‘Membership canceled without notice’ say Netflix owners after ‘banwave’ targets TV fans breaking subscription rule

NETFLIX has been cracking down on subscribers using an illegal method to get around high subscription costs.

In recent Reddit threads, Netflix subscribers revealed they have been using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to bypass high subscription fees.

VPNs work by scrambling your internet data, so a user could be in the USA but their data claims they're in another country.

However, Netflix got wise to the practice and is conducting "banwaves" on people abusing regional pricing.

"My Netflix was just canceled," one Reddit user explained. "They said it was due to unusual activity."

"I was using a Turkish account from Australia. They are clamping down on those who use VPNs to get cheap subscriptions," they added.

Another Netflix user shared a similar story, noting that they were in the Netherlands but used a VPN to pretend they were in Turkey.

"This strategy served me well until a sudden hiccup occurred last Saturday: my subscription was abruptly canceled on the grounds of fraud'," they explained.

Users shared on Reddit a few solutions to get around the banwaves, however, the risk is potentially getting banned from Netflix.

While the streaming service is simply abiding by its rules, some critics say that the company "is digging itself a hole with cancelations like this."

"Everyone will get back to pirating and cancel the subs if so," one person remarked.

The recent wave of people using VPNs for Netflix service comes after the company announced an increase in fares last year.