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When Brazilians can, they do everything through social networks, including something they weren’t even originally created for, which are commercial relationships with brands and companies.
Knowing this behavior very well, digital criminals have benefited and created a variety of scams, often starting with false/fake profiles of well-known companies and brands.
The numbers are staggering and growing non-stop.
Everything you need to know so you don’t become part of the statistics as the next victim, is what we’ll cover in this post.
Numbers of scams on social networks
According to data from Facebook itself, in the first quarter of 2023 alone, the network excluded 426 million accounts considered fake / fakes from the platform.
This amount includes accounts created with malicious or suspicious purposes, which violated the site’s policies and terms of use, personal profile accounts created but intended to represent a company, organization or non-human entity, such as a pet.
According to the company, this type of account represents, on average, 5% of Facebook’s active users.
Even if all of these accounts are not aimed at some kind of virtual scam, the number is still worrying.
In the year 2021 alone, there were more than 4 million attempts at digital fraud in Brazil, according to data from Serasa Experian.
The profiles of brands and companies on social networks
Think of an automobile brand. Also think of a smartphone, or maybe an insurance company or even an e-commerce site.
Faced with this type of stimulus, he came to mind a brand for each of these four categories of companies, in a phenomenon known as Top of Mind, that is, the brand that is at the top of the mind of each of us for their respective segments of acting.
These companies are usually consolidated by a set of qualities and differentials that make us trust the commercial relationships we establish with them.
This is one of the principles used by cyber criminals, as the user unconsciously becomes less cautious and more secure, simply because he thinks he is dealing with a reputable company, when in fact he is facing a probable scam.
Social media policies
You must be wondering if it wouldn’t be the responsibility of the platforms to create tools and mechanisms to curb and put an end to fake accounts, right?
Yes, it is and as we have seen, in the first quarter of 2023 alone, one of the most popular networks in the country removed more than 420 million accounts and the numbers were even higher in other periods. In all of 2019, there were more than 6 billion!
However, creating an account on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, as well as on so many other social networks that appear all the time, is easy and does not require more than a few minutes, at the end of which you have a virtual identity to interact with the whole world and do everything that each of these tools allows.
This facility, added to the habit of Brazilians to do everything they can on the networks, is a big dish for cybercriminals, even though not everyone is on social networks.
Even if the account is identified as fake and removed, it only takes a few days for the crooks to harm countless users.
How to identify fake profiles of brands / companies on social networks?
The first step to avoid falling into a scam based on false profiles of brands and companies is to recognize the signs that are sometimes identifiable.
1. Lack of verification seal
The first sign is the simplest, quickest and easiest, but not everyone knows or is aware of the details.
The main social networks instituted verification seals, which appear on the official profiles of the respective companies, next to the username.
If the profile in question does not have this seal, it is certainly a fake account.
2. User name
Carefully note the username, not only in the profile information area of the page, but also in the URL that is displayed in the browser, which is not possible in the case of the mobile app.
Some fake profiles are based on usernames that are very similar and that without careful analysis, can go unnoticed. Thus, a @maqalu can easily be confused with @magalu, and the official profile in question is actually @magazineluiza.
That is, all attention is little.
3. Examine profile details
Most of the time, scammers will likely use a fake account with little engagement, posts or followers.
This type of information is easily located in the “about” area of the account, by clicking on the “see all” link.
On the other hand, the excess of very similar posts, especially if they are in the sense of giving credibility to some aspect, like many users speaking well about something (ex: promotion, products, etc.) is also a sign that should not be ignored.
In this case, click on some profiles of these users and look for common points, as they may be accounts based on bots or also fake profiles that were created just for this purpose. Such an intention can be noticed when you always see the same people commenting and always using the same phrases.
4. Use of generic images
Fake profiles usually make use of images taken from free image banks. This is usually an indication that the profile is not official.
The biggest companies have the practice of publishing personalized and unique images, contrary to what some fraudulent accounts do, but this alone does not guarantee the authenticity of the account, as the images may have been taken from the real profile.
5. Language used
Observing the language used in the profile can give valuable clues.
In cases of fake profiles, it is common to find errors in Portuguese, a situation that does not usually happen on the websites of large companies.
Excessive formalism or total informality should also make you suspicious, because although companies allow themselves a more relaxed tone on social networks, this is well dosed and rarely goes to extremes.
Finally, communication tends to be more persuasive, with the aim of convincing users to take some action, such as providing personal information or clicking on a link. They usually have a tone of urgency or absolute necessity.
6. Exaggerated offers
Look out for promotions, offers, and benefits that seem too good to be true.
In the “real world”, a company offering a 10% or 15% discount is usually a big deal. Anything that goes far beyond that is a reason to turn on the alter. If an offer looks extremely good, don’t click on any links or give out any personal information.
It is common that, in addition to values that are very different from reality, they are accompanied by phrases that aim to make the user act quickly, at the risk of losing the offer.
This practice has the purpose of making you not think too much and let yourself be carried away by the euphoria of a great opportunity.
7. Out of network contact
It is common for the outcome of the coup to be outside the social network and that can be using WhatsApp, a telephone contact or a false website created to consolidate the fraud.
Although this behavior does not necessarily characterize it as a possible scam, it is not common for large companies to need other means of contact for Marketing and Commercial actions. Their actions are usually developed based on the features that the platform offers and are therefore limited to it.
Therefore, if you are encouraged to make contact outside the platform, be suspicious and avoid clicking on any link provided.
8. Use secure verification sources
Everything we’ve covered so far still doesn’t guarantee that you’re not facing a fake brand or company profile or even that a legitimate account has been hacked.
Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to other aspects:
- Official institutional website – when accessing the official institutional website of the company / brand, it is often possible to obtain important information. For example, in toyota website, there is information regarding possible scams that have been practiced with consumers, involving the use of the brand. On the bicycle brand’s website caloithe alert that fake accounts on the networks are being used, is displayed as soon as you access it;
- Official link – all good companies have direct and therefore trusted links from brands on social networks. So, if even with all the checks you still have doubts, go to the official website of the company and use the links provided to access the legitimate account;
- Contact – if you need contact outside the network, such as care number 7, make the contact yourself, using the contact channels on the brand/company’s institutional website.
9. Form of access
Naturally, access to the brand’s official website also needs to be surrounded by care, as it is not uncommon to find fake / fraudulent websites.
It is common that in the need or desire to access a company’s website, Internet users do a search on Google or another search engine, clicking on the first results, which correspond to legitimate websites.
However, it is possible for fake websites to appear in the first results of Google through paid ads. Therefore, it is important not to blindly trust the first few links offered by Google or another search engine.
10. Active contact
The last form of fraud, common and associated with social networks, is the active contact of a fake profile.
The cybercriminal monitors comments made by users on legitimate brands’ accounts with certain keywords.
The idea is to simulate an active contact in response to a complaint or claim made by the user. The cybercriminal sends direct messages making the victims believe that they are communicating from the official account (they use the same logo and a variation of the official name), after all, this is where they posted their comment.
With the confidence that they are dealing with the company, they offer a solution in response to the user’s post.
Usually the intention is to obtain information that can be used for different types of fraud or who knows, offer something exaggeratedly good as compensation, but in exchange for some value. The characteristics of this type of scam can vary greatly.
Conclusion
Fake profiles of brands and companies on social networks exist in droves and are used for countless scams and frauds, harming thousands of users.
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