Imitation and copycat websites

While there are steps you can take to spot imitation websites, such as setting up Google alerts and social media searches, legal steps are often required to stop the problem and take the domain name down/have it transferred to you.

We've helped clients to tackle clone websites in situations where bad actors have set up websites to:

• Impersonate financial institutions, seeking to defraud new customers performing foreign exchange transactions.
• Impersonate companies to solicit “investments” or payments for non-existent services from unwitting third parties, including posing as directors of the company on calls with potential investors.
• Advertise employment positions and conduct interviews, and then requesting payments to take the interview process further.
• Try to poach a company’s customers.

Bad actors use VPNs and registrars in jurisdictions where they know it's difficult for victims to seek legal redress to find out their identities.

There are various actions that victims can take to tackle these fraudulent websites quickly and effectively when they arise. We've worked with clients to develop cost effective and commercial strategies to do this.

First steps

The first step is usually to investigate the problem and identify: 

Next steps

The Nominet process

If you're dealing with a “.uk” domain name, we would file a complaint with Nominet and procure the cancellation or transfer of the website to you through Nominet’s dispute resolution service.

This complaint needs to set out your rights in respect of the domain name being used, and demonstrate that the registration or use of the domain name by the copycat is an abusive registration.

Nominet will send a notification of complaint letter to the registrant of the domain name and ask for a response. Nominet will then review any response received, which will be required to specify whether the respondent agrees with the remedy requested by the complainant, (for example, transfer of control of the domain name) or explain why they do not agree with it. This response will then be sent to the complainant for comment.

If there's a response disagreeing with the transfer of control, Nominet offers a voluntary free mediation service for the parties where a trained mediator will discuss with the two parties how they can settle the dispute and agree a way forward. However, in our experience, fraudsters are unlikely to respond to the notification of complaint letter.

You'll then have the option of paying a fee to appoint an independent adjudicator, called the Expert, to make a binding decision about what should happen to the domain name.

If no response has been received, you can opt for the Expert to make a summary decision on the case. In all other cases, for instance if the parties failed to come to a settlement during mediation, a full Expert decision will be needed. The Expert will explain the cases put forward by both the complainant and the registrant, and will either award the remedy requested by the complainant, or dismiss the complaint.

Alternative services

There are similar dispute resolution services offered by the registration bodies for other types of domain names (for example, ICANN for .com and .net). This requires different information in order to put forward a successful complaint/claim, which we can of course help guide you through as necessary.

We can also send “cease and desist” letters to the applicable domain name host and registrar setting out how the domain name is being used in bad faith and requesting that they take down the copycat website.

In conjunction with the steps above and depending on level of damages and type of scam being perpetrated, we may also advise that reports are made to Action Fraud and / or the FCA.

We have also been able to help clients by:

• Successfully procuring the removal of entries to the offending website from indices of online search engines.
• Obtaining, where a connection can be made to the UK, Norwich Pharmacal relief to require third parties to disclose details they have of those behind the bogus website.

Get in touch

If you're currently suffering from a bad actor cloning your website, it's important to deal with the problem as soon as possible before the bad actor causes irreparable harm to your business’s reputation and innocent third parties. Please do not hesitate to contact us to see how we can help you.