CHICAGO (WLS) — They usually come to you via text or email, but you may stumble upon one while searching online.

These are big brands you trust, and the thieves are pretending to be the real deal to fool you.

These websites appear to be legitimate login landing pages for brands like Microsoft, Google, Meta, USPS and even a fake login page for Netflix. And scammers aren’t trying to stream your shows!

“And so some people at home may be wondering, ‘Well, why would they want my Netflix password?'” said ABC7 consumer investigator Jason Knowles.

“Have you saved your credit card to your Netflix account?” » said Karin Zilberstein with Guardio cybersecurity group. “All cybercrime makes money… It can be done in one step, or in two, but all this leads to financial losses.”

Guardio recently found the counterfeits and listed the top most imitated sites and brands.

“A lot of people have Microsoft accounts, Google accounts, Meta accounts. And it’s very common to receive such a request. The only problem with these requests is that they are not real. They are fake phishing attempts that try to get people’s credentials information,” Zilberstein said.

Once the hacker tricks you into logging in, he can steal your password, account information, and any other personal information you have stored in the account.

“So with the rise of AI, all these fake websites that communications lead to seem extremely real,” Zilberstein said.

Here is another fraud, cloning of the popular Coinbase website.

Tech experts at Guardio say you could see more crypto-based scams like this now with a crypto-friendly Donald Trump administration.

“We are seeing an increase in crypto scams, especially around election season and after. And we expect this trend to continue,” Zilberstein said.

You should always avoid accessing links sent to you and go directly to your account login or company homepage on your own. Even if you don’t give information, a single click can install malware on your device.

You can also usually determine that a link is fake by inspecting the address bar and URL. You can usually spot extra words and letters that don’t match or don’t look right.

We also contacted most of the imitated brands. Many of them said they are proactively warning consumers about these scams and sending us links that inform consumers:

Microsoft said it encourages customers to always practice good online computing habits, including using caution when clicking on links to web pages, opening unfamiliar files, or accepting file transfers from sources unknown.

Microsoft also recommends using a multi-layered security approach with strong authentication measures.

For more information, see: Phishing protection and prevention solutions | Microsoft Security