What is brand impersonation?

Brand impersonation, also known as brand spoofing, is a phishing attack where scammers pretend to be a well-known brand or its representatives.

Here are some common goals for these scammers:

Change public opinion Influence stock prices Spread false information Trick people into sharing sensitive information Engage in fraudulent activities

One of the most effective ways for online scammers to reach their victims is through social media. Last year, Facebook alone took down almost 6 billion fake accounts! And when these fake accounts impersonate your brand, it can wipe off billions of dollars from your market cap and cause massive reputational damage that can take years to rebuild.

Impostors use various methods to deceive people. Some send promotional codes that contain malware, while others create fake job offers to scam job seekers. Some impostors claim consumers have won a contest and request banking information to claim the prize.

Tips To Protect Brand Impersonation

1.Register Your Trademarks and Copyrights

To protect your brand, ensure you have copyright or trademark protection for your intellectual property (IP), such as your brand name, logo, tagline, slogan, and product or service names. This will help you take legal action against fraudsters if needed.

Remember that trademark and copyright laws vary by country, and registration costs differ by location. Check with your legal team to understand the potential costs if you face an impersonation lawsuit.

2.Own Your Online Accounts to Communicate with Your Audience

If your brand isn’t on social media, you’re making it easier for impostors to impersonate you. It’s essential to establish accounts on key platforms where your audience is active.

For example, if you’re targeting a younger audience, create Instagram and TikTok accounts since Gen Z favors these platforms for their audiovisual content. YouTube is also popular, with 96% of Gen Z users having an account.

Simply having accounts isn’t enough. To ensure authenticity, regularly post content to establish your presence online.

Encouraging employees to create content on their own accounts can also boost your company’s online presence. Teach them to produce employee-generated content (EGC) that showcases your brand’s values and corporate culture positively.

3. Monitor and Report Fake accounts

Billions of users are active across various social media platforms. Experts encourage brands to regularly monitor social media across platforms to actively locate and take down fraudsters. With the right tools and automation, brands can respond to impostors and prevent reputational damage in a timely manner.

How to Report Brand Impersonation

How to Report Brand on Instagram

Getting a fake Instagram profile is easy as long as you have the required documents; however, the method for reporting and removing impersonating business pages on Instagram is slightly different. You will have to provide documents to prove that your intellectual right is being compromised.

The company needs applicants to submit registration certificates or other such documents that prove ownership of the name that’s being used by the imposter.

Once you submit these documents only then you will be able to get the fake account removed from Instagram. But, remember to be sure someone’s pretending to be you before you file a complaint as filing false complaints may result in your account getting blocked.

How to Report Trademark Infringement and Counterfeit Goods on Twitter

Twitter understands that there aren’t just fake individual accounts but also pages selling fake products. You can report such violations by going here and providing the required information.

The first step is to choose the kind of report you wish to submit. It is best that you have a conversation with your legal department before you submit a complaint so that it doesn’t get wasted.

Next, you will have to prove you have a right to submit a complaint. Remember that only the legal trademark holder or their reps are allowed to submit trademark complaints.

Twitter doesn’t allow scammers to sell fakes including digital and physical goods. You can report such violations by going here.

Choose you’re reporting counterfeit goods and submit a report. Both trademark owners and those not related to the product can file a complaint.

This is because the company allows victims or buyers of fake goods to file reports. Once a report has been submitted, Twitter will inspect the matter and may block the account of the person selling or promoting counterfeit goods.

Steps to Report Face Accounts on TikTok

Since TikTok does not actively take down fake accounts, you have to manually report them.

Go to the profile of the fake or the impersonating TikTok account that you want to report.
Tap on the share arrow on the top right corner of the screen.
Select the ‘Report’ option.
Choose ‘report account’.
Further, select ‘Pretending to be someone else’.
If you are reporting from the TikTok account that is being impersonated, choose ‘me’ directly. If you are reporting a fake or impersonated account on behalf of your brand/organization, choose ‘celebrity’ and type in the account id that is being infringed.
Submit your report for a fake TikTok account. TikTok requires the person being impersonated to have their own official TikTok account in order for fake accounts to be reported.
When TikTok verifies your report and finds it to be true, the fake account will be subsequently removed.

Steps to Report a Youtube Channel for Impersonation

Here’s how to report impersonation on a YouTube channel.

Go to the YouTube channel. Hover over the flag symbol that says “Report user” on the About page, and you’ll see block user, report channel art, report profile photo, and report user. Because this impostor uses someone else’s channel art and profile image, you should select to report them.

Click Report user. Harassment and bullying, privacy, impersonation, violent threats, child endangerment, hate speech against a protected group, spam, and scam are some of the possibilities available here.

Check impersonation. It says, “Impersonating another user by copying their channel layout, using a similar username, or posing as them in comments, emails or videos.” Toggle the dropdown menu. It says, “Choose one. This channel is impersonating me. This channel is impersonating someone else.” You can now add some more notes. Add something like, “This person is impersonating my channel art, profile picture, thumbnail images, videos content, and video titles.”

Click Submit. It says, “Thanks. We’ve received your report. If we find this content to be in violation of our Community Guidelines, we will remove it.”

What’s Next

Social media impersonations represent a growing problem affecting thousands of brands and individuals across most platforms. The associated risks include loss of revenue and traffic and, most notably, reputational issues and loss of consumer trust. Brands must take a proactive approach to the problem, ensuring that a comprehensive and scalable protection system is in place to identify and remove such infringements as quickly as possible.

How To Manage Impersonation In Social Media

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