Online typosquatters have been targeting US credit unions according to IT security association CUISPA, which is reporting one of the largest bulk registrations of credit union-like domains ever seen.
Typosquatters register domain names containing trademarked terms or misspelled words that closely resemble legitimate sites in a bid to direct traffic to their own advertising sites.
CUISPA - Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association - says over the past few days it has identified over 450 registrations that include the 'FCU.com' and 'creditunion.com' endings.
Although typosquatting - also known as URL hijacking - isn't illegal, it has become a growing concern for legitimate site owners and is considered by many as unethical and misleading, says CUISPA.
"The concern that many financial institutions have is that this is the same practice phishers are using to mislead consumers in their illegal activities," explains Kelly Dowell, executive director at CUISPA. "It creates additional stress that targeted phishing attacks may be pending."
CUISPA says a company based in Mountain View, California bearing the name Maltuzi Holdings has registerd the bulk of the domains. Attempts to contact the firm have so far been unsuccessful.