Lookalike domain checker
Has someone registered a domain that looks like your firm’s? Enter your domain to check hundreds of typos and variations, and see which ones are set up to send email.
| Domain | Variation | Email (MX) | Website | Registered |
|---|
Most registered lookalikes are harmless. Look closer at recent ones and those set up for email. This list is not a finding that any domain is fraudulent.
What this checks
- Variations of your name: a missing, doubled or swapped letter, a nearby key on the keyboard, lookalike characters (0 for o, rn for m), a changed vowel, an added hyphen or word such as “uk” or “ltd”.
- Other endings: .com, .co.uk, .uk, .org.uk, .london and more.
- Which exist: whether each variation is registered, from public DNS.
- Email set-up: whether a registered variation has mail servers (MX records), so it could send and receive email.
- Registration date: for a shortlist of registered variations, from the registry’s public record. Not for .uk.
How to protect your firm and clients
- Tell clients in writing, at the start, that you will never change bank details by email.
- Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your own domain: check it with our email security checker.
- Register the obvious variations of your own domain and point them at your site.
- Run this check every few months, and before big completions.
Read more: payment diversion fraud in property sales.
Limits of this check
- Not every variation is covered. We check common typos and endings, not international characters (such as Cyrillic letters that look Latin) or completely different names.
- Registered doesn’t mean malicious. Many lookalikes belong to other genuine businesses or are parked by domain resellers.
- DNS can change quickly. A domain can be registered and set up for email within hours. Check again before large payments.
- It isn’t a security audit or identity verification, and it doesn’t show who owns a domain.
Want a sender’s email checked before you pay? Try check before you pay.
Lookalike domain questions
What is a lookalike domain?
A domain that is easy to mistake for yours: a missing or doubled letter, two letters swapped, a 0 instead of an o, an extra word, or a different ending such as .com instead of .co.uk. Fraudsters register them to send emails that look like they come from your firm, often to change bank details on a deposit or completion payment.
Does a registered lookalike mean someone is targeting my firm?
No. Most lookalike domains are harmless: another business with a similar name, a domain parked by a reseller, or one registered defensively. The ones worth a closer look are recent registrations and those set up to send and receive email. We never label a domain as fraudulent.
What should I do if I find a suspicious one?
Warn your staff and clients that you only email from your real domain and never change bank details by email. Keep a record of the domain. If it is used to impersonate you, report it to the domain’s registrar and to Report Fraud, and tell your bank and any clients who may have received emails from it. For .uk domains, Nominet runs a dispute resolution service for abusive registrations.
Should we register lookalikes of our own domain?
Registering the most obvious variations of your own name, such as the .com, .co.uk and .uk versions, is a common, inexpensive defence. Point them at your main site and set up email security records so they can’t be used to send email. Never register variations of other businesses’ names.
Why don’t you show registration dates for .uk domains?
The .uk registry’s terms don’t allow its registration data to be re-used without permission. You can look up a .uk domain yourself on Nominet’s lookup service.
Do you keep the domain I check?
No. The variations are generated in your browser and checked against Cloudflare’s public DNS directly from your browser. Only a shortlist of registered variations is sent to our server to look up registration dates, and nothing is saved.
Check your clients, not just domains
AML Buddy sends your client one secure link for ID, sanctions and PEP checks, with a timestamped PDF report. £5.40 a check inc. VAT (£4.50 + VAT), 5 free checks to start, no subscription.