How To Know If Your Netflix Account Is Hacked

For most Netflix users, their account is near and dear to their hearts considering the amount of time and money invested in binge-watching movies and TV shows. Therefore, if the account gets hacked, it’s a massive inconvenience.

Fortunately, there are several ways to tell if your account has been hacked and methods to take back control. Check out the biggest red flags with Netflix hacks below:

1. Be Aware If A New Profile Shows Up

When you first open up Netflix, make sure to observe the account that is logged in on your device. If you happen to notice there is a different profile signed in on your device, first check that your BFF didn’t create the account.

If neither your nor your friends created the suspicious account, make sure to take a look at the home device information, CNET says. When looking at the home page on Netflix, take notice of the new shows popping up in your list. If there are shows that you would never watch then it’s possible there has been tampering with your account.

2. Do Some Deep Digging

One way to see if there is any hacking activity going in with your Netflix profile is to see if anyone is logging in from a strange location.

Go to Account and click on Manage Download Devices to see where your Netflix account is being used.

Look for any devices that are out of ordinary and don’t belong on the list. When you find one, delete it immediately. For example, if there is a device listed as Apple TV, and you don’t have an Apple TV, this is a sign that someone else is using your account.

For good measure, you go back to account settings and click on Sign Out of All Devices. 

3. Secure Your Account

This may seem obvious, but it’s important to change your password before the culprit tries to log back into your Netflix account. To avoid having further issues, make sure to create a password of good length with a variety of numbers and letters.

Another way to secure your account is to change the email address associated with your Netflix profile.

Website such as Have I Been Pwned will show if your email has been compromised by a major security breach. CNET writes, “A security breach is when your email, password, account name, credit card information or any other data stored on a website is illegally accessed by hackers and released to the public.”

To rid yourself of all worry, you can completely delete your account. Go to Account > Mange Profiles, and then click on the problematic profile and choose Delete Profile > Done.

When you finally get your account secured, there are also a number of tips and tricks in order to maximize your Netflix experience. Check out “10 Netflix Hacks That Will Make Your Streaming Experience Perfect” below:

Netflix Tips And Tricks

Hack #1: Learn How to Use the “Netflix Bible”

One of the most difficult issues for Netflix subscribers is being able to search through the vast content available on the streaming service. When looking through a specific genre, one of the most helpful tools is the “Netflix Bible.”

The “Netflix Bible” is a list of categories that the streaming service has made to break up the huge collection of movies and TV shows. Check out the “Netflix Bible” here.

Hack #2: Add Rotten Tomatoes Scores To Your Movie/TV Show Options

Because Netflix has changed its rating system from the five-star rating to a thumbs-up, thumbs-down system, it makes it much more difficult to find the quality content. In order to find the highest-rated content faster, there is a Google Chrome extension called the NEnchancer, which “integrates with your account to show you trailers for shows and movies and adds Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB pages to titles,” according to Decider.

Netflix Tips And Tricks

Hack #3: Find Trending Movies/Shows on Reddit

A subreddit called r/NetflixBestOf has been created to allow subscribers to discuss their favorite content. The site is a great location for the “diamond in the rough” type shows and films and is great for a recommendation that is a bit off the beaten path.

Hack #4: Use Apple TV’s Bonus Features

For Netflix subscribers who have Apple TV, you likely did not know that you have access to extra features. You can find the special options by pressing the “Up” arrow twice on the Apple Tv remote while viewing a show or movie on Netflix. A page will appear with a banner with the title’s thumbnail image, description, and rating.

By pressing the “Down” arrow, other features are unlocked. Your Apple TV will show a progress bar divided into chapters. The right and left arrows will also allow you to move forward or back a few minutes on your program.

Hack #5: Learn the Keyboard Controls

If you’re a Netflix user who typically enjoys watching on your laptop, there are several desktop settings and shortcut options that will make your experience much more pleasurable.

• Pressing “F” will enter full screen, while pressing “Esc” makes the picture return to normal size.
• Pressing “PgDn” pauses the video.
• “PgUp” plays the video.
• To play and pause, you can also use the “Spacebar.”
• To fastforward, press “Shift + Right Arrow.”
• Rewind by pressing “Shift + Left Arrow.”
• To mute, press “M.”

Netflix Tips And Tricks

Hack #6: Do Away With Binge-watching Shame

For anyone who has ever engaged in a full-on Netflix binge-watching session, you are likely aware that the streaming service will ask if you’re really still watching after a couple hours. To make binge-watching easier and guilt-free, you can add a Google Chrome extension called Flix Assist. You can also eliminate the next episode countdown feature by going to your settings.

Hack #7: Personalize Subtitles

One way to surf through Netflix’s massive library more quickly is to customize your subtitles by font, color, drop shadow, and size. To change your settings, go to Account > My Profile > Subtitle Appearance.

Hack #8: Know Peak Streaming Hours

Netflix used to allow its subscribers to toy around with the buffering settings by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Opt+S. However, the streaming service has eliminated the feature.

In order to avoid being interrupted by a poor connection and constant buffering, be sure to know the peak streaming hours. The prime streaming hours are weeknights after work with Friday nights being the busiest. The best times to stream content are during daylight hours or in late nights.

Netflix Tips And Tricks

Hack #9: Optimize Video Quality

Changing your Playback Settings will impact the quality of the video you are watching on Netflix. To change your settings go to Account > Profile > Playback Settings. For those who stream on their computer, gaming console, or on a TV app, you can likely set your Data Usage to High.

For users streaming from their phones, you may want to change your Playback Settings to Low or Medium for the best experience.

Hack #10: Eliminate Netflix Moochers

If you’re like many Netflix subscribers, you have most likely either given your Netflix password to someone else or are possibly using one of your friends’ accounts. One way to improve your experience is by reducing the number of people using your account. The best way to do so is by going to Account > Sign Off All Devices.

When you sign back into Netflix, change your password and then try to be much more selective when giving out your password information.

[Photo Credit: Netflix]