Customers get defrauded
Criminals set up a copy of your site or send email from a domain that resembles yours. Your customers think they are dealing with you, and they pay, or hand over their details.
Fake domain protection:we guard your brand name online
Criminals register domain names that look almost exactly like yours. An extra letter, a different extension, one swapped character, and your customers land on a copy of your site.
There they use your name and your look to defraud customers, collect false payments or steal logins. Often the first you hear of it is a phone call from a customer who has been taken in.
We monitor continuously whether fake domains appear that abuse your company name. The moment we find one, we alert you and step in. You do not have to do anything. We stand guard.
Abuse of your name
Why fake domains are a real danger
A fake domain costs almost nothing to register, yet it can do your company a great deal of harm. And because it happens outside your own systems, you rarely see it coming. So what are the consequences when a criminal abuses your name?
Reputation damage
Anyone defrauded through a fake domain points the finger at your company. Even though you had nothing to do with it, it is your name that takes the hit.
Phishing in your name
A lookalike domain makes phishing email more credible. The recipient sees a sender that is right but for one character, and falls for it sooner.
Lost trust and lost revenue
Customers who start doubting whether they are dealing with the real you walk away. The trust you built over years comes under pressure.
Know the danger
How criminals imitate your domain
Fake domains are often barely distinguishable from the real thing. These are the three tricks used most often.
Typos
yourcompany.com becomes yourcomapny.com or yourcompny.com. One swapped or missing letter that you miss at a glance. Also known as typosquatting.
Other extensions
Your .com domain is imitated as .co, .net or .info. The name is exactly right, only the extension differs, and hardly anyone notices.
Swapped characters
A letter is replaced by a character that looks identical, such as a Cyrillic letter or a digit standing in for a letter. Invisible to the naked eye, yet it leads to an entirely different website.
Our approach
What we actually do for you
01
Continuous brand name monitoring
We continuously scan newly registered domain names for variants of your company name, brand name and domain. New registrations often show up within hours.
02
Detection of every variant
Typos, other extensions, added words and swapped characters: we know the tricks criminals use and filter the real threats out of the noise.
03
An immediate alert on a hit
The moment we find a suspicious domain abusing your name, you get an alert with the details: which domain, when it was registered and what we are doing about it.
04
Documenting the abuse
We record the abuse with screenshots and evidence. That is what it takes to get a domain removed and, where needed, to report it to the authorities.
05
Reporting and takedown request
We file a substantiated complaint with the registrar and the parties involved to get the fake domain taken offline, and see that process through to a resolution.
06
Verification and reporting
We check that the domain really is offline and keep watching it. Every month you receive an overview of what we spotted and what we did.
What's at stake?
This is what it looks like when it goes wrong
No technical jargon, just situations every business owner recognises.
A fake website steals your customers and revenue
Without protection against domain name phishing
Someone registers 'yourcompanycom.net' and builds an identical copy of your website. They email your customers a 'new payment link'. Three customers transfer € 12,500 in total to an account held by criminals. Meanwhile a prospect approaches you through the fake site with a complaint about a product they never ordered from you. You have never heard of them. For months, customers associate your name with fraud.
The damage
- Customers who were defrauded and hold you responsible
- Direct financial loss (€ 12,500 in this example)
- Reputation damage that lasts for months
- Possible legal proceedings from the customers affected
- Weeks of crisis management and customer communication
What would have prevented this?
Orange Warriors monitors continuously for new domain names resembling yours: typos, extra letters, other extensions. The moment such a domain is registered you get an alert, so you can act before it is put to use.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about fake domains
Could I not keep an eye on fake domains myself?
In theory yes, in practice no. Thousands of domain names are registered every day, across all kinds of extensions and variants. Tracking that by hand for your brand name is not feasible. We do it automatically and continuously, so you never have to think about it.
What do you do when a fake domain is found?
We record the abuse with evidence and file a substantiated complaint with the registrar and, where relevant, with hosting providers and authorities to get the domain taken offline. The sooner we are there, the smaller the damage.
Can you guarantee a fake domain will be removed?
We do everything we can and have a high success rate, but the removal itself rests with the registrar or hosting provider. We make sure the report is complete and well substantiated, so the chance of a quick takedown is as high as possible.
Does this also protect against phishing email in my name?
Fake domains and phishing go together. Spotting lookalike domains early reduces the chance they are used for phishing. To protect your own email domain, combine this with our email security using SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
How quickly do I see a new fake domain?
Newly registered domains usually surface in our monitoring within a few hours to a day. On a hit you hear from us immediately, so action can be taken straight away.
Protect your brand name
Is someone abusing your name online?
There is a good chance you do not know, because fake domains appear outside your own systems.
We run a free scan on variants of your company name and domain. You will see straight away whether suspicious domains are abusing your name, and what we can do about it.