Scammers imitate brands nearly everyone recognises and uses daily

That concentration is worth noting, Check Point believes. It indicates that scammers aren’t spreading their efforts across thousands of brands.  

“They’re focused on a small set of names that nearly everyone recognises and uses daily, since that recognition is what makes the con work in the first place. 

“If a message looks like it came from a brand you already use and rely on, your guard drops. You’re not evaluating a stranger’s request. You’re responding to what feels like routine correspondence from a company you already have a relationship with. That single psychological shortcut is the entire business model behind brand phishing.” 

AI tools now on the radar of cyber scammers 

ChatGPT entered the top 10 most impersonated brands for the first time, signalling that AI tools are now firmly on criminals’ radar.  

“It’s a strong signal of where attacker attention is heading next. As AI tools move from novelty to daily habit for millions of people managing subscriptions, payments and work tasks through them, they become just as attractive a target as any bank or tech giant,” the company says in the blog post published on its website. 

Other brands in the top 10 for being the most targeted are Adobe, Facebook, WhatsApp and PayPal 

Technology was the most targeted industry overall, followed by social networks and banking. 

“Real-world cases this quarter ranged from fake payment failure emails to full replica online stores, fake login pages, and malware disguised as a software update,” Check Point notes. 

The full top 10 of most targeted brands by scammers is: 

1. Microsoft. 
2. LinkedIn. 
3. Google. 
4. Apple. 
5. Amazon. 
6. Adobe. 
7. Facebook. 
8. WhatsApp. 
9. PayPal. 
10. ChatGPT. 

You can read the full blog post here.