Phishing campaigns conducted by cybercriminals often involve using the names of famous corporations to deceive people. By pretending to be Microsoft or LinkedIn, for example, these criminals increase the likelihood of more people falling for their scams, especially if they are targeting a large number of individuals.
Consider this scenario: You receive an urgent message regarding your car insurance, even though you do not possess a vehicle. It becomes pretty clear that this is a scam. This is precisely why cybercriminals prefer to impersonate companies with a vast user base.
Can you guess which brand is the most impersonated?
AT&T*
Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. AT&T is one of the biggest companies in the world. With over 300 million customers in the US alone, they offer a wide range of services, including cell and landline phone services, internet, and cable television. Chances are, if you ask around, at least half of the people you meet are AT&T customers.
Be careful of fake or “phishing” emails that mimic official communications. These emails could trick you into giving away your username and password, downloading infected software, or revealing crucial financial information to criminals.
It’s a common strategy for threat actors to impersonate larger corporations to deceive a larger audience. Unlike spear-phishing attacks, which are more targeted but also more credible, mimicking AT&T gives scammers access to a vast number of genuine customer service emails to create a convincing template.
Remember, cyber criminals only need to be successful once to succeed. Your organization must be successful 100% of the time to stay safe. That’s why Commonwealth Sentinel offers technical and training services to help your organization protect against phishing attacks and other cyber threats. Contact us for more information at (502)-320-9885.