STAY SAFE FROM SCAMS!

Smart ways to foil fraudsters looking to steal your money, your identity and your sense of security

- Marc Saltzman

I’M AN AVID MOVIE STREAMER, so it's not unusual for me to receive emails from Netflix about new things to watch. So a new message about updating my account info didn't seem out of place, especially since the email contained the familiar red Netflix logo. Here's what the email said:

We were unable to validate your billing information for the next billing cycle of your subscription therefore we'll suspend your membership if we do not receive a response from you within 48 hours.

Obviously we'd love to have you back, simply click restart your membership to update your details and continue to enjoy all the best TV shows & movies without interruption.

We're here to help if you need it. Visit the Help Center for more info. -The Netflix Team

But on closer inspection, the tone seemed a bit off (why so urgent?) and I noticed a typo ("48hours"), so I promptly deleted the message without clicking any of the links, then blocked the sender and went about my day.

I had been scammed-or rather, someone had attempted to scam me. This is a common con, engineered to trick people into providing their credit card or debit card number, bank account details and Netflix password.

THROUGH EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGES and social media requests (often with questionable grammar and spelling) and old-fashioned phone calls, cybercriminals are doing everything in their power to deceive and defraud. All around the world, people are falling victim to data breaches, viruses and ransomware when you're locked out of your computer unless you pay to regain access to your files.

Cybercrime attacks often originate in China, Russia, India and parts of Africa (Nigerian prince, anyone?). That's because it can be difficult to find and charge perpetrators in those places. But the attacks can come from anywhere.