Millions of people are following government guidelines and staying at home in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. Since the lockdown measures were introduced on 23 March, Netflix has seen a 32% rise in paid subscriptions to the streaming service.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said the radical shift in consumer activity has led scammers to attempt to take advantage of the situation.

It has received numerous reports of bogus emails in Netflix branding which asks recipients to update their payment details. The email advises the recipient to click a link, which leads to a fake payment page which takes the credit card details of the target.

Here’s an example of the Netflix scam:

If you receive this email, don’t click any of the links and report the bogus emails to Action Fraud and the company the scam message is using as cover.

The public should also be aware of similar emails designed with competitor branding such as Amazon Prime Video, Britbox, Disney+ and others.

CTSI lead officer, Katherine Hart, said: “These types of scams are not new, but they’re increasing in prevalence since the pandemic lockdown began. Scammers react to the changing behaviours of the general public, and I am especially concerned about Netflix branded emails because of the rising popularity of the service.

“I am equally amazed and disgusted at the breadth of new scams and the depths scammers have sunk to during this emergency. Trading Standards and our partners in the consumer protection landscape are working hard to minimise the damage that unscrupulous individuals are inflicting on the public during the pandemic.”