Have you ever accidentally mistyped a URL and ended up on a website you didn’t expect? If you have, then you might have happened upon an instance of typosquatting (also known as URL hijacking), a practice used by scammers to take advantage of traffic that would otherwise go to a different, legitimate website.
But what is typosquatting, how does it work and why do scammers do it?
Key Takeaways:
- A typosquatting domain is a fake website that relies on misspelled domain names to redirect users away from the real site and to an alternative website.
- A typosquatting website targets internet users in order to download malicious software onto their device, lure them into phishing schemes or harvest their personal information for identity theft purposes.
- Other uses for typosquatting domains include blackmailing owners of legitimate domains, redirecting website visitors to a competitor of the genuine site or, in less malicious cases, collecting ad revenue or making some sort of statement.
Fake websites with misspelled domains are a dime a dozen, but not all are inherently dangerous to simply visit. While the worst are malicious websites looking to install malware on your device or collect personal information through phishing scams.
However, others are not necessarily dangerous to the end user, aiming to generate advertising revenue or sell the wrong domain address back to the brand owner. Stick with us as we go into more details about typosquatting.
