No solution can completely prevent a site from being cloned. However, there are practices and tools that make cloning more difficult, help detect fake copies early, and speed up their removal.
In this article, you'll find guidelines for protecting your store and minimizing the impact of any cloning attempts.
Monitor your store with threat intelligence solutions
To quickly detect fake copies, integrate your store with monitoring tools provided by threat intelligence companies.
These solutions insert an invisible script into the store's official page without affecting user experience or site performance. If this script identifies that page content has been copied to an unauthorized domain, it sends real-time alerts to the responsible team.
Tag and monitor content with hashes
Another protection measure is to digitally tag the contents of your site using hashing algorithms, such as SHA256. These algorithms are mathematical formulas that convert any information, such as texts, images, or files, into a unique sequence of characters, called a hash.
This technique allows you to monitor whether your site's content has been replicated on other domains, since the hash remains the same. If you identify the misuse of a known hash, you can act quickly to investigate the source and request the removal of the cloned site.
Protect your brand against typosquatting
Typosquatting is a technique that uses domains with similar spellings to your official website, exploiting common typing errors to trick visitors. One way to protect your brand is by registering domains with common variations of your store or brand name. This helps prevent third parties from using similar versions of your domain for malicious purposes.
Establish a takedown process
If you identify a fake website impersonating your store, it's important to have a clear procedure for requesting its removal. One of the most common approaches is to send a takedown request, based on laws such as the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).
This type of out-of-court request can be submitted directly to the hosting or domain service providers of the fraudulent site, demanding removal due to copyright infringement or trademark misuse.
Use the HTTPS protocol
Make sure that all your store pages use HTTPS to ensure secure data transmission. Cloned sites often use invalid HTTP or certificates, which can be an indication that it isn't a legitimate page.
Learn more about how to activate HTTPS in your VTEX store in Changing the pages of the site to HTTPS protocol.
Monitor your brand's online presence
Monitoring your company's digital presence is an essential step in preventing fraud. Stay alert to any mentions of the brand on social media, search engines, and advertisements.
Check whether campaigns are displaying as expected and look for any unusual drops in engagement, which could indicate reputation issues or even ongoing fraud. Keeping this monitoring active allows you to act quickly when something unusual is identified.