Facebook. X. Instagram. LinkedIn. YouTube. TikTok. Threads. The list keeps growing. Whether you’re a fan or a critic, there's no denying that social media platforms have become essential communication channels for individuals and organizations alike. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are exploiting the same platforms — drawn by their immense reach, anonymity, and low cost of entry. Social media has become a prime vector for phishing, impersonation, and other types of fraud, allowing bad actors to rapidly scale their attacks across borders and industries.
Cybercriminals are not only targeting companies but also their customers and employees, capitalizing on trust and urgency to bypass traditional security defenses. With social platforms continuously evolving, organizations must stay vigilant, monitor for abuse, and have clear strategies to detect and remediate threats in real time.
Social Media: A Playground for Modern Fraudsters
From amateur “script kiddies” to sophisticated, state-sponsored cybercrime rings, threat actors are constantly testing and evolving their scams for maximum payout. Social media has become a prime venue for these schemes, offering speed, scale, and the illusion of trust. Fake accounts, impersonation, and phishing campaigns are often launched with alarming ease, exploiting the public’s confidence in familiar names and platforms. For security leaders, understanding these tactics — and training employees to spot and report them — is now a frontline defense.
Common Social Media Threats
Companies that fall prey to scammers risk financial and data loss, reputational harm, erosion of employee and customer trust, and general business disruption. Below are three threat types to be aware of:
Impersonation
Threat actors work hard to spoof company brands and their employees. Executives in particular are popular targets as organizations increasingly encourage their leaders to establish a regular presence on platforms such as LinkedIn and X. Scammers can easily access high-quality logos, imagery, and messaging online to impersonate well-known companies and industry execs in a way that looks legitimate and encourages interaction.
Counterfeit Campaigns
With this type of brand abuse, threat actors create believable posts designed to lure victims to sham websites they control. Counterfeit campaign ads may entice shoppers to purchase discounted goods that will never arrive or get people to enter login credentials that criminals then capture on the back end. Oftentimes, when the social media platform or other authority investigates reported abuse, they find the ads have been modified to look generic.
Steganography
Images are essential to social media success—but they can also be a hidden threat. Cybercriminals are increasingly using steganography, a method of hiding malicious code inside seemingly harmless images or videos. On platforms where visuals dominate, altered or deepfaked photos can not only mislead but also deliver malware when clicked. It's a growing risk in the age of visual-first content.
Don’t Take the Bait: Outsmarting Social Media Scams
It can be difficult to recognize social media scams, and even harder to take down threat actors. This means security awareness training and related prevention tactics are key to your defense strategy.
1. Build Relationships with Popular Platforms
Establish relationships with the social media platforms your organization uses so you have a clear point of contact when issues arise. This connection can significantly speed up the process of removing malicious or fraudulent content. Be prepared to act fast — document any suspicious activity with detailed evidence, including links, screenshots, timestamps, and other relevant proof. Most platforms require thorough documentation to take action.
2. Implement Employee Security Awareness Training
Knowledge truly is power when it comes to recognizing potentially dangerous social media attacks as employees are your first line of defense. It’s important to train team members to have a healthy level of suspicion and encourage them to tap into their intuition when something doesn’t seem quite right or look legitimate online.
As threats are constantly changing, look to solutions that keep up with the latest scams and give employees hands-on practice with identifying threats. Security awareness training from Fortra Human Risk Management delivers inclusive interactive content that focuses on building a security mindset among employees, so they know how to handle social media, phishing, and other everyday risks.
3. Protect Against Harmful Images
Part of your employee education program should include the potential dangers of images generated both inside and outside the organization. Incorporating document sanitization capabilities with our Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) will enable you to cleanse images and reduce the risk of steganography in a way that doesn’t disrupt productivity.
Final Thoughts
As social media continues to evolve, so do the tactics of cybercriminals exploiting these platforms. Staying ahead of emerging threats requires more than reactive measures. It demands proactive monitoring, a deep understanding of evolving attack patterns, and coordinated response strategies. By combining technology, intelligence, and human expertise, organizations can mitigate risk, protect their digital presence, and maintain trust with their customers. Vigilance is no longer optional — it's essential in today’s social-first threat landscape.