Phishing is not what it used to be. Today it is disguised with domains that are almost identical to the original ones, interfaces copied down to the last detail and messages that, although they seem legitimate, are pure trickery. For those who once waited for the weekend to rent a movie or tune in to the premiere of a TV series, the arrival of platforms such as Netflix completely transformed the way of consuming content.
At the touch of a cell phone screen, thousands of titles are available to anyone. But that same digital convenience has opened the door to new forms of deception: scams designed with surgical precision to steal data, impersonate identities and empty accounts. The most recent one carries a familiar name as a front and spreads quickly: a fake Netflix message that can cost you far more than a subscription.
A new scam is making the rounds that has already put both security experts and the folks at Netflix themselves on alert. It's a phishing campaign posing as an official message from the platform. The goal? To trick you into entering a fraudulent page and unwittingly hand over your personal data and even your credit card details.
A message that looks like the real thing... but it isn't
It all starts with an SMS or an email that arrives out of the blue. It tells you that there's a problem with your Netflix account: a payment that hasn't been processed, a mess with your card or that they're about to block your service. The tone is urgent, as if your account is going to explode at any moment. And of course, it pushes you to act fast, without thinking too much.
The hook is in a link that seems to take you to the Netflix site. And I say “seems” because the page is so well done that it's hard to tell the difference: same colors, same logos, same typography. But it is not Netflix. It's a copy, a trap. There they ask you to enter your personal and payment data, and if you do it, that's it: that info goes straight to the fraudsters.
This is not something new, but it is getting stronger and stronger. In recent months, scam attempts have multiplied, and it makes sense: Netflix is one of the most used platforms in the world, especially in countries like Spain and much of Latin America. There are millions of people with active accounts, which makes it an ideal target for this type of massive fraud.
The company has already clarified things: Netflix will never ask you for bank details by text message or email. If you receive something like this, it is best to delete it without opening it or responding, because it is almost certainly a trap.
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How to identify the scam before it is too late?
One of the easiest clues to detect this type of scam is in the strange links that come in the message. Many use domains such as .com-track, .com-toll, .top or .cyou, which are cheap, are used to scam and then disappear without a trace. And this is no small thing: according to data from organizations such as SpamHaus, more than 60,000 domains related to these campaigns were detected in April 2025 alone.
Even the FBI has come out to warn about this issue. They reiterated something that seems obvious, but is not always so when you are in panic mode: no serious company is going to ask you for passwords or sensitive data by direct message. The problem is that when the message sounds urgent, many people don't stop to think. And that's when the scam works.
How to avoid falling into the trap (and what to do if you already have)
The most important thing is not to trust any message that pressures you to act on the fly. If you are told that your account is at risk, that there was a problem with your card or that you need to pay for something urgently, the best thing to do is to stop and check it out. Never give your personal data in pages you got to from a link in an email or text message.
The safest way? Go directly to the official app or enter it yourself from the browser by typing the address, without following weird links. And if you already fell for it and entered your data in a fake page, don't worry, but act fast:
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Disconnect from the Internet.
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Call your bank and block your card or account.
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Change your passwords, especially if you use the same one for other services.
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And report what happened to the authorities, so that there is a record and they can prevent more people.
This type of fraud is becoming more and more dangerous, with designs that are very similar to the original ones. Therefore, the best defense is only one: always hesitate, even if the message looks official and has the Netflix logo.