By Christopher Lincoln Share this post
In the last blog post, we looked at four ways in which fraudsters can fool the unsuspecting public through online impersonation methods, namely:
- Using mail exchange servers with registered branded domains
- Email spoofing
- Copycat websites
- Fake social media sites
All of these are sophisticated phishing techniques that can be used to gain personal information or money from your customers. If you didn’t have a chance to see the first post, you can read it in full here.
In this post, we look at the best ways you can protect your customers from such techniques, and stop them from having their personal data compromised.
1. Educate your customers
Educating your customers as to how to spot a scam is key to any brand protection strategy. Letting them know exactly what they can expect from a genuine site, app, or customer service assistant will help trigger their personal alarm bells if a phishing attempt is made.
Examples of this include:
- Pop-up messages on apps and websites sharing that your representatives will never ask for information such as PINs, passwords, etc.
- FAQ sections on websites stating whether your brand asks for particular personal information, like financial
What’s important here is to understand the particular threats that your brand has faced and defend against them specifically.
2. Implement an internal security and marketing team
Brand protection is vital, so it’s worth developing a team or allocating certain brand protection responsibilities to assist in managing online issues.
The benefits of this approach are:
- Easier coordination and management of authorized affiliates and representatives (i.e., resellers, recruitment firms, etc.)
- More robust policing of branding policies (e.g., logo and branding rules)
- Building a brand protection framework
When it comes to managing affiliates, it’s worth thinking about the flexibility they should have using your domains and making note of any firms that use your brand as part of their work. This makes monitoring for unauthorized entities far easier.
3. Work with a trusted brand protection company
The three best sources for detecting infringements and fraudulent activity are your customers, your internal security teams, and your brand protection provider.
Without engaging all three of the above, sophisticated fraudsters will negotiate the blind spots and avoid detection, leaving you and your customers vulnerable.
By working with a trusted brand protection provider and integrating with them to form part of your security team, you will have the most robust brand protection solution for your brand.
If you’d like to speak to someone about any of the issues or solutions in this article, please complete our consultation request form.