5 ways brands are protecting their identity and reputation from imposter traffic

Having imposter traffic circulate on your company’s telecommunication lines can affect your brand reputation in significant ways. As fraudulent attacks increase, so do the risks companies face in letting imposter traffic circulate. New regulations are holding telecommunications companies directly responsible for correctly identifying the traffic on their lines.  

Responsible company leadership in the 21st century involves prioritizing brand protection, preventing fraudulent behavior, and defending your web assets. Cybersecurity and the security of telecommunication lines have become a top priority in the 21st century. Luckily, companies like YouMailPS are developing cutting-edge services to aid in brand protection and keep your web assets safe.   

In this article, we cover:

• What is imposter traffic (especially as it relates to brand protection)? 
• What is Brand Reputation Management? 
• How are brands are protecting their identity and reputation from imposter traffic

What Is Imposter Traffic? (especially as it relates to brand protection)

Imposter traffic is when bad actors use your communication services to target victims. There are two main ways that imposter traffic can affect your brand reputation. 

#1 Using Your Telecommunication Lines 

Scam artists often use a technique called “vishing” to target victims. Vishing is when a voice line is used for a phishing attack. If you are a service provider, it is important to make sure that your services are not being used to scam customers. Firstly, your company could be liable for fraudulent activity that occurs on your lines. Secondly, your customers’ trust in your brand will greatly diminish if they are receiving calls from bad actors while using your service. 

#2 Brand Impersonation 

Telecommunications companies can be used by scam artists, but they can also be a victim of fraudster impersonation. Scammers want to gain the trust of their victims as quickly as possible in order to obtain sensitive information. Oftentimes, the simplest way to do this is to impersonate a major brand that the victim does business with. If a victim believes that the person on the other end of the line is a representative from your company, they are much more likely to feel comfortable handing over sensitive information. 

Many scam artists use brand impersonation to sell goods and services falsely to customers. It is much easier to convince customers to part with their money when they believe they are purchasing something from a legitimate company. However, they will also blame your company when the product or service is never delivered. 

What Is Brand Reputation Management?

Brand reputation management is a key component of brand protection. Brand protection is essential to maintaining customer trust. At YouMailPS, we offer a brand reputation management service in order to ensure that fraudsters are not adopting your brand identity in order to defraud your customers.  

At YouMailPS, our brand reputation management service involves a collection of tools developed to provide you with the highest-quality protection. We scan the web for misuse of logos, domain names, and other web assets. We also monitor social media postings and use phishing and vishing detection tools to identify instances of your brand name being misused. 

How Are Brands Protecting Their Identity From Imposter Traffics

#1 Taking Action 

The first and most important step that companies take when it comes to protecting their brand is to put together an action plan in order to address vishing attacks that appropriate the company's name. The worst mistake any company can make when dealing with a threat to its brand reputation is allowing the situation to snowball out of control. Even if you are not currently facing a threat to your brand, it is important to have an action plan in place in case a threat should arise. You can use the following steps to help formulate your own action plan or employ experts like YouMailPS to handle imposter traffic for you. 

#2 Know Your Customer 

Know Your Customer or KYC is a type of technology developed specifically for the purpose of identifying sources of fraud. There are a variety of techniques that can be employed, and the technique companies opt for depends on the type of campaign they choose to do. Common KYC campaign types include STIR/SHAKEN Attestation, Number to Carrier Lookup, and Traceback. All of these services are provided by YouMailPS, and our experts work with each company to help determine the perfect services to protect their brand. 

#3 Authentication 

Call authentication is important to businesses and consumers alike. Accurate authentication of calls can help prevent consumers from falling victim to vishing and spoofed calls. Authentication is also extremely important for telecommunications providers, because accurate authentication is now required by the FCC. Failure to authenticate calls can result in fines by the FCC. 

#4 Monitoring 

Brand monitoring is a key tool in making sure that your brand identity stays protected. YouMailPS uses AI software in order to monitor the use of brand names over telecommunication lines. This software helps to identify potential trademark infringement and other misuses of a brand name. Monitoring mentions of your brand is a key component of making sure your brand reputation is protected. 

#5 Enforcing Legal Action Against Fraudulent Callers 

If your company is utilizing KYC software, authentication, and monitoring, you will have everything you need in order to take action against the fraudsters who are posing a threat to your brand. YouMailPS will work with your legal team and law enforcement in order to compile essential evidence against fraudsters who are using your lines. Taking action against fraudulent use on your telecommunication lines is one of the best ways to show spammers that you won’t tolerate fraudulent behavior.  

Does My Brand Need Brand Impersonation Defense Or Web Asset Defense?

You know that you should invest in brand impersonation defense or web asset defense if your brand is already being used by scammers in order to take advantage of customers. However, even if you have not been made aware of any impersonation attempts, it doesn’t mean that you are in the clear.  

Prevention is the best way to protect your company. Don’t wait until customers have already been taken advantage of. Once the damage to your brand reputation starts, you can never fully reverse the effects, only manage the fallout. This is why it is important to have brand impersonation defense in place before a major impersonation attempt arises. 

At YouMailPS, we use our patented technology to scan your networks for vishing attempts. YouMailPS uses audio recording software to collect evidence so that impersonators can be identified, stopped, and prosecuted. We are able to notice patterns on your communication lines that can be used for prevention measures. 

Web Asset Defense is another key component in brand protection. Maintaining a strong web presence is key to running a successful business. Your web assets are extremely valuable, and fraudsters know this. A 2021 report[ https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/security/invest-cyber-resilience] found that cyber attacks were up by 31% compared to 2020. Each year the number of cyber attacks are increasing. If your company has any sort of web assets—even just a simple website—it is important to have a web asset defense system in place. You can read more about the services offered by YouMailPS here.