Part Two of Season 4 of Netflix’s mega-hit series, Stranger Things recently concluded and, despite a three-year break due to pandemic-related delays topped streaming charts. Unfortunately, unscrupulous individuals have found ways to lure unsuspecting users to the bad side of the Internet with the promise of early views of the season’s episodes.
Kaspersky researchers discovered multiple cases of spam emails and phishing URLs meant to steal money and personal information from these fans.
Even though new episodes of Stranger Things have been released, viewers are still at risk because not everyone prefers to watch the series on the official website. When consumers refuse to pay for a streaming service subscription and instead choose to watch a movie or show on an unauthorised page, they wind up paying a higher price – losing their personal information and card details.
Taking advantage of the popularity of the series, some fraudsters have advertised the potential for consumers to “watch the new episodes for only $1”. To take advantage of this deal, individuals had to create a new account and provide their address and bank information.
After entering their information, fraudsters emptied victims’ wallets, preventing them from watching the new season of their favourite show.
Kaspersky experts have discovered scam emails that take advantage of Stranger Things’ popularity. Such emails are used to offer low-quality products and are distributed through promotional emails without the recipient’s knowledge.
How to avoid Stranger Things-related scams or anything similar
In order to avoid getting scammed online, Kaspersky recommends that users avoid links promising early viewings of any movies or TV series. Check with your service provider if you feel suspicious of a link’s authenticity.
Users should also double-check URL formats and company name spellings and only use official, trusted web pages to watch or download movies. Checking the authenticity of a website before entering one’s personal data is also recommended.
It is also quite important to keep an eye on the extensions of the files that users download. A video file never ends with .exe or .msi extensions. Finally, users can also use security solutions that identify malicious attachments and block phishing sites such as Kaspersky Security Cloud.
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