Institutional impersonation
The fraud that exploits the reputation of your brand, your practice, your institution.
What are we talking about exactly ?
Institutional impersonation involves posing as a recognised trusted entity: a notary, a school, an accounting firm, a public authority, an insurer.
The damage is twofold: the victim loses money or data, and the institution's reputation is tarnished through no fault of its own.
How it works
- 1Choosing the brand
The attacker selects an institution whose name inspires trust and which communicates frequently by email.
- 2Reproducing the codes
Logo, signature, tone, legal notices, legal references. Everything is copied from public emails.
- 3Targeted or mass distribution
The attack targets either the institution's known clients or the general public via a purchased or compromised list.
- 4Exploiting trust
The recipient doesn't doubt it: it's their notary, their school, their pension fund. They act.
What the data tells us
Concrete examples
An email signed with a well-known notary's name requests an urgent guarantee transfer to finalise a sale. Everything is credible: name, practice, ongoing case.
Parents receive an email signed by the school's management, requesting a deposit for a school trip to a modified IBAN.
What works, and what falls short
- Legal notice in the footer: invisible and unverifiable.
- Notice on the website: the victim will only see it after the fraud.
- Active education of regular recipients (clients, parents, partners).
- Verifiable cryptographic signature, readable directly in the mail client. The badge becomes the reflex.
How STEGA TRUST responds to this threat
STEGA TRUST gives institutions a visible, verifiable way to prove an email really comes from them. The badge in the mail client, the verification QR code, and the public page stegatrust.com/verifier become the new reflex.
Your brand stops being a fraud tool. It becomes proof again.