In parallel with the spread of online movie and music streaming services, the number of abuses of streaming accounts has increased, according to Police.hu. „Yesterday, I received an email saying that someone had logged into my streaming profile from a remote device, but when I checked my account, I didn’t find anything unusual. Today, however, I was notified that the credit card details associated with the account had been changed
to a card that does not belong to me,” reads the complaint of one victim.
According to police experience, profiles associated with Netflix, HBO Max, Spotify, and other subscription services are increasingly falling into the hands of unauthorized users without the account holders’ knowledge.
A significant portion of these scams does not involve traditional hacking but rather involves cybercriminals testing email addresses and passwords obtained from previous data breaches across various platforms. Since many users reuse the same password across multiple services,
a single breach can trigger a chain of account takeovers, potentially compromising the user’s other accounts.
So this is by no means a case of attackers „watching movies for free” on the compromised profiles, but rather gaining access to credit card details, billing information, and even further personal data through the compromised accounts,
which they can then use for further fraud.
The seriousness of this phenomenon is also supported by international research. According to a 2024 report by cybersecurity company Kaspersky, the credentials of
more than 7 million streaming accounts worldwide have been leaked to illegal forums
and data packages. According to the research, the most frequently affected services were Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.
Another spectacular case involves the Roku streaming platform, which operates primarily in the United States. In 2023–2024, the company acknowledged that unauthorized individuals had accessed more than half a million user accounts by attempting to brute-force stolen passwords. In some cases, the attackers also made purchases through the hacked accounts.
Many users do not consider the security of their streaming accounts important, even though these accounts are often linked to email addresses, credit cards, or other digital services. The police, therefore,
recommend several basic precautions:
Use strong, unique passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, monitor for unusual logins and suspicious activity, and exercise caution on public networks (if you log into a streaming service with your own profile in an unfamiliar location, make sure you log out before leaving). It is also a good idea to regularly check that no unknown devices are connected to your account.
Cybercriminals’ methods are constantly evolving, but user awareness is one of the strongest forms of defense.
Lead image: Pexels
Original Hungarian article translated with the help of DeepL.
