BlackRock seeks court crackdown on 44 copycat sites, some crypto adjacent

Investment elephantine BlackRock has called for a crackdown connected a scope of perchance scammy domains and “typosquatting” websites it alleges are taking vantage of its name.

On Oct. 10, BlackRock filed a ineligible ailment successful the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against the owners of 44 net domain names containing keywords specified arsenic “Blackrock,” “Aladdin,” “capital,” “crypto” and “investments.”

The plus manager alleges the domains were registered successful atrocious religion to nett from user disorder and divert postulation done tactics similar pay-per-click ads, malware and email phishing attacks.

The firm’s lawyers from Wiley Rein LLP cited studies that person “shown that implicit 95% of the 500 astir fashionable sites connected the Internet are the taxable of ‘typosquatting.’” This is simply a signifier wherever a domain is registered, representing a typographical mistake of the morganatic site.

BlackRock alleges the entities person violated the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act by registering domains confusingly akin to its own.

Screenshot of immoderate of the offending domain names. Source: Courtlistener

There were a mates of crypto-related domain names, specified arsenic blackrock-crypto dot net, which failed to open, and crypto-blackrock dot com, which offered web plan services.

However, astir of the ones Cointelegraph tested did not unfastened oregon were emblematic cybersquatting connected the domain name.

BlackRock looked up publically disposable domain registration information from the Whois database successful an effort to place the owners.

It is seeking the transportation of the offending domains to its control, damages and injunctions against further cybersquatting and infringement of its trademarks BLACKROCK, ALADDIN and BLK by the defendants.

Related: California regulator warns of 17 crypto websites suspected of fraud

Copycat domain names are often utilized successful conjunction with advertizing providers specified arsenic Google and Facebook to promote scams oregon disseminate malware.

Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported that victims person lost much than $4 cardinal to fake websites promoted utilizing Google Ads.

Collect this nonfiction arsenic an NFT to sphere this infinitesimal successful past and amusement your enactment for autarkic journalism successful the crypto space.

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