What Is the Norton Subscription Renewal Email Scam? How to Avoid It
Emails claiming to be from Norton aren’t always what they appear to be. Some are scams, so we’re here to help you avoid falling victim to one.
That NortonLifeLock Email May Be a Scam
Have you received an email stating that your NortonLifeLock subscription is due to renew today and that a specific amount will be deducted from your bank account? The email might even claim that the transaction has already occurred and ask you to call the provided number to reverse it.
It’s a scam, and no money has been or will be deducted from your account by Norton. So how exactly does this scam work? What can you do to avoid falling victim to it? And if you ever fall prey to scammers' traps, what should you do next?
What Is the NortonLifeLock Subscription Renewal Email Scam?
The NortonLifeLock subscription renewal scam is an email scam in which cybercriminals send a fake notification email to recipients about the renewal of an antivirus system. They present the email as an official notification from NortonLifeLock, a real cybersecurity software company.
The scammers add a fake custom ID, invoice number, and renewal date to make the email appear genuine. Using an official logo and professional-looking design, cybercriminals make the email appear authentic.
Besides that, scammers also include a fake invoice and mention a NortonLifeLock subscription that will be renewed within 24 hours. In rare instances, they may further inform their targets that the subscription has already been renewed, and that their account has been debited.
After making victims panic, scammers instruct them to contact their billing department by calling the number provided to cancel the subscription or get a refund for the amount deducted (which hadn’t actually been charged anyway).
The scam begins when someone calls the given number to seemingly avoid being charged for something they don’t want. When the target attempts to cancel the subscription this way, the scam could take several forms.
How Does the NortonLifeLock Subscription Renewal Email Scam Work?
First, scammers try to convince their targets to grant them remote access to their laptops or computers. Scammers claim that they can only cancel the subscription by accessing the recipient’s device so that it doesn’t renew or by reversing a transaction already made.
If the recipient agrees and gives them remote access, they ask the user to log into their bank account, so they can cancel or reverse the transaction. After gaining access to the user’s bank account, they use software to obscure the screen, so the user cannot see what they are doing.
To ease their targets' minds, they say that a technical problem has caused their monitor screen to turn black, and they are working to resolve it. However, they really intend to make huge deposits to their bank accounts from the victim’s, install malicious software to track user accounts and access them later, or simply remove the protection on their targets' devices to scam them again.
There have been reports that scammers also use the notorioustech support refund scam strategyto defraud their targets during this scam. They instruct their targets to note their available bank balance, so they can verify the refund later. Afterward, they edit the HTML of the bank account page to show a higher amount than what it should be.
After that, scammers claim they have sent more than they were supposed to and demand a refund. In reality, the funds remain the same, and the users end up sending their hard-earned cash to cybercriminals instead. When they make the transaction and refresh the screen, they learn the reality of the situation, but by then, it’s too late.
Other Ways Scammers May Attempt to Deceive You
Although scammers mainly request remote access to a potential victim’s device or employ a tech support refund scam strategy in their scam, they may not limit themselves to these tactics. Here are some other ways they might infiltrate your privacy:
The list goes on and on…
How to Spot the NortonLifeLock Subscription Scam
If you’re unsure whether the subscription renewal email is genuine, ask yourself these questions:
If you haven’t subscribed to any NortonLifeLock products, your name isn’t listed anywhere in the email, and the address you receive email on is different from your registered one, then it’s definitely a scam.
Although this should be enough for you to realize that the email is fake, you’ll likely see otherphishing scam signsto confirm your suspicions. For instance, if the address you receive the email from isn’t official, there are typos in the content, the email creates a sense of urgency, phishing links and attachments are attached, or the email asks for sensitive information, then scammers are running this email campaign.
What Should You Do if You Receive a Subscription Scam Email?
The first thing you should do when you receive a scam email is to verify that it is really a scam and not an official email from NortonLifeLock. To do that, simply answer the questions mentioned in the above section. If you find out the email is a scam, ignore it without hesitation.
Don’t download attachments or contact the given number, no matter how official it seems. Likewise, if scammers share any other means of contacting them, do not respond to them. Besides that,do not click any linksincluded in the email, even if they claim to let you cancel your subscription.
Importantly, if scammers ask for remote access, don’t let them. Likewise, if the scammers claim that a transaction to renew the subscription has already occurred, check the recent transactions on your bank account to see if they match the reference number mentioned in the email.
If you don’t find any details about the purchase in your account history, you can ignore the email. In case you see a transaction with the same amount as mentioned, make sure the email isn’t an official confirmation from NortonLifeLock. If the transaction has been made but debited by an unknown entity, contact your bank for a refund.
If you are still uncertain despite knowing all the signs, you cancontact Norton supportfor confirmation. After Norton’s support team confirms that no such invoice has been generated, indicating it’s a scam, ignoring the email would be the best course of action.
What to Do if You Fell for the NortonLifeLock Subscription Renewal Email Scam
If you’ve already called the scammer after receiving the NortonLifeLock subscription scam email or downloaded attachments, here’s what you should do:
Be Smart With NortonLifeLock Subscription Email Scammers
Hopefully, you now understand how the NortonLifeLock subscription email scam works. You should be able to spot the scam and avoid it. But you’re not the only person who might fall victim to this, so educate your parents, grandparents, friends, and any other family members about these scams too.
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