Affiliate marketing Affiliate Scams – Typosquatting
Conducting affiliate activities honestly benefits both affiliates and advertisers. Unfortunately, affiliate marketing is not free from unclean practices and scams. Both sides of the cooperation should know what the most common ones are and how to protect themselves from them. Some actions are simply unethical, others are misdemeanors. In any case, it is necessary to be vigilant and, ideally, supported by modern technologies that are able to detect suspicious activity. If you want to approach affiliation professionally, it is worth working with specialists. A good affiliate agency like Onaffiliate will offer help.
What is… Typosquatting
Typos can be dangerous. This is evidenced by the phenomenon of typosquatting. Typosquatting uses altered or misspelled domain names to trick users into visiting fraudulent websites. Scammers use a variety of techniques to do this. Regardless of the method used, the action is intended to benefit the fraudster and is associated with unpleasant consequences for the person being deceived. Dishonest people take advantage of typos and mistakes that happen to Internet users, impersonating popular websites and taking advantage of the inattention of web users. If someone makes a mistake (e.g. by rearranging two letters) while typing a web address, they will not land on this page. Instead, a fake website may appear on your screen. Typosquatting people choose those addresses with typos and errors under which they will register their own websites. The closer the URL is to the original, the harder it will be to catch. In this way, Internet users can log in or leave sensitive data on the website. This, in turn, can result in the loss of important data, information leakage, or even money extortion. Typosquatting also occurs in affiliation. However, it is worth focusing on honesty and creating, for example, effective affiliate campaigns in which the Onaffiliate agency will help.
Typosquatting in affiliation
In affiliation, typosquatting refers to impersonating brand websites. It is very simple. The only difference between the scammers’ domains is a small, hardly noticeable typo. Unaware customers are misled and may purchase a counterfeit product. The most common reason to use typosquatting is to display PPC ads. Importantly, the typosquatter does not have to be an affiliate in this case. However, affiliates also use this type of practice to extort money from the advertiser. A simple method is to place multiple redirects on the website, during which cookies (cookie stuffing) are placed on the website. This increases the conversion rate in a false way. A typosquatter can use a fake domain to redirect to a competitor’s website offering similar services. If a user makes a purchase, what is actually being robbed is the advertiser from whom the original offer originated. Therefore, when starting affiliate marketing, it is worth focusing on well-thought-out activities that will guarantee good cooperation between both parties. Affiliate campaigns can be created with the help of Onaffiliate.
Recognizing the problem
The creators of fake websites create them in such a way that a mistake is difficult to detect. However, it is worth knowing the methods by which you can differentiate between real and fake sites. First of all, you should check the extension and address of the website you are typing and pay attention to whether there are typos or changed character order in the entered URL. You also need to verify that the site has a security certificate. It is identified by the padlock symbol displayed next to the www address. By clicking on it, you can get detailed information about the security measures used. Browser messages are also important. In the event of a threat, it is common to see a message about connecting to an unsafe website. It is not always the case that the reproduction of pages is completely accurate. If the website deviates slightly from the original and some elements seem different than usual, it is worth taking this as a warning signal. Such signals should not be underestimated. Typosquatting results in the theft of sensitive information, extortion, fraud, infecting the device with malware, or image problems for the brands that the scammers impersonate. Onaffiliate will provide you with more information on how to protect yourself from fraud.
Security & Lock
To reduce the risk of fraud, it’s important to establish appropriate advertising policies and communicate to partners that you are not allowed to bid on keywords that are directly related to your brand or copy it in any way. You can also purchase misspelled domains so that affiliates can’t create similar sites, and you can also prohibit copyright infringement. If an affiliate uses an advertiser’s resources without the advertiser’s consent, the advertiser may take legal action. It’s a good idea to check if there are already any sites with names similar to the brand’s domain and see if they might be related to the scam. Searching for this type of suspicious activity on your own can be time-consuming, so you can combine it with the benefits of technology. There are some tools that detect fraudulent sites that suggest possible solutions right away. On the other hand, individuals should beware of clicking on suspicious links, e-mails or attachments, and install a good anti-virus program. On the other hand, publishers and advertisers will be helped by a good affiliate agency.
Affiliate scammers use a variety of methods, among which there are also those that are very difficult to detect. One of the most popular scams is typosquatting. This practice is known not only in affiliation, but in this case, dishonest people register domains that differ from the domains of well-known brands only by a typo, as a result of which the customer may purchase a counterfeit product. This scam works to the detriment of advertisers, who should know the available methods of protection.
