Four Tips to Stop Brand Abuse Ahead of 11/11

Aug 24, 2021

Singles Day, which takes place on November 11 (11/11), is a holiday in China for single people to celebrate their independent relationship status and lavish themselves with gifts. It is a massive day for retail and the most successful online shopping day in the world, bringing in more sales than Black Friday and Amazon Prime Days.

As with any high spend event, there is a high rate of fraudulent activity associated with 11/11. Scammers target unsuspecting consumers, often infringing on popular brands to profit.

Sophisticated bad actors use mobile apps, websites, and social media profiles as interrelated components in complex networks. These highly organized bad actors are the ones causing the most harm to brands and their consumers.

With 11/11 shopping just around the corner, it’s time to enact a plan to protect your customers and your brand equity. Here are some tips to save yourself from a Singles Day brand abuse emergency:

1. Investigate Bad Actor Networks

As mentioned above, most scammers are operating across multiple channels. It isn’t enough to only be monitoring social media or domain spoofing. Total protection comes from having a complete view of an abuse network, which is now possible with modern brand protection technology.

2. Develop a Mitigation Strategy

Work cross-functionally with the product, commercial, and marketing organizations at your company to understand your customers’ digital journey. Aggressively monitor those digital channels for abuse targeting your customers. Ensure there is a direct line of communication with your security and litigations teams and create a process for addressing red flags.

3. Dismantle the Network

From requesting hosting providers block a specific site to filing administrative actions like the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to initiating civil litigation, enforcement against brand abuse can seem daunting. Find a brand protection solution that offers bulk takedown submissions tied to multi-channel coverage to save time and money.

4. Educate Your Customers About Bad Actors’ Methods and How to Avoid Engaging With Them

Be proactive in reaching out to your consumers ahead of Singles Day to warn them of common signs of fraud. Communication could include tips to avoid phishing scams or sharing a list of authorized sellers to discourage the accidental purchase of counterfeit goods or parallel imports.

With increased reliance on digital channels and the flood of new users leveraging those channels, brands play a significant role in protecting consumers. Use the data found in promotional channels to help identify the full scope of brand abuse targeting your loyal customers ahead of big shopping holidays like 11/11. Bad actors are using social media, advertising, websites, and branded materials in a way that makes them seem legitimate while evading detection. Legacy enforcement techniques against these scams may slow the fraudster but seldom disable the scam for any sustained period.

Would you like a custom brand abuse risk analysis ahead of 11/11? Request one here.

Everything You Need to Know About 11/11 Aka Singles Day—The World’s Most Popular Online Shopping Day

By Xinyao Liu, Online Brand Protection Consultant 11/11, November 11th started as an unofficial holiday in China to celebrate single people. The holiday is referred to as Singles Day, Bachelor's Day, and double 11. In Chinese, a single person with no branches to the...

Infographic: Traditional vs. Modern Online Brand Protection Technologies

Brands are built on trust. People need to feel assured that every interaction with your brand is 100% authentic, but that’s harder than ever to ensure. With eCommerce and social media permeating almost all aspects of our society, the online consumer base is...

Fashion, Social Media and eCommerce Collide with Counterfeiters 

Social media has revolutionized so many facets of society and commerce. Created to connect people, brands quickly realized that these powerful tools were a natural fit for consumer engagement. These channels deliver a captive audience that comes specifically to each...

The Rise of Systemic Abuse Networks

A version of this article originally appeared on Appdetex.com. It’s no secret brand abuse is on the rise. To get a clearer picture of the nature of this increase, Appdetex examined domain enforcement activity from a sample of their clients. They found that, on...