The top 10 brands being used in imitation scams 

WXIN/WTTV - The cyber security experts at Guardio have compiled a list of the top 10 brands being imitated by scammers in phishing schemes right now.




According to Guardio, those top 10 brands are EZPass, Microsoft, Steam, Facebook, Roblox, Coinbase, Netflix, American Express, Telegram and the Australian government.




The list serves as a good warning to be on the lookout for unsolicited emails or text messages from any of these company names. The emails and texts usually take the form of an alert about an account you have. 




For example, an email that appears to be from Facebook is likely to say your account has been locked, or flagged for suspicious activity. It will urge you to click a link to visit a recovery page in order to clear it up. However, that website is probably bogus. When you try to log in, the scammer will simply save your username and password to hack your account.




That's the basic template for many phishing scams that imitate popular brands. Scammers try to lure you in with a familiar name to make you feel comfortable.  Then, they turn up the urgency to make you feel uncomfortable enough to act impulsively.  




As Guardio points out, artificial intelligence (A.I.) is making it easier for scammers to make their bogus websites look realistic. Sketchy emails and texts don't look so sketchy anymore--some of them look so real, it's hard to spot a fake.




That's why, in the current environment, it's dangerous to trust a web link in any unsolicited text or email.  




Here are some recommendations from Guardio to help you avoid getting caught in an imitation or phishing scam:

• Be cautious with urgent messages. Don't click links in texts or emails without verifying the sender.





• Check the source. When in doubt, visit the official site directly instead of using links from messages.





• Use strong, unique passwords. Consider a password manager to make this easier.





• Turn on multi-factor authentication. This adds an extra layer of security even if your password gets stolen.