The World's Most Spoofed Companies, And Why You Should Care

Mithun GS
Jul 2
3 min read

Email spoofing is no longer just a hacker’s trick, it’s a global epidemic. In 2025, some of the world’s most recognizable brands — Microsoft, Apple, DHL, and more, are not only business giants, but also the most impersonated companies in the world.

Let’s explore who’s being spoofed, how it happens, and what you can do to protect yourself.

💡 What Is Email Spoofing?

Email spoofing is when a cybercriminal fakes the sender address of an email to make it look like it came from a legitimate source, like support@microsoft.com — when in reality, it didn’t.

It’s a key tactic behind:

🎣 Phishing
💳 Credential theft
💰 Wire fraud
🪪 Identity impersonation

🔍 Example: How Email Spoofing Happens

🔹 Simple Version (What You Might See)

You receive an email that looks like this:

From: Amazon support@amazon.com

Subject: Your account is locked

Message: "Click here to verify your identity."

You click the link. It looks like Amazon. You log in.Boom — your credentials are now in the hands of a hacker.

🔹 Technical Version (What Actually Happens)

The attacker forges the "From" address in the email header. Here's what goes on behind the scenes:

They use an open mail relay or a compromised server.
The email is sent from a spoofed domain like support@amaz0n-secure.com.
If the recipient’s email server does not check SPF/DKIM/DMARC, the fake email lands in the inbox, appearing perfectly legit.
The link redirects to a fake login page hosted on amaz0n-verification-login.com.

📈 Most Spoofed Companies in 2025

According to Keepnet Labs and Check Point Research, here are the most impersonated brands in phishing campaigns (Q3 2024 data):

Rank	Brand	Spoof Rate (%)	Sector
1	Microsoft	61%	Cloud & Email
2	Apple	12%	Consumer Tech
3	Google	7%	Search & Cloud
4	DHL	3%	Logistics
5	Amazon	2%	Ecommerce
6	Tesla	<1%	Automotive Tech
7	PayPal	<1%	Fintech
8	Netflix	<1%	Streaming
9	Facebook	<1%	Social Media
10	LinkedIn	<1%	Professional

📌 Note: Percentages represent frequency of appearance in global phishing attacks tracked in Q3 2024.

🧠 Why These Brands Are Spoofed

Factor	Explanation
Trust	Emails from Microsoft or Apple are opened without suspicion.
Scale	These companies send millions of legitimate emails every day.
Value	Access to these platforms = access to personal, financial, or business data.

⚠️ Real-World Impact of Spoofing (US)

💸 $26 billion+ lost to Business Email Compromise (BEC) from 2016 to 2024 (FBI IC3)
📩 91% of cyberattacks begin with a phishing email (Proofpoint Report)
🔐 99% of spoofed emails succeed when DMARC is not configured on the sender's domain