Prevent fraud by safeguarding against it.

You have to watch over your brand to keep it safe from copying, scams, hackers, and damage to its reputation. The internet lets brands reach many people, but it also gives criminals a place to hide. In 2014, fake brands made up 10% of online sales worldwide, making $1.7 trillion. In 2013, there were about 450,000 phishing attacks, costing almost $6 billion. A good chunk of these attacks, about 31%, went after banks and other financial institutions.

Protecting your brand involves two main steps: monitoring and enforcing. To safeguard against counterfeiting, incorporate hard-to-copy features like security labels. If you provide financial services, promise not to blame customers for fraud-related costs. Offer a free antivirus program to users and use copy-protection software to prevent piracy. Inform customers about the risks and costs of brand infringement and fraud, and stick to advertising on official brand platforms.

Guard  Your Brand

In the U.S., patents, trademarks, and copyrights are the backbone of safeguarding your brand legally. Companies offering brand-protection services blend automated online tracking with human review. Big platforms like YouTube or eBay usually allow their data to be monitored automatically through an interface called an API. Brand watchers sift through piles of spam emails to catch any brand misuse or possible scams. Special tools can track down where these emails come from by following the links inside, but tricksters make it tough by routing emails through multiple servers. Some brands play defense by turning their email addresses into images on their websites to dodge bots that collect them.

Branch Names

Publicly available Whois records provide information about domain name registrations, server locations, and registry dates. Businesses often secure multiple domain names to cover various products, and regions, or to protect their brand. For instance, if a company like "Megabrandbank" fails to register a UK domain, fraudsters could exploit it by setting up Megabrandbank.co.uk. They might then send phishing emails or sell fake products, tricking customers. Checking Whois records can reveal if a domain is set up for email use. Scammers can also misuse a brand name in an unregistered subdomain within the Domain Name System (DNS).

Enforce rules

Companies or their agents who safeguard their brands might send a cease-and-desist letter to people who register domains that violate their brand, telling them to remove the content or give up the domain to the rightful owner. This works when there's a real connection to the brand, like if a website associated with the brand isn't following the rules. But it's not the best move when dealing with illegal stuff.

You can also talk to the internet service provider (ISP) or the company that registered the domain. Often, if the user's info doesn't match the official records, they'll stop the domain's use. Going to court is harder and costs more, but it lets you get money for any harm done. Brand owners can try to buy the domain or wait for it to expire and then grab it. But if things get tricky, there are big organizations like ICANN that handle tough domain disputes for a fee. If the problem isn't just about the brand, the internet company might close the site's payment system, or you could ask a search engine to take down the link.

Please do not embed whole web pages within another page as it doesn't benefit brands. Listing staff member email addresses on your site can pose security risks.

Misuse of a brand

Keep an eye out for different kinds of brand misuse, depending on your business. Even if you can't delete bad comments on sites where customers talk about products, you can still reply the right way.

"Brand seeding" is when a website spreads a brand name all over its content to boost how high it shows up in search results or to send people to the wrong link. This becomes a problem if the page connects the brand with a competitor or adult content. Search engines pick up on this kind of seeding. Sometimes, other parties might use your logo the right way – like a newspaper using it in a news story – but if they use your logo to trick possible customers, that's against the rules. Fan sites or funny accounts on social media might use your logo legally under fair-use laws. You or a company that helps protect brands can set up systems to automatically check for your logo in pictures or words. These protection services can also look out for when your brand gets mentioned in emails and confirm if other people have a connection to your brand – like if they've worked for you or have a sponsorship deal. They also keep an eye on partners to make sure they're sticking to the rules about your brand.

Monitor brand presence in e-commerce efficiently and succinctly.

Manufacturers need to watch out for fake products being sold online. These could be knockoffs made to look like the real deal, using the brand's name without permission, copying its design or features, or using its images without permission. Brands should keep an eye on the illegal trade of their products and how they're being sold. Fake goods not only damage a company's reputation but can also seriously endanger public health; for example, Interpol says fake drugs cause around one million deaths every year.

Criminals often use websites and online marketplaces like eBay to sell fake stuff. While automated systems can spot potential fakes, figuring out if it's trademark or patent infringement usually needs a human touch. One way to be sure is by making a "test purchase" from the website. Many online markets have programs to report fake listings, but you need to prove you're the brand owner and have the right to do so. Once you report fraud, the site will give the seller time to respond before deciding whether to keep or kick them off.

Track social media activity efficiently

Fraudulent offers are popping up more and more on social media. These posts use brand images and logos to lure people into buying fake stuff from shady websites. Sometimes, they even admit the goods are knock-offs, not the real deal. Just like how you can report shady stuff on marketplace sites, most social media platforms have a way to report these scams.

If someone’s using a brand name in their profile to scam people, you can file a trademark complaint to take them down. Some sites only crack down on these scams if they're in the same business as the real brand. But watch out, some platforms allow joke accounts. If you win your case, you might even get the fake account’s likes transferred to the real brand. ChillingEffects.org keeps a record of takedown notices for different sites.

Beware of phishing and scams; stay vigilant against online fraud.

Phishing is like electronic fishing for secrets, often pretending to be a bank or company. Scammers usually send fake emails, tricking people into giving away personal info. They might claim there's a problem with your account or ask you to confirm details. Clicking a link takes you to a fake website where they steal your login info. Sometimes they use this to steal money or even your identity.

It's hard to spot phishing sites because they don't stay online for long. You can use "domain-name zone file analysis" to watch for new websites that might copy yours. "Spam traps" can also help by automatically finding fake sites. If you report these sites to their host or registrar, they can shut them down fast. Sometimes, site owners don't even know their site is being used for phishing. In 2013, phishing scams caused about $6 billion in losses worldwide.

Online Threats: Stay Alert!

Scam emails ask you to pay before you get a prize or job. "Malware" is bad software you get by accident, letting others send spam from your email. "Ransomware" locks your files until you pay to unlock them. "Keyloggers" record what you type to steal your passwords. Security programs help stop these attacks, which can cost $3,000 a day and take a month to fix.

Unauthorized use of copyrighted content constitutes theft.

People love sharing digital stuff like movies, music, books, and software online, but sometimes, it's not all above board. You see, some folks share these things illegally, which means they're breaking the rules by not paying for them. They use fancy networks called peer-to-peer networks to share these goodies. Back in the day, all this stuff used to be stored on big central servers, but now, things are a bit more sneaky. The newer networks are decentralized, which means they're spread out all over the place, making it tricky for copyright owners to catch them in the act.

One popular way of sharing these digital treasures is through something called BitTorrent. It's like a secret club where people share files, but they've got some tricks up their sleeves to hide what they're up to. They use encryption, which is like putting a secret code on the files, making it hard for anyone to snoop around and see what's being shared. Then there are these things called "cyberlockers." They're like digital storage lockers where people can stash their stuff and share it with others. Some of these lockers are legit, but others are like dark alleys full of hidden dangers, like ads that lead you to bad places. The problem is, that these cyberlockers can be pretty tough to keep an eye on. But there are folks out there, like brand-protection agencies, who try to keep tabs on them. They scan these lockers for certain stuff and check if it's the real deal or just a knockoff.

Apps, advertising, and affiliate partnerships.

Services that protect brands can scan app platforms for listings that misuse the brand. If they find any, the brand owners can ask for those listings to be removed. Many companies work with affiliate marketers and websites to bring more visitors to their products or services. These affiliates get paid when people click on the links to the advertised sites. Businesses in finance and gambling especially rely on these affiliate networks. Each affiliate link has a code that shows where the traffic came from. Companies keep an eye on their legitimate affiliates to make sure they follow the rules. If they don't, they might send them a letter to stop. But sometimes, scammers get hold of a real affiliate code and use it on their own unauthorized site.

"Hidden Web" to safeguard brand integrity in the future.

The part of the Internet that search engines like Google can find is called the "Surface Web." But, there's more to the web! It's called the "Deep Web," and it's way bigger than what you can easily search for. Think of it like an iceberg - most of it is hidden below the surface. People who want to keep their online activities private often use something called Tor. It's like a secret network that lets you browse and chat without anyone knowing who you are. 

Criminals sometimes use a thing called Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to talk to each other. It's like a secret clubhouse where they can chat in groups or one-on-one without being traced easily.

You know those QR codes you scan with your phone? They're cool, but scammers can use them to trick you. And there's Bitcoin, a digital currency that's popular with some people, but it can also be used for shady stuff.

More and more of our stuff is stored online, like in the cloud. But that also means more of our personal information is out there, which can be risky.