What is domain impersonation? How to spot it and stop it
Domain impersonation is when someone registers a lookalike of your domain to pose as you. Its forms, how it differs from spoofing, and how to stop it.
David Batey ·
Blog
Guides on fake web addresses, copied websites and impersonation, and news from DefendDomain.
When AI sends your customers to a fake store: what a brand can do
ChatGPT answers have included links to fake copies of real UK stores. What that costs the brand whose name is on the fake, and the five things you can do about it.
David Batey ·
Can you take down a lookalike domain?
A lookalike domain can be taken down once it is used for fraud, for selling fakes or for passing itself off as you. Not when a competitor trades as itself.
David Batey ·
How to prevent brand impersonation: close what you can, spot the rest early
Seven steps to prevent brand impersonation: close off what you control, then spot the lookalike domains you cannot buy early and get them taken down.
David Batey ·
Someone is impersonating my company by email: what to do now
A lookalike of your domain is emailing your customers and suppliers as you. What to do today, in order, and how to find the lookalikes nobody has used yet.
David Batey ·
Lookalike domain monitoring: seven questions to ask before you buy
How to judge a lookalike domain monitoring tool before you buy: seven questions on coverage, timing, email-only domains, alerts and what happens after the alert.
David Batey ·
Someone cloned my website: what to do now, and how to find the next copy first
Found a copy of your website? What to do in the first 24 hours, how to get the clone taken down, and how to find the next copy before your customers do.
David Batey ·
DefendDomain is ISO 27001 certified, less than a year after we started
Our external audit returned a pass with zero nonconformities, 357 days after the company was formed. What ISO 27001 is, why it matters, and how we built our information security management system into how we run the company.
David Batey ·
How to stop lookalike domain attacks before they hit your customers
The FBI named dozens of fake FIFA domains weeks before the World Cup started. The same lookalike-domain tactic is used against any brand online. How to find them early and get them taken down.
David Batey ·
The M&S £131m headline and the brand-impersonation misread
M&S confirmed a £131m direct cyber cost and £324m in lost sales. Most leadership teams read the headline wrong: the brand was used as the weapon, and the harm lands on everyone who trusts it.
James Bending ·
Cyber Security Start-up of the Year 2026: what the teiss judges saw
teiss judges named DefendDomain Cyber Security Start-up of the Year 2026. What a panel of practitioners chose to recognise says where brand impersonation defence is heading.
James Bending ·
The Growing Threat of Malicious Brand Misrepresentation and Misinformation Campaigns
How brand impersonation is used to spread false information about a company, and what you can do to protect its reputation and its customers' trust.
James Bending ·
Competitor-Driven Brand Sabotage: The Growing Threat of Brand Impersonation
How some competitors use brand impersonation to damage rivals, and what you can do to protect your business.
James Bending ·
The Growing Threat of TLD Impersonation
How criminals register your name on other domain endings to deceive your customers, and how to protect your brand.
James Bending ·
The Rising Threat of Domain and Brand Impersonation: A Wake-Up Call for Brand Leaders
Why brand leaders should treat domain impersonation as a risk to their company's reputation and their customers' trust.
James Bending ·
See what is registered against your own domain
DefendDomain finds web addresses made to look like yours and tells you when one is set up to send email or shows a copy of your website.
Checks 150+ lookalikes of your domain in a couple of minutes and emails the report to your work address. No account, no card.
ISO 27001 certified · Cyber Essentials certified · Winner, teiss Cyber Security Start-up of the Year 2026