that warns of having received a postal package. The protagonists may change: the Civil Guard, Social Security… but the deception is always the same. Or very similar.
How to avoid the cyber attack that the OCU warns about
The first thing that experts warn is that be wary of any text message that encourages you to enter a websitealthough this one seems authentic.
It is a recommendation that not only works for the scam that has Netflix and other protagonist platforms, but for any occasion.
You should also never respond to these types of communications, and much less provide personal or banking information. In case you have doubts (let’s say that your Netflix subscription is really about to expire), it is best that you contact the platform, and not the other way around.
It must be kept in mind that Netflix itself has made it clear on thousands of occasions that it never contacts its customers via SMS. And the same goes for a lot of similar companies.
