That email you just received about your Netflix account? Look closely, it may be a clever fake. Internet crooks know that almost everyone has a Netflix account by now. So scamming people with the Netflix name and logo probably seems like easy money to them. Here’s what to know and watch out for with Netflix phishing:

Fake Netflix Emails

Most of these fake Netflix messages arrive over email. Some are obvious and laughable fakes, while others are fairly convincing. Here’s an example of one of their better attempts.

This fake email has a lot going for it: the From-email address looks legit, the grammar and spelling is believable and the overall tone resembles legitimate Netflix communications.

But notice that Gmail has put a question mark next to the sender. If you float over that question mark, Google will pop up and warn you that this message couldn’t be verified and may be from a sketchy sender. Also, the missing Netflix logo graphic is a tiny tip-off. But the clincher is when you hover the cursor over the link to “update your account”. Hovering over that usually allows your browser to tell you where that will take you. In this case, it isn’t going to any URL ending in Netflix.com!

Potential Dangers

You should not click weird link in sus emails. But I did, and I’ll show you what comes next. After clicking to “update my account”, I arrived at a cute captcha:

This is just here to groom its victims. It’s easy and familiar to do, and it preps you for cooperation on the next page:

I’m impressed. The only thing here to clue you in to the fakery is the URL. Many people would miss that it says “realcaptcha.com” instead of “netflix.com”.

Anyone tricked into filling in these fields would give their Netflix credentials to cybercriminals. I filled in some junk info, to see what comes next:

Of course, a payment screen that looks just like the real thing! But I found it telling that this sham would not allow me to put in a made-up credit card number. This site checks numbers in real-time and rejects incorrect entries. That means this is tied to a payment processing company, and I’ll bet that anyone fooled by this page will end up with fraudulent charges on their bank card!

Dos and Don’ts

If you’ve been fooled by this sort of phishing campaign, change your Netflix password ASAP. And then contact your bank and talk to them about how your account may have been compromised. They’ll take steps to secure your financial accounts.

If you receive this message, via email or text, feel free to forward it to phishing@netflix.com because the real Netflix folks are interested in tracking and preventing these things.

Also, feel free to use your email’s Report Spam function on the message. But do not use Block Sender. Since many of these messages use spoofing, the sender’s address may have been falsified to show a real Netflix address. If you block that phishing email, then you might stop receiving emails from the real Netflix!

Lastly, if you receive a Netflix email and can’t figure out its legitimacy, just put it aside. Open a new browser tab and go to www.netflix.com and sign in there. Once you’re inside the real Netflix site, you can look around and try to verify what was emailed to you.

Punchbowl is a legitimate website that offers online invitations, much like Evite. And scammers are phishing for victims, by sending out email that looks like Punchbowl invites. Don’t be fooled! Here are the details:

A Good-Looking Fake

Here’s what some folks are receiving right now:

This message, should you receive it, may come from an email address known to you. But please don’t trust this. This is all a sham. Anyone tricked into clicking the Open-button will be taken to a website that looks similar to Punchbowl. That impostor site will ask them to sign in with an email and password. That info is then passed on to cybercriminals, who will log on to that email and use it for other nefarious purposes.

Dos and Don’ts

If you receive this message:

• Don’t reply to this message.
• Don’t Block the Sender (because it really did come from one of your friends).
• Don’t click on any links.
• Don’t type in any passwords or other important info.
• Call the sender, or contact them outside of email, to let them know about this.
• Encourage the sender to change their email password or otherwise secure their account. They have likely been compromised, and someone bad is abusing their email address!
• If problems persist, mention to the sender that they can reach out to BlueScreen for direct help!