LinkedIn Remains Number One Brand to be Faked in Phishing Attempts

It has been noted recently by the cybersecurity analysts at CheckPoint that in the second quarter of 2022, LinkedIn is on top of the list of most impersonated brands regarded in phishing campaigns.

LinkedIn impersonation was down from 52% to 45% during the second quarter of this year, compared to the first quarter of last year. Although, Microsoft, which is currently at 13% of the most imitated brand by fraudsters, also maintains a considerable distance from the leading brand.

This data clearly illustrates that in general, social networks are most often imitated, followed by technology, which is the most resembling category on the internet.

Top Phishing Brands

It is notable that Microsoft was one of the biggest household names to fall victim to technology exploitation. The following are some of the new brands that have entered the top 10:- 

• Google
• Netflix
• Adobe
• HSBC

Spoiled Microsoft emails are mainly used to get victims to verify their Outlook accounts with the objective of stealing usernames and passwords from their accounts.

It is important to bear in mind that all of these brands are still in the low single digits. The idea of brand phishing is to exploit the implicit trust that we have in familiar brands in order to steal our information. 

So, this not only affects a brand’s image but will also have a negative impact on its sales as well. In this way, consumers are induced into making a quick decision without first confirming that the email is in fact from their desired brand or not.

The following information relates to the most popular brands ranked by their overall impression in brand phishing attacks:-

• LinkedIn stands at 45%
• Microsoft stands at 13%
• DHL stands at 12%
• Amazon stands at 9%
• Apple stands at 3%
• Adidas stands at 2%
• Google stands at 1%
• Netflix stands at 1%
• Adobe stands at 1%
• HSBC stands at 1%

LinkedIn Remains Topper

The purpose of these phishing campaigns is to mimic messages sent by LinkedIn to its users using bogus LinkedIn e-mail addresses.

This is a scam where the sender’s address is spoofed in order to make it appear as if the message comes from an automated system or that it is from the security department or even the support team.

This type of campaign utilizes a variety of lures, including the following:- 

• Fake LinkedIn Pro-service promotions
• Bogus LinkedIn policy updates
• Account termination threats for “unverified customers”

The victims are then directed to a phishing web page that looks like it is from LinkedIn, and on the page, the victim is asked for their LinkedIn credentials. Having access to the victim’s LinkedIn account is possible as a result of the threat actors doing so.

Now, at this point, threat actors could reach the coworkers of the victim through the compromised account of the victim. 

Apart from this, attackers are also able to use compromised LinkedIn accounts to set up fake job offer campaigns on LinkedIn, which could be one of the most lucrative reasons for targeting LinkedIn accounts.

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