New data reveals there’s been an influx of cybersquatting scams in 2022

A new report suggests that there’s been an influx in the number of fake online websites mimicking real and well-known domains. Hackers and other malicious individuals and organizations are creating fake websites for tricking you into giving them private information or login info about different accounts. When fake websites copy the names of actual domains, these cases are called cybersquatting cases.

To access a website, you have to know its correct domain name, otherwise, you’ll reach a completely different website when entering it on a web browser. Which is why it’s important to make sure that the domain name is right.

In a report by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) via AtlasVPN, we came to know that 5,516 cases related to the issue of cybersquatting were filed in 2022. The data suggests that this year specifically, there was an increase of 10% from the last year of 2021.

The graph provided by the team (featured below) gives several cases and disputes registered to UDRP or Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Data suggests that cybersquatting cases have been on an increasing trend since 2013.

Now we’ll give you some information regarding how these malicious individuals use different cybersquatting techniques to steal your private data. With more insight into this topic, you should be safer and more aware when browsing websites online.

One of the most common techniques of cybersquatting is typosquatting where hackers change a character or a group of characters from a well-known website so that it looks like the real domain name of the website but instead takes you to a fraudulent website if you click on it.

The next method of tricking users is combosquatting where they combine a word with the domain name. For example, they’ll add the word ‘payment’ after a domain from a big well-known brand.

Moreover, if you use an internet assistant such as Siri for browsing, the hackers use similar-sounding words to trick the assistant into taking you to a different website. For example, “weather.com” could be changed to “whether.com”.

Levelsquatting involves the use of a subdomain next to a real domain to make it look like it is part of the actual domain name. For example, “mango.com” could be changed to “mango.abcd.com”.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World