Cybersecurity experts at Bitdefender have issued a warning to Netflix and Prime Video users, stating that they are under a constant threat of scams targeting their accounts. The report highlighted the flourishing sale of stolen streaming accounts on the dark web, with popular seller ‘bulkversion’ offering ‘lifetime’ Netflix accounts for sale. These accounts, priced between $5 and $15, come with customer reviews, bulk deals, and even “warranties”. The validity of these claims of lifetime subscriptions is difficult to measure, but can be tracked through consumer reviews of the product.
Fraudsters acquire fresh accounts at a constant rate in order to fulfill promises of ‘lifelong’ subscriptions and warranties. They do this by phishing customers and hijacking accounts for dark web buyers, or by creating new accounts with stolen credit card payment details. Bitdefender’s Threat Research and Reporting director, Bogdan Botezatu, explained that cybercriminals can also use stolen credit cards or gift cards to add fraudulent payment mechanisms to fresh accounts. Additionally, some fraudulent operations focus on earning money via gift cards, which are then traded for crypto-currency and passed off as streaming accounts to customers.
Dark web sellers heavily rely on customer reviews to build their reputation, as evidenced by the level 8 reputation achieved by some sellers provided by Bitdefender. The report revealed that tens of thousands of ‘lifetime’ Netflix accounts have been sold by one popular seller, implying that a large number of customers have fallen victim to these scams. The dark web is not illegal in the UK or US, but it is a network of untraceable online activity and websites that cannot be found using search engines. To access the dark web, specific software, configurations, or authorization is required.
In addition to stolen streaming accounts, Bitdefender recently warned Netflix users about a bank-raiding scam that steals account information and credit card details. Scammers send fraudulent text messages claiming that the recipient’s subscription payment has failed and that their account will be suspended if they don’t make up the balance. The link in the message leads to a fake Netflix page where login details and payment information are harvested. While Netflix and Prime Video are the most popular platforms on the dark web, other US services like Hulu and Blaze TV are also in demand. The dark web is one layer of the internet, alongside the surface web and deep web, and it hosts a variety of illegal and criminal content. Despite its negative reputation, banning the dark web may be difficult and unethical due to the challenges in monitoring and enforcing such restrictions.
