Top Impersonation Tactics Used in Social Engineering and Phishing

This report outlines the top impersonation tactics driving social engineering and phishing—brand lookalikes, executive/BEC schemes, IT help desk/MFA capture, vendor invoice fraud, and collaboration tool abuse—supported by 2025–2026 statistics and case examples (malicious Chrome extensions promoted via lookalike domains, North Korea-linked hiring fraud with AI facial filters, Okta vishing for SSO takeover, and a BEC payment redirection), and recommends layered defenses such as phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn), strict payment verification, mobile/QR risk controls, and proactive brand protection with takedown workflows.