Hello, thank you for reading TechCrunch. I would like to quickly talk about something important.
We're seeing a growing number of scammers impersonating TechCrunch reporters, editors, and event leaders to contact companies and impersonate our staff when they're not. (Here is a list of all of our actual staff members.) These unscrupulous individuals are using our name and reputation to defraud unsuspecting businesses. It drives us crazy and makes us furious on your behalf. More and more, I'm receiving emails asking, “Is this person really going to work for you?” Now it seems to be happening more actively.
Anecdotally, this isn't just happening to us. Scammers are exploiting the trust that comes with established news brands to gain foothold in companies across the media industry.
Below are some examples of the most common schemes we have tracked. Scammers are posing as our reporters to extract sensitive business information from unsuspecting targets. In several cases that we are aware of, scammers misrepresented the identities of actual staff members and requested introductory calls in what appeared to be standard media inquiries about a company's products.
Astute recipients may notice mismatched email addresses that do not match the actual employee credentials (see list of fake email addresses below). But recently we've received information from fake reporters claiming to have address rules that match ours, making it difficult to recognize TechCrunch employees from others claiming to be TechCrunch employees.
In fact, this plan evolves rapidly. Bad actors continue to refine their tactics, imitating reporters' writing styles and referencing startup trends to make their pitches more and more persuasive. Equally troubling, victims interviewed over the phone say scammers use these interactions to mine even more sensitive information. A PR representative told Axios that suspicions arose when someone posing as a TechCrunch reporter shared a schedule link.
Why do villains do this? We don't know, but a reasonable guess is that these are groups looking for initial access to networks or other sensitive information. In fact, former Yahoo colleagues say these efforts are consistent with the persistent threat actors they have been tracking that have historically been involved in impersonating TechCrunch to target crypto, cloud, and other tech companies using a variety of pretexts to facilitate account takeover (ATO) and data theft.
What to do: If someone contacts you claiming to be from TechCrunch and you have any doubts about their legitimacy, don't just take their word for it. I made it easy to check.
First, check out TechCrunch's staff page. It's the easiest way to check if the person contacting you actually works here. Even if a person's name is not on our directory, the answer is easy to find.
If you see someone's name on our staff page, but their job description doesn't match the request you receive (for example, TechCrunch's copy editor suddenly wants to know more about your business!), someone with malicious intent may be trying to scam you.
Sounds like a legitimate request, but if you want to be sure, feel free to contact us directly and ask. In your profile, you can learn how to contact writers, editors, salespeople, marketing gurus, and event team members.
If you're not sure whether a message is legitimate, the staff member's official profile page provides alternative ways to communicate. Please contact us using one of these alternative methods to confirm.
I know it's frustrating to have to double check media inquiries, but these groups expect you to not take that extra step. By paying attention to verification, you not only protect your company, but also help maintain the trust that legitimate journalists rely on to do their jobs.
thank you. For future reference, here is a list of some domains impersonating TechCrunch that have been created in the last few months. None of these are affiliated with our company.
mail tech crunch[.]com
hr-techcrunch[.]com
Interview – Tech Crunch[.]com
mail tech crunch[.]com
media tech crunch[.]com
No reply-TC-Techcrunch[.]com
No Reply-Tech Crunch[.]com
Before tech crunch[.]com
Tech Crunch Outreach[.]com
tech crunch startup[.]information
tech crunch team[.]com
tech crunch[.]love
tech crunch[.]business[.]ID
tech crunch[.]bez
tech crunch[.]cc
tech crunch[.]channel
tech crunch[.]com[.]please
tech crunch[.]GL
tech crunch[.]G.S.
tech crunch[.]ID
tech crunch[.]that
tech crunch[.]La
tech crunch[.]that
tech crunch[.]net[.]CN
tech crunch 1[.]com