Someone posing as another in any shape or form is an imposter. However today there are financial repercussions when someone poses as you, or if you are in business, posing as your brand. Most of us live lives where we have standards, morals and integrity, and we work to maintain our position and status in society.

So imagine some undesirable coming along and squatting on your name or brand and acting as if he were you, and in the process actively working towards tearing down your name or brand. Why? Maybe your customer service department was less than efficient in handling his claim. Maybe the identity thief is your competition and finds it “fun” in tearing you down only to make himself look better. This is business social media identity theft.

It really doesn’t matter why. What matters is “how” and how to prevent it. How, is, they simply subscribe to the hundreds of social media sites and blogs out there and gobble up your brand and create a persona that is you.

From there they act as the puppeteer pulling the strings. And good luck getting the social network to pull down the stolen site. Your best bet is registering all your names, domains and brands so nobody else does.

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert and CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com discusses social media scams on Fox Boston.