6 Simple Steps to Find Fake Websites

A couple of weeks ago, I told a story about a customer of mine who had some hackers create a rough copy of his website in order to rob people when they thought they were buying a car. It’s a horrible tale that’s becoming more and more common.

The article, quite unsurprisingly, generated conversation leading to my writing this piece. Some of the readers were curious about what they could do to see if their company had a fake copy too.

In reading the recommendations, feel free to reach out to me if you have questions. This type of phishing really irritates me so I will certainly help you the best I can.

Finally, know that I am wearing my AntiguaRecon cybersecurity hat here, and not my car guy hat (for SurgeMetrix.com). Perhaps this is the reason why I have fewer cool pictures, and instead just hardcore recommendations.😉

The 6 Steps for Finding Fake Websites

Finding fake sites is not that complicated, although it can be a bit time consuming. The steps outlined below are pretty simple, but reach out if you need help with anything.

1. Set up Google Alerts (GA)

GA is great for automatically monitoring key phrases from your website, your address, and your name. When anything pops up that you’re monitoring, GA will send you an email. It’s that simple! This option makes your manual work required in the following step much less onerous. (No, I didn’t use a thesaurus for that last word!🤣)

2. Google Your Dealership Name Regularly

Doing a manual search is a bit of a pain, but it’s worth it to look up search variations that are outside the scope of Google Alerts. Search options might include variations on your dealer name, or searching for “car dealerships near me”, “car dealerships in [city name}”, or “car dealerships within 5 miles of me”. In most cases, these searches will yield roughly the same results over time as you do repeated searches. However, what you’re looking for are new websites that pop up that might be playing on your name, address, or any other information that’s unique to your dealership. My recommendation is to do this once a month for 30 minutes or so.

3. Monitor Your Domain Name

When it comes to your domain name, it’s important for you to keep an eye out for domain name registrations that are similar to yours. You can do this manually by conducting periodic domain searches using services such as https://www.whois.com/whois/, or you can set up an automated monitor through services such as what GoDaddy offers. Their tool allows you to enter a series of variations on your URL, and then the monitoring tool will alert you if anything pops up.

4. Periodically Check Social Media Pages and Ads

Scammers often set up fake Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok pages to capture shoppers using your information. Searching for your dealer name, and variations of your name, can expose these fake pages when they pop up. The dealership we worked with had 2 fake websites and 1 fake Facebook associated with their dealership website… so conducting periodic searches makes a lot of sense. Searching ads, especially on Meta, isn’t that complicated. Just follow this link to search the meta ad library. You can search by the URL, company name, or keyword.

5. Pay Attention to Customer Complaints

My dealer found out about his fake website when a person walked in looking to pick-up the car that they had recently purchased online. In your case, tell your staff to pay attention to odd complaints or reviews that don’t add up, and let you know if something arises that doesn’t seem right. Make it very clear that such information is important especially since these fake websites could potentially damage your reputation even though you have nothing to do with the scam.

6. Conduct Reverse Image Searches Using Google Images or TinEye

Upload your logo, or a photo you took of a car on your lot, and see what pops up! If the images show up associated with unknown domains, then check the domains to see if they are legitimate, or fake sites mimicking your offering. If you find a fake site, then follow the recommendations in my earlier article for shutting down the site.

The Final Word on Finding Fake Websites

There are other things that you can do, but these 6 simple steps should get you on your way without having to do too much work. Google Alerts is particularly helpful in that it will do most of the work for you.

When I discussed this article with Richard Foster, the founder of the ransomware negotiation firm Brainstorm Security, he pointed out that “Google Alerts is one of the easiest ways to monitor if information from your website is showing up on another site.” So if you do anything, listen to Richard and get Google Alerts working for you!

Finally, if you find a fake site, don’t just contact Google, Facebook, and any other social media outlet that might be involved, see if you can find the website host provider, and complain to them too. HostingChecker.com is a free tool you can use for this purpose. Have at it and feel free to reach out with questions at any time!