Brand Impersonation is One Big Threat to Your Business Reputation

Key Takeaways About Brand Impersonation

• Scammers impersonate brands to steal sensitive customer and employee information
• three main attack types: phishing, brand hijacking, and executive impersonation
• Human error causes over 90% of security breaches enabling impersonation
• Protection requires employee training, domain security, and AI monitoring tools
• Attacks damage both customer finances and brand reputation significantly

Brand impersonation is when scammers pretend to represent a company to steal sensitive information from customers or employees. These attacks occur through fake emails, websites, social media accounts, and phone calls that mimic legitimate business communications. The goal is credential theft, unauthorized fund transfers, or data breach, which damages both customer finances and brand reputation.

Brand impersonation happens to businesses big and small. In fact, Microsoft is the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks, with scammers utilizing fake account security alerts, billing failure notifications, subscription renewal warnings, and more.

Quick Definition Reference

• Brand Impersonation: When someone falsely claims to represent a company to steal information from customers or employees.
• Phishing: Fraudulent emails, texts, or calls impersonating trusted brands to capture login credentials or payment information.
• Brand Hijacking (Spoofing): Impersonating a company’s email address, website domain, or social media account.
• Executive Impersonation: Fake accounts or communications pretending to be company leadership to manipulate employees into revealing data or transferring funds.
• Spear-Phishing: Targeted phishing attacks directed at specific employees within an organization.

As a business owner, there are steps you can take to keep brand impersonation attacks at bay with proactive prevention.

How Do Scammers Impersonate Brands?

Most impersonation scammers use mass spam emails to trick people into giving up their personal information. Attackers are meticulous with their methods, often taking the following steps to craft their con:

• Researching a brand to determine its level of access to confidential information.
• Crafting a believable approach using a familiar avenue of contact.
• Leveraging well-designed brand templates and similar URLs or email addresses.

Types of Impersonation Attacks

In general, scammers use three types of brand impersonation attacks. 

1. Phishing

Also referred to as service impersonation attacks, phishing involves impersonating a typically large or famous brand in order to steal sensitive information from its current or potential customers and employees. 

A phishing email may ask you to reset a password, verify an account, or log in to a fake (albeit believable) account so scammers can obtain accurate login information and take over your account. This type of impersonation sometimes occurs with business executives, as well, where scammers may use hijacked accounts to access trade secrets or authorize transactions.

Here are some common types of phishing attacks:

• Email phishing attacks often use a company’s name or logo to deceive users into clicking on malicious links that can lead to identity theft, financial loss and other serious consequences.
• SMS and voice phishing attacks involve requests to click on fraudulent links. These messages may appear as if they were sent by legitimate companies or organizations.
• Spear-phishing emails are specifically targeted at employees within an organization in order to gain access to confidential data.

2. Brand Hijacking

Brand hijacking, also known as spoofing, occurs when a scammer impersonates a business’s email address, URL, or social media handle. It’s a form of social engineering that psychologically manipulates a victim into engaging with a bad actor to give them access to personal information.

3. Executive impersonation

Executive impersonation is a subset of fake social media accounts. This is a growing problem in the digital age, where cybercriminals are increasingly targeting high-level executives in order to gain sensitive information.

These attacks involve impersonating an executive or other trusted figure within an organization to trick employees into revealing confidential data or transferring funds. Attackers use sophisticated tactics such as social engineering and spear-phishing emails to increase the chances of success.

The three attack types manifest differently across communication channels. The table below shows real-world examples of each attack type, where it occurs, what victims see, and the resulting damage.

Brand Impersonation Examples

Examples of impersonations show up in different ways across email, social media, and the web. The scenarios below highlight how these attacks typically appear in the real world so your team can recognize the warning signs faster.

How Can Businesses Protect Against Brand Impersonation?

Effective protection requires three layers:

1. Employee and customer training to recognize phishing and scams

According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, human error causes over 90% of security breaches. Organizations that conduct regular security awareness training reduce breach likelihood by up to 70%, according to research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Train employees and customers to recognize phishing attempts. Here are three essential training approaches:

1. Educate employees on how to identify phishing emails and scams that impersonate the company’s branding.
2. Offer cyber security training sessions for customers who use their email as a login credential.
3. Inform customers about common tactics used by scammers to commit brand impersonation attacks.

2. Domain name security

Register multiple domain extensions (.com, .net, .org) to prevent cybercriminals from using similar domains for malicious purposes. Enable WHOIS privacy protection to keep personal information hidden from public view and avoid being targeted by scammers or spammers.

Renew domain registration regularly to prevent expiration and potential hijacking. Expired domains can be easily bought by attackers who may use them for phishing attacks or other illegal activities that damage your business reputation. 

And, there is rapid weaponization. A recent study found that 25% of phishing domains are reported and active within just one day of registration or re-acquisition.

3. Automation and AI-powered monitoring tools

Advanced artificial intelligence tools can scan the internet for fake websites, domain typos, and even logo infringements in milliseconds. They can also automate and accelerate the takedown process and continuously monitor emerging impersonation attempts.

In the end, using a multi-faceted protection strategy will help ensure your business can thrive despite existing technological dangers. 

To see how Bolster’s automated digital risk and threat detection technology monitors and protects against brand impersonation attacks, request a free demo today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Brand Impersonation