{"id":30722,"date":"2026-05-15T22:44:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/?p=30722"},"modified":"2026-05-15T22:44:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:14:06","slug":"how-to-manage-subscriptions-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/how-to-manage-subscriptions-safely\/30722\/","title":{"rendered":"Subscription security: how to protect your account, your wallet\u2026 and your sanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever tried to tally up how much you spend on subscriptions each month? Music, movies, gaming, language courses, delivery services, heated seats<\/a>, and even the ability to chat with the Grok bot directly from your car<\/a> \u2014 there\u2019s a subscription for just about everything now. There\u2019s even a subscription service specifically designed to\u2026 track your other subscriptions.<\/p>\n

The number of subscriptions varies significantly depending on where you live<\/a>, but statistically<\/a>, 78% of adults worldwide have at least one paid subscription, with the average user juggling 5.6 active services. Furthermore, a large portion of these are family plans used by groups of close relatives\u2026 and sometimes other people: 37% of users share their subscriptions outside their immediate family.<\/p>\n

Because subscription accounts, especially family plans, often contain sensitive personal data, they\u2019ve become a prime target for cybercriminals. Today we look at how to manage your subscriptions securely, avoid having your accounts compromised, and keep from falling for scammers\u2019 latest tricks.<\/p>\n

Security of shared accounts and subscriptions<\/h2>\n

Why would anyone want to hack your subscription? Even if the service only offers entertainment, your account almost certainly contains sensitive information: your name, address, email, phone number, the names of other members, and other personally identifiable information. This data is then sold on the dark web<\/a> and used for further attacks.<\/p>\n

Attackers compromise subscription accounts<\/a> either through social engineering and phishing, or by taking advantage of many users\u2019 reliance on weak or leaked passwords. As we recently highlighted in our research, nearly half of all passwords worldwide can be cracked in less than a minute<\/a>. Scammers then either resell<\/a> existing subscriptions or slots in a family group at a discount, or they sign the victim up for new services, hoping the extra charges go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

Finally, some middlemen don\u2019t bother with hacking at all; they simply buy bulk subscriptions for a large number of devices, where the per-unit cost is typically much lower. They then resell individual slots in these plans on online marketplaces. As a result, a single \u201cfamily\u201d account can end up filled with people who are complete strangers to one another.<\/p>\n

Sharing subscriptions with family and others<\/h2>\n

Many subscription owners think nothing of sharing access with family and friends. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n

The worst-case scenario from a security standpoint is when a single account is purchased and the owner shares the login and password with other users. This usually happens when people try to save money on a family plan by buying an individual subscription and sharing it. Some services even allow for different profiles, but they are all tied to a single account, meaning the credentials are shared. This is how streaming platforms like Hulu<\/a> and Disney+ operate.<\/p>\n

Sharing one account among multiple people significantly increases the risk of your credentials falling into the wrong hands. There\u2019s no way to guarantee that everyone else is storing those details securely or that their devices aren\u2019t infected with malware. Even without malware, it\u2019s incredibly easy to accidentally hand over a password to attackers simply by signing in to the subscription service over unprotected public Wi-Fi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s entirely possible that the password you kindly shared with some friends has already surfaced in some corner of the dark web, and you may soon lose access to your account. Furthermore, if you reuse the same password across different sites and apps, your other accounts are now in the crosshairs as well.<\/p>\n

The second scenario is when each group member has an individual account. Many services now allow you to add extra users to a subscription at no additional cost, and most owners are happy to give away these free slots. Even then, you shouldn\u2019t let your guard down: a breach of just one of these accounts can still leak sensitive information, such as family members\u2019 names, addresses, billing info, and other subscription-related data.<\/p>\n

How to protect your subscriptions (and your wallet)<\/h2>\n

To keep your and your loved ones\u2019 personal data private and your accounts under your control, follow these simple rules.<\/p>\n

Use strong account security<\/h3>\n

To do this, learn \u2014 and teach your friends and family \u2014 how to use password managers, two-factor authentication, or passkeys.<\/p>\n

If you and your loved ones rely on memory to store passwords, there\u2019s a high probability that you\u2019re reusing the same one across multiple services. This is a major blunder: data breaches happen all the time, and a single compromised password gives attackers access to your other accounts.<\/p>\n

The simplest solution is to use a password manager<\/a> that generates and remembers complex, unique passwords for every site and service on your behalf. All you have to do is remember the single main password for its encrypted vault. Additionally, Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t just store and create passwords; it can also check if they\u2019ve appeared in leaked databases<\/a>, and sync your credentials across all your devices.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a password manager provides a robust defense against phishing: unlike a human, who can easily be misled by a sign-in form that looks almost identical to the real thing and is hosted on a look-alike domain, a password manager won\u2019t fall for the trick. It\u2019ll only offer to autofill your saved login and password on the specific site or service for which they were originally stored.<\/p>\n

Avoid using browsers to store your passwords: unfortunately, attackers have long figured out how to extract browser-saved passwords in a matter of seconds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two-factor authentication (2FA)<\/a> is an extra layer of verification the system requests after you enter your password \u2014 such as an SMS code or a one-time code from an authenticator\u00a0app. Whenever technically possible, be sure to enable 2FA on every account linked to a subscription. This applies to the subscription services themselves, as well as any third-party accounts you use to sign in, such as Google, Apple, or Facebook.<\/p>\n

We recommend storing your two-factor authentication tokens and generating the one-time codes \u2014 which refresh every 30 seconds \u2014 inside Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a>. This significantly lowers the chances of someone hijacking your account. Even if an attacker somehow discovers or guesses your password, they won\u2019t be able to get the code without physical access to your device.<\/p>\n

Finally, you can ditch passwords (almost) entirely by switching to passkeys. We\u2019ve previously covered what this password alternative<\/a> looks like and the specifics of using it<\/a>. Currently, this is the most breach-resistant authentication system out there. Its main drawback has been the difficulty of syncing passkeys across different ecosystems, like Windows and iOS, but the updated version of Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a>\u00a0can now save and sync passkeys across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices, making that issue a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t overlook device security<\/h3>\n

Even a complex password and 2FA aren\u2019t reasons to let your guard down. An attacker can infect your device with an infostealer: malware designed to swipe things like session cookies<\/a> from your browser, app configuration files, and other sensitive data. Session cookies allow you to stay signed in without re-entering your credentials every time; however, if scammers get their hands on them, they can sign in to the service<\/a> as you \u2014 even without knowing your username or password. This makes a proactive approach essential, especially if you use Chrome, Edge, Opera, or other Chromium-based browsers on Windows<\/a>. We recommend installing Kaspersky Premium<\/a> on all your devices; it includes Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a>\u00a0in addition to comprehensive protection against cyberthreats.<\/p>\n

Only share subscriptions with people you trust<\/h3>\n

Otherwise, you might be asking for trouble. For example, if you share a Steam subscription with a friend who cheats, both of your accounts could end up banned<\/a>. Furthermore, never try to let someone else into your personal account or individual subscription. Sharing your password with others is usually a violation of the terms of service, and can result in your account being blocked.<\/p>\n

Make sure there are no strangers in your family group<\/h3>\n

To do this, periodically check active devices and sessions in your subscription settings. If you see an unrecognized device in the authorized list, terminate that session \u2014 or all of them \u2014 and change your account password immediately. Signing back in on a few devices is much easier than trying to recover a hijacked account.<\/p>\n

And remember: don\u2019t let your own habits compromise your security. If you\u2019re visiting friends, on vacation, or on a business trip and use a local computer or smart TV \u2014 or if you sign in to your account from a public computer \u2014 don\u2019t forget to sign out when you\u2019re done. Otherwise, the next person to use that device might find themselves with free subscriptions or, even worse, access to your email or cloud photo stream.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t take the bait<\/h3>\n

Watch out for phishing emails and messages spoofing legitimate services. If you receive a notification about a \u201cneed to update your billing details\u201d, or a claim that a \u201cnew user has been added\u201d to your family plan, don\u2019t rush to click any links or open attachments. Links can lead to a phishing page<\/a>, and attachments may hide malware. Scammers often use email addresses and domains that look nearly identical to the real ones \u2014 for instance, by swapping l<\/strong> (lowercase L<\/strong>) for I<\/strong> (uppercase i<\/strong>), or using a familiar name in a different domain zone.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, phishing pages are often indistinguishable from the originals now that AI is being used<\/a> for high-quality design and layout. Since spotting every red flag yourself is increasingly difficult, it\u2019s best to delegate anti-phishing protection to Kaspersky Premium<\/a>. It will alert you to suspicious sites, saving your money and keeping your peace of mind.<\/p>\n

Lastly, some scammers lure users in with freebies like fake gift subscriptions for Telegram Premium<\/a>. The victim is asked to visit a phishing page mimicking the Telegram login screen and sign in to their account to claim the gift. The result isn\u2019t hard to guess: instead of a premium subscription \u2014 a hijacked account. Recently, scammers have even learned to use mini-apps<\/a> to steal credentials directly inside Telegram under various pretexts \u2014 ranging from gift giveaways to claims that you must move to a new chat because the old one was blocked.<\/p>\n

Avoid buying subscriptions from third-party sellers<\/h3>\n

You can often find subscription offers on marketplaces and retail platforms at prices significantly lower than what the official provider charges. More likely than not, that tempting price hides a hacked account or a family group that you could be kicked out of at any moment, because the family admin is either the seller or a random user. Furthermore, sharing a family plan with strangers from around the world is a violation of terms for many services.<\/p>\n

How to get rid of unwanted subscriptions<\/h2>\n

Now that we\u2019ve covered subscription security, what about those extra subscriptions that quietly eat away at your balance every month? Research shows<\/a> that users typically underestimate how many active subscriptions they have and how much they spend on them; they also frequently forget to cancel auto-renewals for subscriptions they no longer use, or auto-charges after the trial period ends.<\/p>\n

If you suspect you\u2019re in that boat, start your investigation with your own bank statements. Recurring charges for the same amount can be a subscription you\u2019ve forgotten about. Check who received the payment; if the name doesn\u2019t ring a bell, do an online search on the company. It\u2019s also worth searching your email box for the merchant name or the payment amount; this can help you track down subscription notifications and figure out what exactly you\u2019re paying for. And don\u2019t forget to check your spam folder, as that\u2019s where subscription alerts often end up.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s look at how to check and cancel active subscriptions purchased through the App Store and Google Play.<\/p>\n

For Android users<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Open Settings<\/em> on your device.<\/li>\n
  2. Tap Google, then tap your profile picture, and go to Google Account<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  3. Go to Wallet & subscriptions<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you\u2019re the family group manager, you\u2019ll be able to see the purchase history for other family members.<\/p>\n

    For iOS users<\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. Open Settings<\/em> on your device.<\/li>\n
    2. Tap your profile picture at the top of the menu.<\/li>\n
    3. Go to Subscriptions<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Note:<\/strong> to manage your iCloud subscription, you\u2019ll need to go to the specific iCloud<\/em> section located just below Subscriptions<\/em>. In the Family Sharing<\/em> section, if you\u2019re the one who set it up, you can view the subscription and purchase history for all family members.<\/p>\n

      Read more on subscriptions:<\/p>\n