The internet is full of clever traps set by cybercriminals. Some are obvious. Many are not.
One of the sneakiest involves something as simple as a typo in a web address.
Typosquatting, the practice of registering misspelled or look-alike domain names, has become an increasingly common way for attackers to impersonate trusted businesses and trick unsuspecting users. What starts as a small mistake can quickly turn into phishing, fraud, data exposure, or financial loss.
Understanding typosquatting starts with knowing how it works, why it’s becoming more common, and how businesses can reduce the risk.
Typosquatting, sometimes called URL hijacking or domain spoofing, is a form of cybercrime where someone registers a web domain that is nearly identical to a legitimate one, hoping users won’t notice the difference.
Attackers don’t rely on random or obviously fake domains. Instead, they intentionally register domains that look familiar and trustworthy because that familiarity dramatically increases the success of social engineering attacks.
These look-alike domains often rely on:
For example:
At a quick glance, these domains appear legitimate. That’s the point.
When users interact with them, they may be redirected to fake login pages, malicious downloads, or fraudulent forms designed to steal credentials, personal information, or money.
In short, typosquatting turns small, easy-to-miss details into opportunities for fraud.
Typosquatting may sound like an old tactic, but it’s more active and more effective than ever.
Attackers continue to refine their approach, focusing less on technical complexity and more on deception. Domains that closely resemble real businesses consistently outperform random strings or generic phishing sites because they exploit familiarity and trust.
Several factors make this especially concerning for businesses today.
Roughly one million new domain names are registered every day, giving attackers endless opportunities to create deceptive look-alike domains.
Security researchers routinely identify tens of thousands of new domains each week that resemble legitimate businesses. The growth of new domain extensions like .xyz, .io, and industry-specific TLDs has only expanded the available surface area for abuse.
This makes it easier than ever for attackers to register domains that look legitimate while being difficult to distinguish at a glance.
Typosquatting targets something technology can’t eliminate: human behavior.
Employees and customers are far more likely to trust domains that resemble a known brand, especially when combined with familiar terms like:
These domains are commonly used in hiring scams, IT-related phishing, and general impersonation attacks because they feel plausible in everyday business workflows.
It only takes one moment of trust for an attacker to succeed.
What starts as a typo can escalate quickly.
Typosquatting has played a role in business email compromise, credential theft, financial fraud, and data breaches. Beyond direct financial loss, businesses also face reputational damage when their brand is used to deceive employees, candidates, or customers.
Even large technology companies now defensively register common domain variations or rely on specialized services to monitor and block impersonation attempts. That alone speaks to how serious the threat has become.
If typosquatting is so common, why doesn’t it get caught automatically?
Because it lives in the gray areas.
Traditional security tools catch some of these threats, but they struggle to keep up with the volume and speed at which new domains appear.
That’s why relying on users to “notice the typo” or hoping default protections will catch everything isn’t enough.
The goal isn’t to slow people down or create friction.
The goal is to reduce risk quietly, before a mistake turns into an incident.
That means:
Typosquatting protection works best when it’s proactive and largely invisible, handled in the background rather than after something goes wrong.
At Flexible IT, we take threats like typosquatting seriously because we see the downstream impact when they’re ignored.
That’s why Flexible IT partners with Soteria, a cybersecurity provider that specializes in identifying and mitigating typosquatting and brand impersonation threats.
Through this partnership, we use Soteria’s Domain Watch service to continuously scan new domain registrations for look-alike domains, including misspellings, alternate TLDs, and domains that combine a company’s brand with commonly abused terms like “careers” or “IT.”
When something suspicious appears, it’s flagged early, often before it’s ever used in an attack. From there, we can investigate intent, block access within client environments, and take steps to reduce exposure before employees, applicants, or customers are affected.
Explore more insights from our IT experts.
