Convincing impersonator websites: the damage they do and how to take them down

Why impersonator websites have multiplied, and how to remove them effectively

Impersonator websites are a serious form of intellectual property (IP) infringement that damages brand trust and harms consumers. As technology advances, building them gets easier and easier. By misusing the names of brands and companies people trust, they can lead consumers into phishing scams or into buying counterfeits.

How should companies respond to protect their brand and their customers? In this post, we explain what impersonator websites are, why they have multiplied so quickly, and how to remove fake websites effectively.

What is an impersonator website?

Also called a fake website or domain impersonation, it’s the illegal practice of imitating an official website to deceive consumers. Criminals misuse a brand’s IP, such as its trademarks, logo and copyrighted images, so consumers have no reason to suspect the site is fake. The company can suffer both financial loss and serious damage to its brand image.

Why do impersonator websites exist?

Their main purpose is to trick consumers into doing things they normally wouldn’t. Fake websites can lead consumers into phishing scams or into buying counterfeits.

Phishing scams

These usually arrive through social media, text messages or email, made to look as if they come from an official account. The aim is to take people’s money, steal personal information and other sensitive data, or install malicious software on their devices.

Counterfeit sales

Impersonator websites use designs similar to the official site to trick consumers into buying counterfeits. Shoppers risk buying low-quality products that can even threaten their health and safety. Companies have a responsibility to protect their brand and their customers from this kind of impersonation.

How can you respond to impersonator websites?

If you find an impersonator website, you can respond in these ways.

De-indexing

You can have the fake website’s index removed to lower its visibility and keep it out of search results. De-indexing minimizes the reach and impact of an impersonator site until the company can put a more effective solution in place. You can report impersonator websites using Report phishing on Google’s Safe Browsing page.

Key term: what is an index?

An index is a data structure that speeds up searches across the vast amount of data online. De-indexing removes a page from search engine results.

Website takedown

You can report the impersonator site to its hosting provider and the relevant government agencies to have it removed entirely. Companies that provide the infrastructure needed to build a website, such as hosting and domains, have procedures for handling reports quickly. Cloudflare, for example, runs an abuse reporting program. It’s generally an effective way to deal with fake sites.

Domain recovery

One of the most effective methods is to recover the impersonator site’s domain and redirect it to your official website. That removes the risk of fraud, such as buying counterfeits, entirely. However, it may require legal action and can be complex.

Why are impersonator websites increasing?

Advances in digital automation are having a big impact on how impersonator websites are made. Criminals use web scraper software to collect data from official websites and easily build fake sites from it. They can target not only live websites but also old web pages from more than a year ago. And by automating domain registration and site operations, they can create impersonator sites quickly and efficiently.

Key term: what is a web scraper?

A web scraper is a tool that automatically collects data from online sources, making it easy to pull information from websites.

Since the pandemic, as many consumers moved their shopping online, websites impersonating brands have multiplied. Fake site operators target shoppers who compare prices before buying, using tactics that make impersonator sites easier to find and reach than ever. Where they once mostly impersonated law enforcement or financial institutions such as banks, they now increasingly impersonate online stores of all kinds, from electronics and fashion to pet supplies, and consumer harm is spreading.

Why impersonator websites are hard to stop

Impersonator websites appear and disappear quickly, so they require constant monitoring. Many fake sites use the latest techniques to stay out of search results, and lure consumers through social media and other online channels. Finding and removing them can be very difficult.

Repeatedly finding and removing fake websites can also be a heavy burden for companies. Ongoing monitoring and enforcement consume a lot of resources, and because operators can spin up new sites quickly, the problem is hard to solve completely.

Key questions answered for busy executives

1. What’s the difference between domain impersonation, impersonator websites and fake websites?

In essence, there’s none. Domain impersonation, impersonator websites and fake websites all mean the same thing: imitating an official website to deceive consumers and commit fraud.

2. Are impersonator websites illegal?

Yes. They involve imitating a brand, phishing scams and selling counterfeits, all of which are illegal.

3. Can we take down an impersonator website ourselves?

Yes, but it can take a lot of time and resources. A solution like MarqVision streamlines the process and saves unnecessary time and resources.

4. Can we act against an impersonator website for copyright infringement?

Yes. You can take legal action against impersonator websites for copyright infringement, to protect the brand’s or company’s IP, including trademarks, copyrights and patents.

5. Is an impersonator website an attack on our IP?

Yes. Domain impersonation in particular often infringes trademarks and copyrights, including the brand name and logo.

6. Is an impersonator website only illegal if it uses our current logo?

Not necessarily. Even if the impersonator site doesn’t use your most recent logo exactly, it’s enough to be able to prove by other means that your website is the official one.

7. Can we stop an impersonator website from coming back after it’s removed?

Legal action and ongoing monitoring can prevent it from recurring. But doing this in-house can take a lot of time and resources. A brand protection solution makes enforcement and prevention more effective.

How does MarqVision enforce efficiently?

As mentioned above, removing an impersonator website involves a process that’s simple in concept but complex in practice, from monitoring to reporting. Many impersonator sites don’t even appear in Google search, so monitoring based on domain names is also needed. And even when you find and report one, domain and hosting providers manage huge numbers of websites around the world, and because the site doesn’t directly harm their own services, they often respond passively.

MarqVision uses AI to detect and remove impersonator websites quickly. It collects a wide range of data, including trademarks, official images and domain information, to cut off contact between fake sites and consumers. MarqVision takes action against impersonator sites in these ways:

1. Removal from Google search results
2. Warning notices to the site operators
3. Domain reports
4. Reports to hosting and payment providers
5. Enforcement tailored to each company

For the most harmful impersonator sites that aren’t removed through these five methods, we remove or recover the domain through the UDRP.

Key term: what is the UDRP?

All domains are overseen by ICANN, and because it manages so many, it lacks the time to review them. The UDRP is a process that lets a company or brand file a complaint to have a domain removed or recovered when it’s being used to impersonate or misuse the brand and cause harm. Only providers designated by ICANN can decide these cases.

Impersonator websites keep evolving online, and stopping them effectively is critical. With MarqVision’s AI-based solution, companies can protect their brand from impersonator websites and grow safely in global business.