Impersonation Scams Unmasked
In the last year, over 17,000 people contacted IDCARE because they had been harmed in an impersonation scam. This is a scam where criminals pretend to be trusted organisations, celebrities, or even friends and family.
The harms varied – from serious financial loss to identity theft. One person lost $850,000 after clicking on a fake ING Bank ad on Facebook. Even if no money is lost, victims often spend hours fixing the damage. That’s why it is important to understand impersonation scams, how they work and how you can protect yourself, and your family against them.
The Main Types of Impersonation Scams
Organisation Impersonations
In 91% of impersonation scams, the scammer pretended to be a trusted organisation, such as government agency, a bank or a telco. These scams can involve phone calls, emails, or SMS messages, often claiming there’s a problem with your account or offering urgent discounts. With the help of stolen data, scammers can make their attempts feel more convincing by referencing personal details, such as the person’s name, physical address or account information.
Friend, Family, and Boss Impersonations
Scammers impersonating friends, family, or your boss can exploit trust and urgency to manipulate victims. They may hack social media accounts and send SMS messages pretending to be a loved one, asking for money or suggest you take part in an investment, or some other money-making scheme. Some scams involve requests from someone posing as your boss to buy gift cards for other employees or clients urgently to be reimbursed later. Victims often believe they are helping their boss by responding to an emergency, so they don’t have time to question the requests. In some cases, the “boss” sends the employee a fake invoice asking them to pay it from company funds causing financial loss for the business.
Celebrity Investment Scams
These scams typically involve scammers using deepfake ads or impersonating well-known public figures. These ads are designed to appear legitimate, even mimicking the voices and faces of famous personalities. The main goal is to convince individuals to deposit their savings into a criminal controlled investment scheme (usually crypto based). Victims are often shown their money is making great returns but realise it is a scam when they cannot withdraw their investments.
Have a look at this convincing deepfake of a news story analysts found on Facebook in March.
How to Stay Safe?
✅ Be suspicious of unexpected messages – even if they seem to come from a known organisation or friend.
✅ Don’t trust caller ID or email addresses – scammers can fake them.
✅ Never click on links or call numbers from messages. Always search for official contact details through the organisation’s official app or verified website (not through ads!).
✅ Verify through another channel. If a friend or family member asks for money, call them directly on a number you know is real (Even if they have made an excuse for you not to call!)
✅ Use strong privacy settings on social media. Lock down who can see your contact lists.
✅ Install MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) where possible. It makes it harder for scammers to take over your accounts.