Michael Grover

Depending on the industry, marketers are projected to spend between $31 and $208 per lead in 2021, according to the latest research.[1] And with business-to-business (B2B) leads requiring up to 13 or more touches before they convert, it’s critical that lead-gathering be as frictionless as possible. The last thing a company needs is to do all the work prepping prospects, only to have a cybercriminal swoop in for the “close” by impersonating its brand in a phishing email or spoofed website.

But leads are being hijacked regularly by cybercriminals and sometimes by sneaky competitors. In fact, Mimecast’s recent The State of Brand Protection 2021 (SOBP) report found a 381% spike in brand impersonation attacks against the world’s top 100 most-valuable brands during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic last year — and a subsequent new normal of much higher attack levels. To stop such lead stealing before it does too much damage requires proactive monitoring, awareness — and action.

The customer service confirmation scam, whether by phone or phishing email, is just one example of how bad actors are hijacking hard-earned brand equity and using common marketing tactics to make their con. In fact, cybercriminals are deploying a complete range of marketing tactics to try and separate people from their money, as described in Mimecast’s The State of Brand Protection 2021 (SOBP) report. To cybercriminals, the brands they impersonate are just bodies they step over to get their way.