Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 15, #438

Hi, thanks as always for reading TechCrunch. We want to talk with you quickly about something important.

We’ve discovered that scammers are impersonating TechCrunch reporters and event leads and reaching out to companies, pretending to be our staff when they absolutely are not. These bad actors are using our name and reputation to try to dupe unsuspecting businesses. It drives us crazy and infuriates us on your behalf.

Anecdotally, this isn’t just happening to us; fraudsters are exploiting the trust that comes with established news brands to get their foot in the door with companies across the media industry.

Here’s an example of the most common scheme we’ve been tracking: impostors impersonating our reporters to extract sensitive business information from unsuspecting targets. In several cases we know about, scammers have adopted the identity of actual staff members, crafting what looks like a standard media inquiry about a company’s products and requesting an introductory call.

Sharp-eyed recipients sometimes catch discrepancies in email addresses that don’t match our real employees’ credentials. But these schemes evolve quickly; bad actors keep refining their tactics, mimicking reporters’ writing styles and referencing startup trends to make their pitches increasingly convincing. Equally troubling: victims who agree to phone interviews tell us the fraudsters use those calls to dig for even more proprietary details.

Why are they doing this? We don’t know, though a reasonable guess is that these are groups looking for initial access to a network.

As for what to do about it, if someone reaches out claiming to be from TechCrunch and you have even the slightest doubt about whether they’re legitimate, please don’t just take their word for it. We’ve made it easy for you to verify.

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Start by checking our staff page. It’s the quickest way to see if the person contacting you actually works here. If the individual’s name isn’t on our roster, you’ve got your answer right there.

If you do see someone’s name on our staff page, but our employee’s job description doesn’t square with the request you are receiving (i.e., a TechCrunch copy editor is suddenly very interested in learning about your business!), a bad actor is trying to con you.

If it sounds like a legitimate request but you want to make doubly certain, you should also feel free to contact us directly and just ask (you can learn how to reach each writer, editor, sales exec, marketing guru, and events team member in our bios).

We know it’s frustrating to have to double-check media inquiries, but these groups are counting on you not taking that extra step. By being vigilant about verification, you’re not just protecting your own company — you’re helping preserve the trust that legitimate journalists depend on to do their jobs.

Thank you.