Impersonators are targeting companies with fake techcrunch outreach. Tekkachchan

Hi, thanks for reading Techcrunch as usual. We want to talk to you quickly about something important.

We have come to know that Scammers Techcrunch reporters and events are affecting the lead and reaching companies, pretending to be our employees when they are not at all. These bad actors are using our name and reputation so that they can cheat the businesses without thinking. It makes us crazy and affects us on our side.

Really, this is not just happening to us; The fraudsters are exploiting the trust that comes with the news brands established to get their foot at the door with companies in the media industry.

Here is an example of the most common plan we are monitoring: our correspondents were replicated by the imposes to extract sensitive business information from unheard goals. In many cases, which we know about, scammers have adopted the identity of the actual staff members, which looks like a standard media inquiry about a company’s products and requests an introductory call.

Sharp-eye recipients sometimes hold anomalies in email addresses that do not match the credibility of our real employees. But these plans develop quickly; Bad actors continue to refine their strategy, mimic the writing styles of reporters and refer to a startup trend to reassure their pitches faster. Equally upset: The victims who agree to the phone interview, tell us that fraudsters use those calls to dig for even more ownership details.

Why are they doing this? We do not know, although an appropriate estimate is that these are groups looking for initial access to a network.

What to do about it, if a person claims to be from Techchchan and you also have little doubt about whether they are valid, please do not just take their words for this. We have made it easy for you to verify.

Start by checking us Employee pageThis is the fastest way to see if the person contacting you actually works here. If the person’s name is not on our roster, then you have found your answer there.

If you see someone’s name on our staff page, but our employee’s job details do not square with the request received by you (ie, a Techcrunch copy editor suddenly is very interested in knowing about your business!), A bad actor is trying to tell you.

If it sounds like a valid request, but you want to double, then you should feel free to contact us directly and just ask (you can learn how every writer, editor, sales executed, marketing gurus and events team members how to reach our BIOS).

We know that it is disappointing to re -investigate media inquiry, but these groups are not taking you on that additional step. By being vigilant about verification, you are not only protecting your own company – you are helping to preserve confidence that legitimate journalists are dependent on their work.

Thank you.