Lookalike domains: what Recon checks

A lookalike domain is a web address with a name like yours, such as a typo of your store name or your name on another ending. Recon checks for these addresses on every scan and lists the live ones on the Clones page. If someone registers a domain similar to your store to fool your customers, you see it here.

What counts as a lookalike

Recon looks for three kinds of names. For a store at northfell.com, they look like this:

• A typo of your name: northfel.com (a missing letter) or nortfhell.com (two letters swapped). This is sometimes called typosquatting.
• Your name on another ending: northfell.shop or northfell.store.
• Your name plus a word: northfell-sale.com or northfell-outlet.com.

A lookalike only has a similar name. A clone is different: it is a copy of your store, with your name, photos and products, on another web address. A lookalike can become a clone later, so Recon keeps watching it (see "When a lookalike becomes a clone" below).

Why lookalikes matter

People who copy stores often start with a name close to yours. Customers who see a familiar name trust it. A lookalike can also send email that seems to come from you, or carry a fake checkout page. Knowing which names are taken lets you act early.

How many Recon checks, and how often

Each scan, Recon checks your most likely lookalike domains:

• Free: your 10 most likely lookalike domains, every week.
• Pro: your 100 most likely lookalike domains, every day.

Recon checks the names most likely to fool someone. It does not check every possible address. Compare the plans on the Recon app listing.

Read the Lookalike domains list

1. In Recon, open Clones.
2. Find the Lookalike domains card. The number in brackets is how many live lookalikes Recon found.

Only registered addresses get a row. Names that nobody owns yet appear in the Protect your name card instead.

Each row has a badge:

• Watching: a live site with a name like yours. Recon has not seen it copy your store. It checks the site again on every scan.
• Flagged as unsafe: a security service lists this site for phishing (stealing logins or card details) or for harmful software. Open it with View case and look at it first.
• Probably yours: the site shows the same placeholder page as one of your own domains. Brands often buy spare names together and park them the same way. This is only a suggestion. Recon leaves these out of your summary email until you decide.

Mark a domain as yours

If a lookalike belongs to you, tell Recon so it stops mentioning it.

1. In Recon, open Clones.
2. In Lookalike domains, find the domain.
3. Click This is my domain.

The domain leaves the list, and Recon stops mentioning it in your emails. It moves to History on the same page, marked "Marked as yours". To bring it back, open History and click Restore case.

Your summary email also has a This is my domain link next to each new lookalike.

When a lookalike becomes a clone

A lookalike moves to Clones of your store in two ways:

• Recon sees a copy of your store on it. Recon then treats it as a clone and prepares the reports to send.
• You confirm it. Click View case on the row, open the site, and if it copies your store, click Yes, it’s a copy.

Once it is a clone, Recon prepares the reports for each company that can act on it, such as the registrar and the host. You send them; the host or registrar decides on removal.

If the site is not a copy, click No. Then choose It’s not a clone, or It’s my own site if you own it.

Related articles

• Register domains that protect your brand name: claim your exact name on common endings before someone else does.
• What is a clone of your Shopify store?: how a clone differs from a lookalike.
• Report a clone of your store: what to do when a lookalike turns into a copy.