Technique

Brand Impersonation

Also known as: Business Imposter Scam, Brand Spoofing, Brand Hijacking

DELIVERY

Fraudsters create fake websites, emails, social media profiles, or communications that mimic legitimate brands and companies to steal credentials, payment info, or money. Common vectors include spoofed emails appearing from trusted companies (Amazon, PayPal, Best Buy/Geek Squad), fake subscription r…

Defense

How to defend against this

How to spot it

  • Unsolicited email or text claiming account problem subscription expiring or suspicious activity on a well-known brand account
  • Sender email domain does not match the official company domain
  • Urgent or threatening tone demanding immediate action to avoid account suspension or charges
  • Requests payment via gift cards wire transfer cryptocurrency or peer-to-peer apps instead of normal billing
  • Links use shortened URLs or slight misspellings of official domains
  • Poor grammar spelling errors or inconsistent formatting compared to real brand communications
  • Offers deals that seem too good to be true or claim unexpected refunds or prizes
  • Communication asks for sensitive info that the real company would already have

Tools you can use

Steps you can take

Seen in the wild

Where we’ve seen it

Commonly targets

Further reading