Misspelt Website or Domain Names Created to Steal Information
Online users, beware of fake websites with misspelt names of legitimate websites, created by cyber-criminals to steal their personal and financial information, or infect their computers with a virus, Trojan horse, spyware or other malware. Cyber-criminals have discovered that they can lure their potential victims to malicious and phishing websites with deceptively misspelt names of legitimate and popular websites, where they will steal their victims’ usernames, passwords, personal and credit card information, or trick the victims into installing malicious software.
This type of cyber-crime is called “domain-name squatting”, and the criminals who do it are called typosquatters.
Below are some examples of misspelt website or domain names. The fake and misspelt website or domain names have extra letters and are arranged in a deceptive way to trick internet users into believing they are on the legitimate websites.
For Facebook users, cyber-criminals have created the following fake and misspelt websites that look exactly like the legitimate Facebook website located at www.facebook.com:
- facccebook.coomm
- facebookkk.com
- facebooook.com
- faceboook.com
- faccebook.com
- faceebook.com
The misspelt Facebook websites above are used to hijack Facebook accounts, by stealing Facebook users’ account credentials. Victims who are taken to the fake Facebook websites will be asked to sign into their accounts, but once they attempt do so, thinking they are on the legitimate Facebook website, their user names and passwords will be sent to the cyber-criminals behind the fake websites. With their victims’ stolen Facebook credentials, the cyber-criminals will hijack and use their victims’ accounts fraudulently.
For Wal-Mart and Best Buy, cyber-criminals have created the following fake and misspelt websites, to steal their victims personal and credit card information. The victims who visit the fake websites below will think they are on the legitimate Wal-Mart or Best Buy websites located at www.walmart.com and www.bestbuy.com, will place their orders and attempt to check out. But, when they attempt to do so, their personal and credit card information that they have entered on the fake websites’ check-out pages, will be sent to the cyber-criminals behind the fake or misspelt websites.
The Misspelt Websites
- wallmatt.com
- wallmart.com
- bestbuyh.com
- walmartttt.com
- bestbuyyy.com
- walmmart.com
- bestbbuy.com
Here are some other fake and misspelt websites that are being used by cyber-criminals:
- Appple.com
- Sportsdierct.com
- Wurbanotfitters.co.uk
- Fashiomworld.co.uk
- Datigdirect.com
There are a lot more misspelt website or domain names of other popular and legitimate websites, which are being used by cyber-criminals or scammers to steal their victims’ personal and financial information. So, in order not to be a victim of fake and misspelt website names, or “domain-name squatting,” internet users are asked not to click on links to sign into their online accounts. They should instead, go directly to the website they want to visit, by typing the name of the website in their web browsers’ address bar, or use a popular search engine, like Google, to search for the website they want to visit.
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Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.