Netflix-Fraud

One of our residents had his Netflix account hacked. His first clue that something was wrong was an email from Netflix saying that they noticed he was using Netflix from Vietnam. Another email followed immediately indicating that they deleted his email address from his account “per his request.”

His first step to control the situation was to call the credit card company he was paying his bills with to cancel his card and get a new account.

Next he tried to get into his Netflix account online but he received a message that his email address did not appear anywhere in their records. Then he called Netflix Support and was told that someone must have gotten his email address and Netflix password to get into his account. The representative said Netflix accounts had not been breached. Sometimes another website is breached and it affects any other account you have under the same email/password combination.

The representative needed the last 8 digits of his credit card to allow them access into the account and reinstate his original email address as the account ID. When he viewed the account, he said the new email address and the account password were in a foreign language that he couldn’t decipher.

Finally, he was able to get into his account, change the password and change the account language back to English from Spanish. He is now checking all financial accounts (banks, credit cards, retirement accounts) daily to make sure nothing suspicious has transpired.
The problem is not someone watching your Netflix free; IT IS THE THEFT OF YOUR BANKING INFORMATION.

Possible suggestions to avoid this problem:

• If you receive an email from Netflix or a similar company indicating changes to your account, DON’T WAIT, go to the website and change your password!
•  Change your EMAIL ACCOUNT password on a regular basis, like a holiday or birthday.
• Change passwords on accounts that require banking credentials on a regular schedule.
• Whenever possible, do not use your email address as the user ID.
• DO NOT use the same email/password combination on more than one website.
• Sign up for two-step verification.
• Use a password manager that creates a long nonsense password for you.
• Use a malware checker (in addition to a virus checker) on a regular basis.

If you have been a victim of fraud or a scam, go to sclhwatch.org and complete an incident report—after making a police report. Help others avoid your incident happening to them.

Discover Neighborhood Watch Alerts in three easy Steps:

1. Find us at sclhwatch.org.
2. Click on Alerts, just above the photos. Alerts are posted back to 2018.
3. Click on SECURITY in the menu bar with the brown background. Review many flyers dealing with safety tips.

Mary Cranston Alerts Program Coordinator alerteditor@sclhwatch.org