Global organizations today rely on digital channels to build reach and trust, but those channels can also expose their intellectual property (IP) to impersonation. Technology leaders play a central role in connecting the visibility, teams, and response processes needed to address that risk. Keep reading to learn how less obvious impersonation schemes work and how organizations can respond.
Bad actors can harm organizations, customers, and followers without ever stealing a password or selling a counterfeit product. A fake social media account can build influence, while a website that misuses branded keywords can attract search traffic and generate advertising revenue. Both impersonation tactics create IP risk and can erode trust in the legitimate brand.
For CSC’s The State of Online IP Risk 2026 research report, we surveyed 300 senior executives specializing in mitigating IP threats. Forty percent of respondents cited impersonation as their greatest online IP infringement concern. For risk management and technology leaders, that finding points to a broad challenge across social media, websites, domains, and search results.
Executive impersonation gains traction on social media
Consider a social media account that impersonates a company executive. It may publish industry commentary or business advice to appear credible. By using the executive’s identity and the organization’s reputation, the operator can gain followers, clicks, and influence.
The account can then spread misinformation and confuse clients, customers, employees, and other stakeholders without ever asking for payment or personal information. The operator may earn advertising revenue or promote paid content later. Even when one account generates little income, repeating the model at scale can make the overall operation profitable.
A scheme built for attention can also graduate into fraud once the account asks followers to buy a course, join a workshop, or submit information.
Brand monitoring helps organizations find these stealthy social media accounts, assess their legitimacy, and pursue takedowns when appropriate.
Branded traffic can generate advertising revenue
A second form of impersonation can start with a domain or website that uses a company name or branded keyword without authorization. Someone searching for a product may reach a web page filled with ads or low-quality content. Each visit or click can passively generate revenue for the bad actor operating the site, even when the visitor never enters personal or payment information.
The site can also divert traffic from the legitimate organization and create a poor experience that users associate with its brand. Our report’s analysis of domains related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup found that some third-party registrations containing the keyword “FIFA” led to unrelated ads, while others incorporated recognizable names or trademarks without authorization.
In this case, too, brand monitoring can help organizations identify impersonation activity and act before it causes further IP risk or evolves into fraud.
AI increases the speed and reach of impersonation
AI makes both types of impersonation schemes easier to repeat at scale. In fact, 90% of report respondents said AI-enabled systems increase the frequency of online IP infringements and similar threats.
In particular, AI can help bad actors produce content, websites, and profiles more quickly, allowing many small schemes to create a larger cumulative effect.
The resulting volume strains security teams. In fact, our research shows that 73% of respondents consider slow enforcement processes the greatest operational challenge when managing IP infringements.
Connect monitoring with action
A fake social media profile or an ad-filled website that impersonates a brand may not immediately request money or information from a user or visitor. But it can still misuse the brand’s IP, erode trust, divert revenue, and support future fraud.
Technology leaders who connect brand monitoring with investigation and enforcement can reduce the time that impersonation schemes remain active and limit the potential for fraud and loss of credibility. Shared oversight across technology, legal, security, and marketing can help organizations validate findings, prioritize the greatest risks, and pursue takedowns more quickly. Post-takedown monitoring also matters because the activity may return.
Download The State of Online IP Risk 2026 to explore the full research and strengthen your response to online brand abuse.