Beware of scams!
As recently as September of 2025, thousands of designers have been impersonated by scammers in an attempt to extort their clients. Many scammers are attempting to impersonate Bear Branded and Nicole, the owner. If you’ve received a suspicious email from someone claiming to be Nicole, or claiming to be from Bear Branded, here are a few things to check:
What email address are they emailing you from?
-Scammers impersonating Bear Branded typically email from a Gmail email address such as “[email protected]”, or “[email protected]”, “[email protected]”, etc. Bear Branded will NEVER contact you from a Gmail address, ALL communication comes from our domain based emails, such as [email protected]. Any form of Gmail communication is fradulent.
What are they trying to sell you?
-These scams typically involve the scammer warning you about some “compliance key” or licensing that they claim is out of date. There is no such thing. NEVER give these scammers access to your website for any reason. The only email address that Bear Branded will ever use to access your website is [email protected].
How are they accepting payment?
-Bear Branded accepts payment through invoices sent through our invoicing software. Scammers may ask for payment in other ways, and the payment portal links they send typically don’t go to a Bear Branded portal. Never process payment to a vendor you don’t recognize.
How to stay safe
Check the email address in the communication you are receiving. If it is not from [email protected], it is a scam.
Block and delete any suspicious emails. Report them to Google as well.
Never click any suspicious links within suspicious emails.
Do not engage with the scammers, and do not give anyone access to your website.
If you are receiving these emails, please know I wish that I could stop these people from harassing you. I can only tell you that my only email is [email protected], that you need to be so careful checking email addresses you're receiving these messages from, and to block and delete them. It is beyond frustrating when businesses are built on client relationships and these terrible people are harming my reputation, scamming my clients, and threatening the business I’ve worked so hard to build since 2018.
Please, if you receive any emails that you think are not from me - email me at [email protected] to confirm. Stay safe.