October 2020 | latest update: September 2023 | by globaleyez GmbH
Dangerous domain scams
Why domain monitoring from globaleyez in cooperation with Scamadviser is an essential weapon against internet scams and counterfeits
Table of contents
- globaleyez and Scamadviser: a partnership against fraud
- Fraudulent domain registrations - why do they pose a threat
- Scamadviser partners with Scam Fighters
- Conclusion
Internet scams are almost as old as the internet itself. When bigger and bigger chunks of our daily lives (shopping, learning, keeping in touch, etc.) started moving online, fraudsters quickly followed suit.
Nowadays, internet scamming is more common than ever. In fact, losses to online payment fraud in e-Commerce were estimated at $41 billion worldwide in 2022. Social media is a driver of scams as well: 91% of people approached by scammers on a social media platform engage with the person, and 53% even lose money to them.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to know if the ads you’re seeing are produced by legit companies or in fact, scammers. Luckily, there are organizations that can help you out there. Like Scamadviser.
Founded in 2012, Scamadviser’s aim is to help internet users determine whether a given website belongs to a legit business or to scammers.
The company helps 2.5 million users each month by running a quick automated check and letting people know whether they’ve stumbled upon a real webshop or a phishing site with fake reviews.
Screenshot of Scamadviser Check
globaleyez and Scamadviser: a partnership against fraud
As brand protection experts, we at globaleyez take the fight against fraudsters and internet scams very seriously. This is why we have partnered with Scamadviser and joined forces in an effort to make the internet a safer place for all.
According to Scamadviser’s recent study, about 3% of websites selling some kind of products are fake. This can mean many things. For example, fraudsters can run phishing sites that steal your credit card data, or they send you different products instead of what you ordered, or they may even use the imagery of a real, trusted brand while selling fake products.
globaleyez is more than familiar with these types of scams that cost both businesses and customers a lot of headaches and money. This is why we help Scamadviser build a global blacklist of internet scammers. Whenever we discover domain names run by fraudsters, we forward the information to Scamadviser to add the websites to the blacklist.
Big shopping events like Black Friday or the December holiday season are usually a gold mine for scammers. Since many legitimate retailers offer big discounts around these dates, it’s harder to spot scams by price only. At times like these, Scamadviser’s database and global blacklist are even more important than usual.
Scamadviser helps consumers while globaleyez protects brands. Our services complement each other to the advantage of consumers and businesses alike, which makes us natural allies in the fight against counterfeits.
"Scamadviser is a great add-on to our domain enforcement service, as many people use it to avoid shopping at fraudulent shops."
Fraudulent domain registrations - why do they pose a threat
Registering a domain name is really not that difficult, although some rules may vary depending on the country you live in. Usually, you have to choose a domain registrar like Domain.com or Namecheap, and pay the required fee, which is around $10 per annum.
If you’re registering the domain name for a company, you may be required to present some sort of credentials. And of course, the registrar checks if the domain name you chose is already taken or not. So you couldn’t register a site like adidas.com. But what about buyadidas.com? Or addiddas.com?
Domain registrars are usually not able to tell if a company registering a domain name is actually entitled to do so. Fraudsters may steal your business’ imagery, pretend to be your representative, add a letter or two to your company name, create a domain, and voila: a new website selling fake or counterfeit products. This is classic trademark infringement, harming your brand and many customers alike.
Luckily, you don’t have to contend with it. globaleyez’s domain monitoring service is tailored to remedy exactly these kinds of situations.
Domain monitoring at your service
Domain monitoring is a very important part of our online brand protection. What do we offer? globaleyez constantly monitors new domain registrations worldwide that use your brand name. Thanks to our tools and expertise, we’re able to differentiate between “good” and “bad” registrations; i.e. a “fan” page dedicated to your products, or a grey marketer selling them without your consent.
If we encounter a bad actor committing fraud or trademark infringement, we can enforce your rights and demand the domain’s takedown. For older domain registrations, we have a whois (information on the owner of a given domain name) database that allows us to access domain data registered before March 2019.
Contact us and find out if somebody’s using your brand’s name fraudulently as their domain
Scamadviser partners with Scam Fighters
globaleyez is not the only partner of Scamadviser. In fact, the company started enlisting Scam Fighters, members of the online community who want to do more against online scams. The first Scam Fighter is Julie Wilson, owner of the successful Facebook page Scam Alert Global.
Julie started her Facebook page in 2017 when online scammers lured her into making a small purchase and stole a large amount of money from her credit card. Ever since then, she’s been determined to help victims of scams, or even better, to prevent people from engaging with scammers.
She handles all kinds of scams on her site, including shopping, romance, and even immigration scams. Once, she was threatened by an immigration scammer after she helped their victims win back $47.000 from PayPal and Mastercard. But this didn’t deter her from her fight against scammers.
Julie thinks that while it may be impossible to get rid of scammers, people definitely need to be educated on how to spot a scam. This is why the work of Scamadviser and its Scam Fighters is more important than ever.
Conclusion
Scammers and fraudsters will stop at nothing, which is why vigilance is very important. But simple vigilance is not always enough, or not even possible, like in the case of fraudulent domain registrations. However vigilant you are, you simply can’t spot every single trademark infringing domain registered in your brand’s name.
This is why domain monitoring has to be a part of a successful, comprehensive online brand protection plan. globaleyez and its partners, including Scamadviser are ready to fight in your corner against fraudsters and scammers anywhere in the world.
Contact us and find out how we can help your brand.