What is impersonation fraud?¶

Impersonation fraud uses a false claimed identity or authority to persuade somebody to do something they otherwise would not do.

That might be:

• make a payment;
• disclose information;
• approve an account change;
• install software;
• bypass a control;
• hand over credentials.

The core evidence is the false representation and the action it was designed to trigger.

Impersonation can use many channels¶

The offender may use:

• email;
• text message;
• phone call;
• social-media profile;
• fake website;
• forged document;
• lookalike account.

The same incident may move across several channels.

It does not require account takeover¶

A convincing impersonation can be built from:

• spoofed number;
• lookalike email address;
• copied logo;
• fake profile;
• false website;
• familiar display name.

A genuine compromised account is only one possible route.

Preserve the representation exactly¶

Record:

• who or what the communication claimed to be;
• exact wording;
• channel;
• time;
• requested action;
• links/files/numbers supplied;
• what the victim did next.

That captures the core fraud mechanism before you even know the offender's identity.

The impersonated person may also be a victim¶

If somebody pretends to be a real director or supplier, do not collapse that person into the suspect simply because their name appears in the communication.

Use wording such as:

“A message purporting to be from…”

until the sending account/session/device is properly attributed.

The practical point is: prove the false identity and requested action first. Then attribute the communication and resulting payment or account change through separate technical and financial evidence.