PayPal ‘You Sent a Payment to Netflix’ Phishing Scam Email

According to this email, which purports to be from PayPal, you sent a payment to Netflix. The email has the subject line “Receipt for Your Payment to Netflix.com”.

The message explains that, if you did not authorize the payment, you can click a login link to cancel it and receive a full refund.

However, the email is not from PayPal and the claim that you sent the listed payment to Netflix is untrue. Instead, the email is a phishing scam that tries to steal your personal and financial information. The refund claim option is a ruse designed to trick you into clicking the link.

Perhaps in an attempt to get more people to click the link, the scammers have two different amounts listed in the supposed receipt. The amount in the bottom portion of the message is $100 more than the one at the top. Some users who really do pay for Netflix via PayPal might just ignore such a message in the mistaken belief that it is a legitimate receipt. But, the discrepancy in amounts in this version may panic a few people into clicking in the belief that a billing error has been made.

If you do click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that looks like a genuine PayPal login page. After you enter your PayPal email address and password on the fake site, you will be taken to a bogus cancel payment form that asks for your name and contact details, your credit card numbers, and other identifying personal information.

After submitting the fake form, you may see a final message that claims that the transaction has been cancelled successfully.

But, now the criminals behind this scam attempt can use the information you provided to hijack your PayPal account and commit fraudulent transactions. They can also commit further fraud using your credit card and possibly steal your identity as well.

PayPal phishing scams like this one are very common and take many forms. Remember that genuine PayPal emails will always use your name as a greeting, they will not use your email address or a generic greeting such as Dear Customer. Always login to PayPal by entering the address into your browser’s address bar or via a trusted app.

PayPal has information about recognising and reporting phishing scams on its website.