Cybercriminals impersonating brands: Don't let your business reputation become a bait
- 19 hours ago
- 4 min read
High-tech criminals are escalating their tactics of impersonating reputable brands to trap customers. With 4 out of 8 global scam types directly targeting businesses and user data—from banks to e-commerce—this trick not only causes billions in financial losses but also destroys consumer trust. To combat this, applying AI for proactive domain protection is becoming an essential "shield."
Instead of directly attacking the fortified firewall systems of economic organizations, cybercriminals are now choosing a more dangerous detour: using the very prestige of these brands as "bait." Brand impersonation scams are becoming a tough problem, threatening customers' assets and the survival of businesses.
Victims lose hundreds of millions of VND falling for fake bank traps
According to information on Bao Dau Tu, bank impersonation scams are occurring with systematic psychological manipulation scripts. A typical case involves Ms. N.T.Tam, an online business owner in Ho Chi Minh City. Right after posting about her lost documents on a residential group, Ms. Tam received a call from someone claiming to be a staff member of Bank X. The scammer asked her to send a photo of her ID card via Zalo to process an urgent "account lock" to prevent fraud. When Ms. Tam went to the bank the next day to check, nearly 100 million VND had been drained from her account.
The extent of damage is even greater in many other incidents. In one case, a customer who had opened an account less than 24 hours prior had 5 billion VND "evaporate" through 11 consecutive transactions overnight, originating from being lured by a fake entity on Facebook offering high interest rates.
Warning against "Voice Phishing" and creating "parasitic" websites
Besides the "parasitic" trick—creating fake websites or applications with identical interfaces and logos to the real bank, differing only by a hyphen in the domain name, to collect "profile opening fees" or "verification fees"—cybercriminals have recently upgraded to a more sophisticated tactic: Voice phishing.
Scammers use artificial intelligence (AI) to fake voices according to gender and age, even inserting background noises like traffic or office sounds. The danger lies in their use of technology to spoof the caller ID on the victim's phone to match the name of a bank, authority, or acquaintance. In this way, bad actors easily lure victims into transferring money to a "safe account" or providing OTP codes.
E-commerce and essential services - The next targets
Possessing a massive amount of data and a high frequency of daily transactions, e-commerce platforms like Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Tiki have become "fertile ground" for scammers. A report from the security firm Kaspersky indicates that in 2025, there were up to 6.7 million phishing attacks targeting online shoppers. Common tactics include setting up fake websites to steal deposits, impersonating customer service to announce fake prize winnings to steal OTPs, or luring victims to deposit money for fake tasks.
Additionally, essential services such as electricity, water, and telecommunications are also targeted due to their monthly recurring nature. Scammers often call and threaten to cut off electricity or water within a few hours if the bill is not paid immediately via a strange link. They also impersonate network operators' staff, asking users to download fake apps to "synchronize biometrics," thereby taking control of their phones.
Expert's perspective: Proactively protect domains with Artificial Intelligence
The problem of brand impersonation, especially through scam "parasitic" websites, requires businesses to have a remote defense solution before customers even see the malicious content. To completely resolve this risk, the AI Domain Protection solution from IPSIP Vietnam is considered a powerful tool.
How it works: Unlike passive response systems, IPSIP's domain protection service utilizes 100% Cloud-native technology combined with artificial intelligence (in strategic partnership with BforeAI) to analyze behavior and predict risks.
Early prediction: The 24/7 monitoring system can identify malicious behavioral patterns, predicting fake website campaigns up to 18 days in advance.
Eradication before outbreak: The system automatically triggers the takedown process. In fact, 93% of impersonation cases are completely resolved before the scam content can appear on the internet to reach users.
Blocking access: Automatically filters and blocks up to 75% of malicious traffic directed at fake infrastructures. The setup time is extremely fast, taking less than 5 minutes without requiring complex hardware installations.
Benefits for businesses:
Protecting complete brand reputation: Prevents customers from accessing scam websites bearing the company's name, thereby maintaining consumer trust.
Minimizing financial losses: Directly cuts off campaigns designed to trap and steal customers' money or credit card information.
Optimizing costs and resources: Reduces the burden on internal IT teams. Businesses do not need to invest in heavy infrastructure but still receive specialized monitoring from IPSIP's 24/7 NOC/SOC team—an entity with over 15 years of experience from France, meeting strict international standards like ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II.
The battle against brand impersonation scams cannot rely solely on warnings. For businesses, proactively applying smart domain protection solutions is the most solid "shield" to eliminate threats right from the start, thereby protecting assets and keeping the full trust of customers. Learn more at ipsip.vn.
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