Losing access to a favorite video streaming service can put binge-watchers into a panic – and con artists have been taking advantage of this with an increasingly popular fraud.
In the Streaming Service Scam, victims receive an email that appears to be from a video or music streaming app claiming a subscription was canceled because the billing information couldn’t be verified. It directs victims to click a link to a fraudulent website that requests their credit card information or other personal data to renew the subscription.
Scammers then use the information to make purchases on the victims’ credit cards or otherwise gain access to their accounts.
The bogus emails and websites scammers utilize often look legitimate, with the same format, typeface and logos used by the companies they are pretending to represent.
TIPS:
- Don’t provide personal, financial or account information requested by email or other forms; streaming services usually won’t contact customers asking for this.
- Look out for generic form-letter language, typos and grammar errors throughout the email.
- Without clicking on any links in an email, visit the official company website or call the purported sender of the email at a known phone number to verify the content of the correspondence.
For a printable version of this fraud alert, click here.
Deputy District Attorney John Weller explains how the scam works in this video: http://da.lacounty.gov/community/fraud-alerts/crooks-binge-on-victims-data .
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
