I called "customer support." The scammer answered.

A billing email about Netflix looked slightly off, so I searched Netflix billing phone and called the first sponsored hit instead of opening the app.

The person who answered said the account was compromised and I needed to buy gift cards to verify my identity before they could restore access.

They kept me on the line through hold music that sounded corporate while I stood in the shop aisle reading card codes.

A friend who was visiting heard gift cards and Netflix in the same sentence, took the phone, and hung up.

Typosquat sites and paid ads sit above real help numbers; fake call centres harvest people who panic-search.

Real Netflix and similar services do not demand gift cards for account recovery.

I had already been unsettled by the email, so I skipped the calmer step of opening the official app and went straight to whatever number looked fastest.

While the fake line had me on mute, I opened in-app chat on my laptop; the agent there said they never call customers to buy gift cards, which matched what my friend had been shouting from the doorway.

I did not lose the card money, but I felt foolish for how close I came; I reported the ad and the number and changed how I look up support.

I only reach support through the app, the statement, or a URL I know—never through a search ad for “support number.”

• Avoid searching “company + support phone”; use the official app or card/statement contact details.
• Gift cards for account verification are always a scam—hang up and report.

For more help, see our Report a scam page and Spot and avoid scams guide.