Spot A Scam
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Impersonation scams involve someone pretending to be a trusted organisation, business, or individual to steal personal or financial information. This guide outlines what to do if you or someone you know is being impersonated online.
Last Updated30/07/2024
Impersonation scams typically involve someone taking over or creating an account to pose as someone else. These scams are often aimed at tricking the contacts of the person being impersonated, usually their friends or family.
Often scammers will set up a link on the impersonation account for people to click on, that goes to a fake website requesting login and credit card details. Scammers use these details to try and get access to accounts like bank accounts.
If you think you’ve been the target of an impersonation scam you can contact Netsafe for advice and guidance. Our helpline is free, confidential and available 7 days a week.
There are three types of impersonation scams:
1. Individual impersonation scams
Where a person either takes over someone’s existing account or creates a new one using their identity to deceive others.
2. Branding impersonation scams
Scammers misuse the branding of a legitimate business, creating convincing fake websites or emails to scam people.
3. Spoofing
Imitating the domain, email, or phone number of a legitimate entity to make fraudulent requests seem genuine.
The impacts of impersonation scams include reputational damage and financial loss. The targeted person or business may suffer reputationally if a scammer steals their identity and other people believe they’ve been contacted by the authentic individual or entity. Scammers might also trick victims into transferring money for fraudulent activities.
Scammers exploit trust, posing as friends or family members to obtain personal or financial information.
A common tactic when impersonating a friend or family member is to claim they are in an emergency situation and need your assistance. They may take over or create accounts to impersonate people or businesses you know, convincing you to disclose sensitive information or buy fake products/services. Social engineering at its best requires believability, confidence and a little luck to make it all plausible and make sense.
Scammers target public social media accounts like Instagram as they can then take multiple photos to make the impersonation account more realistic. It’s a good idea to review your privacy settings (you can find more information from Instagram here(https://www.facebook.com/help/instagram/196883487377501)) so that only approved followers can see your photos.
If you are being impersonated, there are steps you can take:
If your personal information has been compromised:
If money is lost:
If you think you’ve been targeted by an impersonation scam, inform your friends and family to help them avoid falling victim.
You can contact Netsafe seven days a week for free, confidential and non-judgmental advice about an online issue impacting you or someone you know.
Whilst we cannot investigate or track scammers, we can provide advice on steps you can take to stay safe and what to do if you think you’ve been scammed.
Identifying whether a website is real, or fake can be challenging.
We've created the ‘CheckNetsafe’ Anti-Scam Tool, which helps you determine the legitimacy of a website or link.
Download our handy guide to stay vigilant and be ready to spot common scams.