In the News

Phishing attempts are getting sneakier by the day. In The Devious Netflix Phish That Just Won’t Die, Lily Hay Newman discusses the phishing scam plaguing Netflix customers by claiming that an error in the billing information provided has led to their account being disabled. Like many social engineering attempts these days, the redirection to legitimate-looking pages asking for reasonable-sounding information makes this phishing example a continued success.

Our Take

After a long and stressful day of classes, nothing is better than catching up on your favorite Netflix shows. An unexpected warning that your Netflix account may be unusable is a good way for phishing messages to receive immediate attention and clicks. But be wary when an email inspires a sense of urgency in you: this is frequently the first warning that someone wants you to perform an action without thinking carefully about it. Even if an email or its accompanying link looks legit, be wary of requests for personal information, including account credentials.

The best way to avoid becoming a victim to these scams is to know the warning signs.

Recommendations

• Be wary of emails prompting you to act fast
• Look at the email header to confirm that the sender looks legitimate
• Do not visit links directly from email: visit the known-good website directly and attempt to make necessary changes from there
• When in doubt, find the company’s phone number via Google and call to request more information