BBB Says Beware of Netflix Scams

Monday, January 25th, 2021 -- 11:01 AM

(WBAY) With streaming at an all time high, scammers are playing off what’s popular, and consumer experts are warning of a Netflix scam that isn’t letting up.

Netflix has powered to a new milestone, and has more than 200,000,000 subscribers.  The Better Business Bureau put out an alert this week because they’re getting more Netflix scam reports into its online scam tracker.  Take note - there are a couple versions of the scam.

One version is a text message, that says your Netflix account will be locked because your payment was declined.  Another is a text trying to trick you into getting a free subscription for a year.

If you click, you’ll be taken to a website that isn’t Netflix, and if you add payment information, you may be charged for services that you’ll never receive because the scammer doesn’t have anything to do with Netflix.

One victim told the BBB that scammers charged their card repeatedly, even after they asked for a refund.  The BBB says to go straight to the source - which is the Netflix website - or call or e-mail customer service to find if the text is legitimate.

Netflix has posted warnings about these phishing scams.  If you get a text and realize it’s a scam, don’t text back.  Ignore instructions to text “STOP” or no - scammers want you to text back to verify that your phone number is an active one.

Instead, you should block the number, and Netflix advises customers if you’ve been targeted, to change your password.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.