Attention …Attention … Netflix scam alert

Received an email purporting to be from Netflix just now asking that i re-enter my personal information due to my payment having failed. As we all know, this can happen when we change debit card. Dopey old me had just begun to enter his name and address when something seemed not to be right. And sure enough I clicked on the email address and it was not an email that originated from Netflix but from this chancer. account_on02@icloud.com

Here is a screen shot of what arrived in my inbox. Quite convincing. Gotta be careful out there !

The email has been forwarded to

Screenshot 2020-07-27 at 21.08.14672×661 25.4 KB

If you’re ever concerned if it might be a scam, hover over any links if you can, especially any of those that have a “Update Here” or “Click Here” box. If it doesn’t show, right click and see if it shows an option for copying text or viewing text. If it does NOT include any name of the company it’s supposed to be from, it will be a scam. If it includes a name of the company but in a weird way, it will be a scam.

So just say it’s an email from Netflix, if the click here link is something like "http://net.flix.ru/update it’s a scam. It should be the full “Netflix.com” or “netflix.co.uk” included somehow.

Also be aware, that most companies will never send you an “account suspension” email with a link. Or a “Payment failed, please click here to update details”.

Genuine companies who have concerns about your account will email you something along the lines of…

“We had trouble taking your payment. Please log in to your account to rectify this”.

Always worth a refresher note on this sort of stuff. I had a scam BT call yesterday saying there was hacking activity detected on my network. Just hang up.

The email address is always the give away- or the typos. I had one that said “Your apple has been suspended” Apple what? Apple Pie?

I get a lot of them- usually from HMRC, PayPal and Apple. Worth forwarding emails received to the National Cyber Security Centre at report@phishing.gov.uk they will try to investigate and shut down email addresses/websites like this.

My 12 year old daughter keeps getting “you have been involved in an accident” calls on her mobile. Her answer is always “I am 12”. She gets less and less calls.

Sure, if you want to be boring! Personally I try to keep them on the phone for as long as I can, if only to waste their time.

Or, if you have a particular set of skills:

Despite his droll voice, Jim Browning is quite amazing! I think he’s the basis of one of the Channel 4 Dispatches programs too.

I was once constantly bombarded with these types of calls. In the end I played along, when they said, “We’re calling about an accident that wasn’t your fault”
“Oh but it was my fault”
“Yes but you may still be able to claim compensation”
“I doubt it”
“Yes, sometimes it’s possible to claim compensation even if your weren’t entirely not at fault”
“But I was, the court convicted me”
“Um…”
“Yeh, I was sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving”
“Let me just get my supervisor”.

Never got a call back after that surprisingly.

Ah yes, the unsolicited “we’re calling about your recent car accident” calls.

My approach was very similar to yours, Flora -

“We’re calling about the accident you had recently”
“Yes - I was in an accident the other week…”
"Were you injured - if you were, we can help you claim compensation"
“Actually - yes I was injured…”
[getting excited because they think they’ve caught a live one] “And was it a serious injury?”
“Well - yes actually it was…”
[even more excitedly] “Can you tell me what the nature of the injury was?”
“I went through the windscreen of my car and I was decapitated. Died right there on the spot…”

[click…]

Anyone with BT may get an e-mail saying they are changing the e-mail address.
To cut a long story short, it took 3 phone calls for me to finally ascertain that it wasn’t a scam, but the tech team hadn’t yet been informed that the e-mails were being sent out!