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Liese Hittson
Netflix is the world's largest streaming service, with 183 million subscribers (as of March 2020) paying monthly to watch shows like Stranger Things, The Crown and the rest of the streamer's extensive movie and TV catalog. Until recently, it also had one of the most generous free trials of any streamer, with new subscribers able to get a whole month of the service free.
However, in October 2020, the service removed its free trial in the U.S., with a spokesperson for Netflix saying, "we're looking at different marketing promotions in the U.S. to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience."
This removal of the Netflix free trial reflected the massive changes in the streaming sector is the short term in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in the long term since Netflix launched its first original series in 2013.
In the short term, a number of streaming services dropped their free trial in 2020 as a result to minimise any losses they were making after bringing movies originally destined for cinematic release to streamers.
When Disney+ released Hamilton onto its service, as well as Pixar movie Soul, these were major releases that would bring millions to the service, but they would also bring a significant audience of people who would watch these films on a free trial and then cancel their subscription.
Whereas newer streamer services like Disney+ or HBO Max have one or two breakout shows like The Mandalorian or Raised By Wolves, Netflix has some of the most-watched shows in the world, like Stranger Things, The Crown and Ozark. So if the newer streamer could build an audience without luring people in for free, then presumably the thinking was that so could Netflix, especially as millions around the world found themselves at home due to the coronavirus, with few options other than binge-watching endless TV.
In the long-term, meanwhile, the market has been moving away from free trials in general, with the trials offered getting smaller. The first three major streaming services in the U.S. were Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, all of which offered (or in the latter two cases, still offer) 30-day free trials. This was based on the model of cable services like Showtime, which offered month-long free trials for potential viewers.
Now, however, the norm is seven days, with media companies trying to recoup the millions they have pumped into joining the 'streaming wars' as quickly as possible. Among the services that offer a week free trial are Peacock, Apple TV+ and Discovery+, all of which launched in 2020.
Quibi, meanwhile, offered viewers who signed up before it released a 90-day free trial, then a 14-day free trial after it aired, which industry commentators cited as one of the many reasons it shutdown just six months after it launched.
Rather than offering new subscribers unfettered access to the whole catalog for a length of time, the streamer has introduced Watch Free, a segment that allows viewers to watch selected episodes of its biggest shows, hoping to get viewers hooked enough to pay to watch the whole thing.
Among the shows currently available to watch free are episodes of Stranger Things, Grace and Frankie, Spanish teen soap Elite, kid's content like Boss Baby: Back in Business and the acclaimed mini-series When They See Us.
I don't have a Netflix account and never have done. I have a Gmail address which I have never used for public communication. Suddenly I started getting email to this Gmail address from Netflix - not a "Welcome to Netflix" email or one requesting address verification, but what looked like a monthly promo for an existing account. This was addressed to someone with a different real name, with that name not similar in any way to the Gmail name.
After a few of these messages I decided to investigate by going to Netflix and trying to log in with that email address. Using the "forgotten password" option I was able to get a password reset email, change the password and log in. The account appeared to be from Brazil, with some watch history but no other personal details stored and no payment information.
Soon the emails from Netflix started to ask me to update payment information. I didn't, of course, and then they changed to "your account will be suspended" and then "your account has been suspended". The "come back to Netflix" emails are still coming in occasionally.
I don't see how this could possibly be a phishing attempt - I carefully checked that I was on the real Netflix site, used a throwaway password not used on any other sites, and did not enter any of my personal information. I also checked the headers of the emails carefully and they were sent by Netflix. So is this just a mistake on somebody's part, mistyping an email address (although it's surprising that Netflix accepted it with no verification), or something more sinister?
(Note that the above steps don't include any "password reset" step for Jim to access the account; that's because the email from Netflix includes authenticated links that won't ask for it. The attacker wants the victim to click on the email links instead of visiting Netflix manually, this is what enables "Eve" to log back in to the account in step 7. Or, since Netflix emails authenticated links, possibly "Eve" already has one.)
The above situation is partially caused by Netflix (understandably) not recognizing Gmail's "dots don't matter" feature where email sent to [email protected] and to [email protected] end up in the same account. That doesn't really matter in your case (given that if this is how you're trying to be scammed, step 1 was skipped entirely), however.
The most probable situation is that someone used an arbitrary Gmail address (yours) in order to sign up for a free trial, or mistakenly tried to change their email to the wrong address (maybe to have a friend/family also get emails).
This would not be a "hack" or even a phishing attempt, just using any available address. This does mean that your Gmail address could not be used for a free trial at Netflix, so there is that negative impact to you.
As a side note, by logging into someone else's account, you have violated many country's "unauthorised access" laws. I would not make a habit of doing this (or telling others on public sites that you have".
I get dozens to hundreds of e-mails from legitimate companies (car dealers, LA dept of water and power, Macys.com, cell phone activation notes, the payroll company ADP, and Nationwide insurance) from people with my first name and an initial matching my last name.
The worst was in early 2019, when I received medical records (Lab results in a .PDF file) - a clear HIPAA violation, since e-mail isn't an authenticated or encrypted communications channel. The "medical records" person, who should know the law, was the sender of the e-mail.
In my case, none of them are nefarious, but represent clueless users or even worse, clueless sales clerks (such as Lenscrafters in Maryland), the Apple store in Manhattan, and others too numerous to mention.
I got emails from Netflix too saying that my account was cancelled and that there was a sign in attempt somewhere from the US... except that I live in Canada, and have never made a Netflix account in the first place. I went directly to the Netflix website and was able to speak to a representative, and they deleted the account. There was no payment information either. I don't understand why this happened, either someone has a similar email address yet without the dots, or perhaps there is some sinister reason, but I wouldn't know. I've wondered if someone might do this hoping that the other person would fill in their payment information, thus enabling the account.
And I did sign up. Immediately, Netflix charged me $16.99. I contacted both Roku and Netflix support to inquire and was told there was no such promotion. But on both the Netflix Channel Store page and on the Netflix APP on Roku, it clearly says Try One Month Free.
I don't know if this applies in this case, but in general if you've ever tried a service before any "free" offer no longer applies. So if you've ever had Netflix or tried one of their free trials in the past you won't get it again. It should be clearly spelled out, but it clearly isn't in what you've shown.
Thanks, @renojim . This was an initial subscription for me. Both Roku and Netflix made it very difficult to send an email so they could "see" the error. Chat support was all that was available on both sides. Netflix did say that they have not had a "free" promotion for years and Roku said Netflix was responsible for it's content and advertising. It's a simple fix, but I am posting this because others who may want to try Netflix can contest the charge based on this and perhaps, like me, get the first month back! But just be aware, Netflix cancelled my account immediately on learning of the dispute, but I got my free month and may or may not renew. Just left a bad taste!
If you want to see the best shows on Netflix, the best way to do so would be through a Netflix free trial. But do they have one, and if not are there other ways to get the streaming giant for free? We investigate.
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