Pharming: how this scam can affect your brand?

Something we never get tired of repeating here at Branddi is how fraudsters and scammers never get complacent. On the contrary, they are constantly learning and adapting to bypass digital surveillance.
One proof of the evolution of these tactics is the combination of different types of fraud, enabling more efficient attacks. And this not only deceives consumers but also operates beneath the radar of brand monitoring.

One example of this development in digital attacks is pharming, which combines phishing and farming techniques to steal and manipulate confidential information.
But what exactly is this scam, how can it impact companies, and how can you protect your brand from its consequences? Come with Branddi and understand everything about this topic!

What is pharming?

In short, pharming is a combination of "phishing"—a type of scam that sends messages with fake links—and "farming" (cultivation). The main difference is that, in farming, the attack is more direct, leading the user straight to a fake domain without needing to click on any link.

In pharming, criminals use social engineering to redirect your consumers to fake websites that mimic your brand. Thus, they can not only steal your organic conversions but also install malware or steal sensitive customer information.

The main targets of this type of fraudsters are companies or institutions that handle large sums of money or attract many people. Among them are financial institutions, banks, large companies, digital payment platforms, and e-commerce platforms.

How does pharming work?

As mentioned earlier, pharming is a cyberattack that exploits internet infrastructure to redirect users to fake websites. Let’s use an example: imagine you are trying to get home, but someone changed the street signs to lead you somewhere else. Confusing, right?
That’s exactly what pharming does with website addresses on the internet!

The first step of the attack aims to infect the computer with malicious software capable of altering DNS settings. This DNS then translates the addresses typed in the browser (like www.example.com) into IP addresses. That way, the scammer ensures that when the user types a legitimate website, the computer is redirected to a fake site created by the criminals.

How can pharming impact your company?

Pharming is a silent and hard-to-detect attack. It represents a significant threat to companies of all sizes, as it can cause damage to both the brand’s reputation and finances.But that’s not all! Check out the four main consequences pharming can bring:

Damage to brand reputation

Every entrepreneur knows that trust is one of the most valuable assets of any company. So, when your consumers are redirected to fake sites posing as your brand, that trust is severely shaken. After all, it creates the perception that the company cannot guarantee the security of its clients’ personal and financial information.This loss of trust can generate a series of negative consequences for the company. Dissatisfied customers tend to share their negative experiences, which can quickly escalate into a crisis of image. As a result, the brand may face difficulties attracting new customers and forming strategic partnerships, making the crisis longer and deeper.

Loss of customers

As mentioned earlier, the loss of customer trust is one of the biggest impacts of pharming.Dissatisfied customers will certainly look for competitors, which can lead to a drop in sales and company revenue. Additionally, your brand’s competitiveness against rivals in the sector may decline.

Increase in financial losses

Another direct consequence of pharming is the rise in financial losses, which can be multifaceted, affecting the brand in various ways.Among these are increased costs with customer service and compensation for consumers who fell victim to these attacks, as well as higher investments in data recovery in cases of information theft.These combined losses can not only cause interruptions in company services, affecting productivity, but may also lead to the closure of business activities.

Exposure to fines and penalties

Finally, we cannot talk about the consequences of pharming attacks without discussing the possibility of exposure to fines and penalties.
Combining financial and reputational losses, depending on current legislation and the severity of the incident, the company may be held liable for damages suffered by the consumer.

My brand was a victim of pharming—what now?

In the event of a pharming attack, transparent communication with customers is essential. Therefore, the company should inform customers about the incident, the measures being taken to resolve the problem, and the additional security steps being implemented.
Remember: honesty and transparency are essential to restore customer trust and prevent the situation from worsening.

Also, it is crucial that the brand offers support to customers affected by the attack, demonstrating empathy and proactivity. This not only shows the company’s commitment to security and customer satisfaction but also strengthens the relationship between both parties.

How to protect your brand from pharming?

Have you heard the saying, “prevention is the best solution?” When it comes to brand protection, this is also true. After all, by maintaining active and constant monitoring of everything involving your company, you can identify flaws and latent problems that may be waiting for the right moment to strike.

Therefore, the best way to keep your company protected against scams like pharming is to ensure protections such as SSL certificates, firewalls, and antivirus software. But do you remember what we said at the beginning of this article? Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and to stay ahead of them requires more than the basics.

And this is exactly where we at Branddi come in! Our exclusive tool combines high technology, human expertise, and artificial intelligence, enabling us to anticipate and provide rapid responses to these threats.

In the case of pharming, we operate with 24/7 monitoring over more than two thousand TLDs, ads, and social media profiles. In other words, if there is any suspicious activity threatening your results, we will find it.

But more than that, we also send reports and notifications to registrars, servers, hosting systems, browsers, and ad platforms. This way, we prevent malicious actions from continuing to operate.