Summary: GR0 is an award-winning digital marketing agency best known for SEO and performance growth. GR0’s mission is to help “underdog” brands punch above their weight through organic search, content, and integrated, ROI-driven campaigns.
Scammers impersonated GR0 to run fake recruiting scams, siphoning up to $15,000 from individual victims and harming the brand with public accusations on social media. Before Netcraft, GR0 could collect reports but was unable to remove the fraudulent sites, leaving operations burdened and victims frustrated.
After implementing Netcraft’s solutions, GR0 quickly eradicated the campaign: dozens of sites removed immediately; reports collapsed from daily to near-zero, and scammers abandoned GR0 as a target. Netcraft’s easy workflow and rapid response restored brand trust, protected prospective talent and clients, and freed the team to focus on growth.
Challenge
Beginning in June 2024, scammers impersonated GR0 and CEO Kevin Miller to run fake recruiting schemes. They spun up lookalike websites and funneled prospects through LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, pushing victims into WhatsApp groups and payment flows.
Impact on people and the business:
Victims lost between $200 and $15,000.
Daily scam reports created a constant operational burden.
Angry victims commented on GR0’s social channels accusing the company of scamming them, threatening brand reputation, new customer acquisition, and hiring.
“People on our Facebook posts were commenting, ‘Don’t work with them because they’re scammers. They took my money.’”
Mateo Villalobos — Operations Support Manager
“This is an existential threat to the company… If Glassdoor says ‘this company scams you,’ you can’t hire A-level people.”
Paul Richter — Director of Tech
Customer overview
Industry
Technology
Headquarters
Los Angeles
Company Size
100–200 employees
Use Cases
Recruitment scams, fake sites, phishing URLs, lookalike domains, social media takedowns, executive impersonation
Netcraft Product Features
Automated Takedowns, Lookalike Domain Detection, Social Media Impersonation Protection, Centralized Reporting Portal, and Email Notifications
Solution
GR0 partnered with Netcraft:
Netcraft began rapid takedowns of look alike domains and coordinated reporting on WhatsApp groups and social profiles.
The team managed authorizations directly from Gmail notifications and Netcraft’s platform, eliminating the need for manual screenshotting and back-and-forth emails with victims.
“There are short- and long-term costs. In the short term, people might not want to work with you. In the long term, your reputation suffers. Some think there’s an endless pool of talent, but there isn’t—people read reviews on social media and Glassdoor and take their skills elsewhere. The same goes for customers: they see one bad review and pick your competitor instead. That kind of reputational damage can threaten the entire business.”
Paul Richter — Director of Tech
Key Results
in scam activity within 2-3 months
in attacks
median takedown time
Impact
90% Reduction in Scam Activity
Within the first few months of working with Netcraft, scam activity fell by 90%.
Scam Reports Stopped
After the large campaign was resolved, reports have fully stopped with only one website popping up on occasion.
Substantial Time Savings
Teammates recovered ~2 hours per day that were previously spent triaging reports, documenting scams, and contacting victims.
“The platform is really user-friendly, and communication with the Netcraft team has been extremely good.”
Mateo Villalobos — Operations Support Manager
Scammers Moved On
Netcraft's rapid, repeated takedowns made GR0 a less viable target.
“We just need to make it not economically viable to come after us. They might test it out in another few months, we’ll be ready.”
— Paul Richter, Director of Tech
Why Netcraft
Simplicity: Customized alerting with an easy-to-view reporting dashboards.
Preventative Brand Abuse: Detects and takes down threats before victimization.
Partnership: “Excellent communication" with the Netcraft team.
