Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FTC Warns Netflix Users About Email Phishing Scam (deadline.com)

Posted by msmash on from the take-note dept.

The Federal Trade Commission has sent out a flare to warn Netflix users that there are some grinches out there looking to take advantage of everyone's holiday bliss and vulnerability. From a report: In a post on the FTC's website, they warned us of scammers using household company names to dupe consumers. In a specific example, they cited a phishing email sent to a Netflix customer that claimed the user's account is on hold because Netflix is "having some trouble with your current billing information." The email invites the user to click on a link to update their payment method. The FTC sent the cautionary message out to all Netflix users so that they won't be victim to phishing.


10 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Slashdot is Fake News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And the Nazis were socialists and leftists like Democrats, not alt-right or even plain right.

  2. This is new? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    FTC is only a few years behind the times. Next they should warn us about the emails saying our Apple or Amazon or eBay account has been compromised, click here to verify login details.

    I'm curious though, how exactly does the FTC know who is a Netflix customer to do a targeted mass email warning? This seems to be the real news here; that this data is either public knowledge or available to the government.

    1. Re:This is new? by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Possibly the FTC is tracking anyone that watched "Bird Box" and didn't want to commit suicide afterwards.

  3. WTF FTC? by Rob+Lister · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The FTC sent the cautionary message out to all Netflix users so that they won't be victim to phishing.

    How does the FTC know who is a Netflix user? And how does it know the email addresses of said users?

    1. Re:WTF FTC? by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      How does the FTC know who is a Netflix user? And how does it know the email addresses of said users?

      Gee, if ONLY there was a company that had all of NetFlix's active mail addresses that the FTC could ask.

      But I'm sure they got it from the FBI who are always watching you, as opposed to the NSA who are always watching you AND the FBI. And the FTC for good measure. And NetFlix too, probably -- they like good shows as well.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    2. Re:WTF FTC? by Zocalo · · Score: 1

      What's retarded here is the grasp of English, both in the writing of TFA/TFS (which is clearly lacking clarity) and the comprehension of what was written (lack of clarity aside, at no point does it actually state that the FTC sent an email to any Netflix users, let alone all of them).

      AFAICT, all the FTC has actually done is made a blog post on their website - the linked "flare" - about some phishing emails that were sent by scammers targetting Netflix users. We don't even know how accurate that list was, it could easily have been the usual shotgun blast like all those other phishing emails you get for banks etc. you've never done business with.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:WTF FTC? by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      I didn't get an email from them. I even checked the spam folder. Nope. Nada. Nothing at all.

    4. Re:WTF FTC? by gtall · · Score: 1

      Did you know that the FBI has assigned a personal watcher each for every man, woman, and child in America. Golly, there's nothing they don't see. And they only use Americans to watch Americans. Yes, I know, that math doesn't add up. But this is the FBI we're talking about, they don't have to abide by any mathematical rules.

  4. Now phishers have a new target by xack · · Score: 1

    Expect fake emails "warning" about phishing, that is a phishing email.

  5. Maybe we should go back to plain text emails by u801e · · Score: 1

    It would it harder to send a phishing email if you can't use a href tag to hide the real URL, and the user was forced to copy the url and open it in another browser tab.