As your business grows and gains more attention, some people will inevitably try to take advantage of your success—whether by impersonating your brand or damaging your reputation. While this is a sign that you’re making an impact, it’s also a reminder that online risks come with the territory of building a brand in the public eye.
So, how can you effectively protect your brand from cybercriminals looking to exploit your identity? This article will help you better understand brand impersonation and what strategies you can use to protect your brand from falling victim to prowling copycats.
What is Brand Impersonation?
Brand impersonation involves scammers attempting to trick customers into sharing money, credentials, login information, and personal information by pretending to represent a well-known company. Unfortunately, brand impersonation affects companies all over the Internet and uses tactics affecting social media accounts, email, and more.
Scammers will use several strategies across various platforms to attempt to gain access to personal information illegally. One common threat is “Brand Spoofing,” when a company impersonates a legitimate business to trick unsuspecting customers into believing they are interacting with the actual company.
What are Examples of Brand Spoofing?
- Fake Job Listings—Scammers will set up fake job listings and post them on job-hunting forums to gain access to applicants’ personal information and data.
- Website Copying—Criminals will create websites that mimic yours in style, font, design, and layout. They will even create incredibly similar domain names by adding a letter, capitalizing on a common misspelling, or adding a character.
- Phishing—This strategy involves scammers sending emails to customers who appear to be from your company. Similar to domain names, the email address might be slightly different, but otherwise, the email looks pretty official. These emails contain malicious links or requests for personal information, threatening to suspend customers’ accounts if they fail to comply.
- Fake Apps—Scammers will develop fake mobile applications that emulate your official company app to steal data from consumers who accidentally download the fake version.
- Social Media Impersonation—Criminals set up fake social media profiles that imitate your brand’s official accounts to engage with and deceive your followers. This practice poses a real threat to your brand reputation during a time when content spreads like wildfire.
How Does Brand Impersonation Hurt My Business?
- Damaged Reputation—If an impersonator posing as your brand sells counterfeit products or promotes misleading offers, it can severely damage your brand’s professionalism and authenticity.
Suppose a scammer misleads consumers into believing they’ve interacted with your legitimate brand. In that case, the customer may contact you with complaints, refund requests, or inquiries. This rush of negative feedback can overwhelm your employees as they attempt to clean up your online reputation.
- Financial Loss— If customers are duped into buying counterfeit products or suffer losses from sharing personal information, they may seek to hold your brand accountable. Your efforts to protect your reputation and resolve the issue could cost you considerable revenue.
- Legal Costs— If a scammer has created a fake business in your name to deceive consumers, you may have a strong case against them for violating intellectual property laws. However, the expenses of hiring legal counsel and pursuing litigation can quickly add up, not to mention the time and resources diverted away from growing your business.
- Loss of Loyalty—Even if you’re not at fault, fake products or misleading communications that appear to come from you can frustrate and disappoint the consumer.
- SEO Issues—If someone scams your customers by pretending to represent your business, there could be a backlash of negative reviews and feedback online. When customers look you up, all of that negativity will outrank your website.
How Can I Protect My Business?
- Protect Your Digital Footprint— Take control of your online presence by ensuring safeguards are in place. Verify your social media accounts and enable two-factor authentication to prevent hacking. Use email authentication protocols to protect your communication. And finally, don’t just register your domain name—register the variations as well, including common misspellings or brand associations.
- Monitor Your Brand’s Online Presence—Monitor your brand’s social media presence to stay informed about your posts and what others are saying about you. Use tools like Google Alerts to track mentions of your brand by other companies or in news stories. Make it a habit to search for your brand name on Google and social media platforms to better understand what customers say about you.
- Train and Educate—Educate your employees on how to prevent brand impersonation. They should be able to recognize phishing attempts and understand the proper procedure for reporting suspicious activities. Additionally, inform your customers of the best ways to contact you. Advertise your official email address and ensure they know you will never ask for personal information over email.
- Put Protections in Place—Keep your systems and software updated, and use anti-phishing and anti-malware software to prevent scam attempts. Additionally, consider using technological detection tools to monitor your brand across digital platforms and detect misuse.
- Create a Quick Action Plan—Develop a response plan for quickly and effectively addressing impersonation attempts. This involves immediately communicating with your customers to let them know what’s happening and then reporting the impersonation to authorities.
Be honest and open with the public. Consider having an internet reputation management company help you issue a series of press releases to clear your name. This can also help with your search engine optimization, as a steady stream of positive content can help outrank the negative content.
Contact hosting providers and social media platforms to remove fake content. Review your security safeguards and continue to monitor your accounts moving forward.
Conclusion
When it comes to navigating spoofing and brand impersonation, don’t find yourself guilty by association. Safeguard your online image by consistently monitoring your accounts for suspicious activity and having a proactive strategy to protect your brand.
An online reputation management agency can help you maintain a strong digital presence. Whether you’ve already been targeted or want to prevent future issues, Online Reputations is here to help secure your reputation and protect your online presence.