Impersonation

Brand impersonation is any attempt to pose as a legitimate brand, through fake websites, domains, social profiles, ads, or emails, to deceive that brand’s customers or partners.

A deepfake is synthetic audio, image, or video generated by AI to make a real person appear to say or do something they never did, increasingly used to impersonate executives in fraud.

Digital impersonation is the broad practice of pretending to be a person or organization online. It covers both brand impersonation and the impersonation of individual executives or employees.

Executive impersonation is impersonating a company’s leaders, such as the CEO, CFO, or founders, to abuse their authority, typically to authorize fraudulent payments or extract sensitive information.

A fake mobile app is a malicious or counterfeit app that imitates a real brand app, distributed through app stores or download sites to steal credentials, payments, or data.

A fake social media account is a profile or page that copies a real brand, executive, or person to scam followers, run fake support, or post fraudulent offers under a borrowed identity.

An impersonation attack is any attack where the adversary pretends to be a trusted brand, person, or system to deceive a target, the umbrella for phishing, fake profiles, spoofing, and business email compromise.

Malvertising is the use of online ads to deliver scams or malware, often by impersonating a real brand in the ad so users click a paid result that leads to a fraudulent site.

Social media impersonation is the use of fake profiles, pages, or accounts that copy a brand or person to scam followers, run fake support, or spread fraudulent offers.