Memcyco Inc., a leading provider of digital trust technology aimed at safeguarding companies and their customers from digital impersonation fraud, has recently unveiled its inaugural 2024 State of Website Impersonation Scams report. The study conducted by Memcyco reveals a concerning lack of adequate solutions among companies to combat digital impersonation fraud, with most businesses only becoming aware of such attacks through their customers.
According to the report, over half of the survey respondents (53%) expressed the view that their current cybersecurity tools are ineffective in dealing with website impersonation attacks, while 41% stated that their existing solutions offer only partial protection to themselves and their customers. Alarmingly, a mere 6% of brands claimed to possess a solution that effectively addresses these attacks despite a significant 87% of companies acknowledging website impersonation as a significant problem. Additionally, 69% of businesses admitted to falling victim to these impersonation attacks on their respective websites.
The emergence of fraudulent websites utilized for phishing-related activities, a primary cause of account takeovers (ATO), represents a growing concern. In 2023 alone, cybercriminals reportedly raked in an astounding $1 billion+ through impersonation scams, as per data from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, triple the amount reported stolen in 2020.
The survey highlighted that while 72% of companies have implemented monitoring systems to detect counterfeit versions of their websites, a staggering 66% primarily become aware of digital impersonation attacks when flagged by customers. Furthermore, 37% of respondents only learn about website impersonation incidents following public exposure through customer ‘brand shaming’ on social media.
The inadequacy in safeguarding against digital impersonation fraud prompts concerns about companies’ obligations to reimburse affected customers. Nearly half (48%) of the survey participants are already cognizant of forthcoming regulations that may enforce customer reimbursements, underscoring the critical need for robust protection against digital impersonation fraud to mitigate revenue losses.
Chairman and CEO of Memcyco, Israel Mazin, remarked, “One of the most alarming takeaways from the report is that website impersonation scams are proliferating due to attackers exploiting companies’ limited visibility into such attacks. This underscores a significant cybersecurity blindspot – companies’ inability to safeguard their customers online.”
The State of Website Impersonation Scams report, conducted in collaboration with Global Surveyz Research, surveyed 200 full-time employees spanning Director to C-level executives in organizations operating transactional websites receiving over 10,000 monthly visits.
Memcyco’s comprehensive solution suite combats the escalating threat of website impersonation scams by leveraging real-time alerts to secure end-users during each website visit, offering organizations insights into the extent and repercussions of attacks on their websites.
For those interested, the complete report is accessible on Memcyco’s website.
About Memcyco:
Memcyco is a provider of AI-based, real-time digital risk protection solutions designed to combat website impersonation scams, shielding companies and customers from the moment a fake site is live until it is eradicated. Memcyco’s innovative external threat intelligence platform affords companies complete visibility into the attacker, attack, and individual victims, preempting ATO fraud, ransomware, and data breaches. The “nano defender” technology detects, safeguards, and responds to attacks as they unfold, securing millions of customer accounts and mitigating the adverse effects on compliance, workload, customer retention, and reputation.
About Global Surveyz:
Global Surveyz is a global research firm offering survey report-as-a-service catering to the entire process of crafting insightful and impactful B2B or B2C reports for any target market. Established in 2020, Global Surveyz is the brainchild of Ramel Levin.
For more information, please contact:
Sheena Kretzmer
sheena@memcyco.com