Typosquatting and neighbouring extensions: who else is using your name?
A domain name never lives alone. Its typo variants (double letter, hyphen, "rn" for "m") and its other extensions can be free, held by the same brand… or used by third parties for phishing. Checking them is part of assessing a name.
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What is typosquatting?
Typosquatting means registering names close to a well-known domain ("gooogle.com", "paypal-login.com") to catch typo traffic, monetise parking pages or run phishing campaigns. The more coveted a brand, the more of its variants are taken.
What the number of registered variants reveals
For an unknown domain, a few registered variants are a coincidence. For a name you plan to buy, many variants already taken point either to a strong brand (good news for awareness, bad news for legal risk) or to a typosquatting nest around a name used for scams. DomaineScore tests the common variants through RDAP and shows the registered ones, for information.
The other extensions
Is the .com free when you buy the .net? Is the .org held by a competitor? Multi-extension availability is shown in the report: it helps protect a brand (register the key extensions) and estimate the resale value of a name (a .net whose .com is active elsewhere is worth less). For a new project, check the availability of a name in 14 extensions.
Protecting yourself
Register the most obvious variants and the main extensions, enable DMARC to limit email spoofing, and check periodically for new variants. In a proven case of cybersquatting, the UDRP procedure (ICANN) and the national procedures of country registries make it possible to recover a name.
Frequently asked questions
Is typosquatting illegal?
When it targets a registered trademark or a well-known name, it is cybersquatting and can be sanctioned (UDRP procedure, national procedures, trademark infringement action). Registering a variant of a name without prior rights is not forbidden in itself, however.
Should I buy every extension of my domain name?
No: the main ones are enough (.com, the country extension, possibly .net and .org). What matters is knowing who holds the others and watching for abuse.
How do I check the variants of a domain name?
DomaineScore automatically queries the common typo variants and the main extensions (RDAP) and shows the registered ones in the domain report.