What is Typosquatting?! 

TypoSquatting, or ‘URL Hijacking’ is considered a form of cybersquatting, where popular websites are intentionally misspelled in order to garner large amounts of traffic. Hackers register these misspelled sites and users are then tricked into visiting them accidentally.

The typo squatter’s URL is likely to be one of 5 kinds: 

  • A common misspelling e.g.: googgle
  • A misspelling such as a typo eg: googel
  • A differently phrased domain name eg: googleau
  • A different domain level e.g.: google.org
    An incorrect .com eg: google.cm

Why do they do it? 

  • To sell the typo domain back to the brand owner
  • To monetise the domain with advertising
  • To redirect the typo-traffic to a competitor
  • To mimic the brand’s site to harvest passwords
  • To install malware into the visitors devices
  • To harvest misaddressed e-mail messages

How to avoid it! 

  • Type the exact webpage into the browser and double check for spelling errors
  • Don’t click on links in emails, texts, chat messages or social networking sites
  • Use your favourites bar
  • Use search engines such as google rather than the browser