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Last updated on: June 8, 2022
The trend of businesses and brands moving online further accelerated during the pandemic as consumers were increasingly more dependent on ecommerce. Website builders like Wix help small businesses create and operate their web presence to represent their brand and offer their products. Wix has seen tremendous growth since its launch in 2006 with more than 200 million users as of 2021.
However, Wix and other platforms are targeted by impersonators that exploit the trustworthiness of these platforms by executing phishing attacks in order to steal sensitive data. In this article, we show you how to report a Wix site for phishing and how you can protect your brand from future phishing attacks.
Phishing is an impersonation scam through which bad actors copy identifying elements of a person, brand or organization to profit from their legitimate identity. By pretending to be someone else, scammers try to steal (“phish”) sensitive information such as passwords, account details or credit card information.
Wix’s vast user base and trustworthy service make the platform a target for scammers who impersonate Wix with fake websites and emails. Phishing sites usually use slight misspellings of the original domain name that are easily overlooked by users. If your Wix site is registered under “mywixsite.com”, an impersonator might use a similar domain name like “mywiixsite.com” to deceive users.
Registering domain names that contain misspellings or typographical errors of popular brands for fraudulent purposes is referred to as typosquatting. As mistyping a web address is fairly easy, scammers try to profit from internet users who are unaware that they are navigating on an untrustworthy website. When used for phishing attacks, typosquatters create fake mirror websites that appear to be realistic copies of an authentic brand.
Scammers also impersonate Wix through phishing emails. They include the company’s logo or full names of individuals from the organization they seek to imitate in order to steal sensitive information. Scammers send phishing emails with subjects like “Your Wix payment method has been declined”, informing the recipient that their subscription payment failed and that they should update their payment information.
A legitimate Wix email always ends with wix.com, which means that any other variation of that ending is a fake email. Here are a few tips to look out for phishing attempts according to the Wix support site:
Reporting a Wix site for phishing is easy and straightforward. If you have been targeted by a phishing attack, you can report the suspicious site to Wix by filling out this form.
Step 1:
As a first step, you are asked to choose the type of infringement you want to report. Choose “Phishing or Spam” and click on “Send a Report”.
Step 2:
Next up, you will be forwarded to a responsive contact form that guides you through the reporting process. Start by inserting the URL of the phishing site and click on send. You will be asked to give information on the phishing scam and your contact info which should not take longer than a few minutes.
Step 3:
After doing so, you will be able to submit the report. Next, you will receive a unique ticket ID which can be used to track the reporting process. Wix estimates the processing time at 3 business days which might vary depending on the individual case.
When protecting your brand from phishing attacks, it is important to know that these are just one form of business impersonation. Other impersonation frauds come in the shape of fake mobile apps, domain spoofing and fake social media accounts. What they all have in common are bad actors that copy identifying elements of a person or brand to give themselves a legitimate identity for fraudulent purposes.
Therefore, you should look for a solution that not only shields your business from phishing attacks but rather from any form of impersonation scam.
There are a few actions you can take that mitigate risks from phishing attacks on your brand. First, you should register your intellectual property including copyrights and trademarks to manifest your proof of ownership for the distinctive elements of your brand. Secondly, you should educate your clients, employees and audience on phishing scams and inform them on what they can do to protect their data and your business.
Monitoring and reporting impersonation scams manually is a difficult and time-consuming process. This is due to the vast number of platforms where possible attacks can take place plus the advanced methods scammers are applying. If you have been targeted by a phishing attack on Wix, it is possible that scammers also impersonate your brand on other platforms like Facebook, Amazon, YouTube or Instagram.
Using a technology-based solution from a brand protection expert like Red Points enables you to conquer phishing scams efficiently at scale.
Red Points Impersonation Removal Software is a highly efficient solution to protect your brand from impersonation scams. Automatically detect and remove fake websites, domains, social media accounts, and apps to protect your customers, reputation and revenues around the clock. Impersonation scams lead to revenue losses for your business and our solution can help to recover your revenues.
A modern brand impersonation protection solution helps you report a Wix site for phishing and safeguards your brand from other impersonation scams. Phishing attacks can put your brand reputation, customer safety and revenues at risk. Detecting and removing impersonation attacks helps you to deal with these threats efficiently.
Red Points applies the most advanced impersonation protection technology that shields your brand from impersonators.
Reach out to one of our experts today and see how you can protect your brand identity with Red Points.
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