Ultimate Fraud Prevention: How Banks Can Instantly Neutralize Scam Websites

Impersonation attacks are one of the single greatest threats to banks and credit unions today. Consumers reported $12.5 billion in fraud losses in 2024, according to newly released data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Imposter scams accounted for the second-largest share of reported losses, underscoring how effectively attackers continue to mimic trusted brands and institutions.

Without the right tools and support – like those from Netcraft – to stop these attacks in their tracks, financial institutions put more than just the customer’s money at risk. Every dollar lost to a fraudster costs North America’s financial institutions nearly $5 dollars, says the LexisNexis True Cost of Fraud Study. It also costs financial institutions their reputation and the trust of their customers. 

Netcraft has more than 20 years of takedown experience and relationships across hosts, registrars, social media, and the deep and dark web to help banks and credit unions keep their customers and their business safe. 

In this post, we will dive into:

• How Fake Banking Websites Work and Why They Spread

  • Common Spoofing Tactics Banks Face

  • How Smishing and Social Ads Drive Traffic to Fake Sites

  • Signals That Differentiate a Scam Site From a Legitimate Bank

• How Banks Can Take Down a Scam Website Fast

• How to Protect Customers During the Takedown Window

• Your Bank Playbook to Prevent Reappearing Scam Websites

How Fake Banking Websites Work and Why They Spread

A fake banking website, similar to fake online stores and other phishing websites, impersonates banks or credit unions by mimicking a familiar user experience that unsuspecting consumers may see as safe and beneficial to use because they believe it to be a legitimate site. Additionally, often multi-bank phishing techniques are used to validate the phish with other trusted logos. Between 2024 and 2025, Netcraft has seen a 74% increase in fake bank websites with a median takedown time of 8 hours.

Many threat actors use these fake banking websites to mislead victims into sharing personal and/or financial information, such as login credentials, payment card numbers, or bank account details. This is called phishing, a social engineering attack that tricks users into revealing sensitive data or even installing malware on their device. 

As technology, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), becomes even easier to use, these fake sites have evolved beyond simple lookalike domains. Now, threat actors can scale quickly and adapt to keep fake sites in play by using generative AI to continuously avoid detection with volumes of content that looks authentic and bot protection — and even create dozens of convincing clones in the span of a few hours. 

The typical bank impersonation site attack chain will follow a similar flow each time: 

• Domain registration: An early first step used by threat actors to create the infrastructure for their impersonation campaign. By registering or hijacking domains, attackers can carry out phishing, distribute malware, and redirect traffic. 

  
  

• Content deployment: To make a fake site look genuine, threat actors will create volumes of content that mimic legitimate organizations. 

  
  

• Traffic acquisition: Once a fake site is built and populated with content, threat actors will turn their attention to getting consumers to visit the site. They can do this through phishing emails, smishing (i.e., fraudulent text messages that drive victims to malicious actions), and social media. 

  
  

• Credential capture: As unsuspecting victims visit the fraudulent site, the ultimate goal for threat actors is to capture the victim’s login credentials or personal information. The most direct way to do this is by tricking someone into entering credentials on the website. The threat actor uses a convincing fake login page to capture the username and password in plain text as the victim types them.

  
  

• Mule accounts/fraud cash-out: Once the credentials are captured, threat actors are able to transfer funds out of the victim’s account or turn it into a "mule account" (i.e., a bank account used to illegally move illicit funds on behalf of a criminal organization). 

AI and other innovations mean there is a significant number of deceptive sites that consumers have trouble distinguishing from real ones. This also makes it extremely challenging for cybersecurity, fraud, marketing, and legal teams to get ahead, prevent fraud, and protect their customers, business, and reputation.

At the same time, customers don’t place the blame on fraudsters if they are fooled. Monetary losses, customer satisfaction declines, and reputational damage often fall on the bank or credit union. In fact, 31% of clients are more likely to leave the financial institution after a fraud event, even when the bank or credit union is not at fault, according to research by Javelin Strategy & Research.

Acting fast to takedown these bogus sites is critical. 

“FI [financial institution] organizations must quickly find and identify bogus, impersonated websites and get them taken down. Part of the problem can be getting the ISP to take the site down in a timely way. It can take hours to days to weeks to get these sites removed.” — Ken Palla, Former Director MUFG Union Bank

Common Spoofing Tactics Banks Face

Here’s a deeper look at the different types of spoofing tactics that banks and credit unions are most likely to face when it comes to brand impersonation: 

• Lookalike domains (typosquatting/Punycode): Creating a separate fraudulent website that looks authentic on first glance. However, these fake sites will often contain misspellings or homoglyphs in the website URL or domain name since the real site is already using the legitimate URL (e.g., rnlbank.com vs. rnbank.com). Alternatively, they may use punycode which uses unicode characters to mimic letters.

  
  

• Subdomain abuse and directories: Leveraging subdomains that do not point to a valid webpage (e.g., bank.example.com or example.com/bank/login ) to mimic official URL paths. This makes the sites appear legitimate because they are under a trusted main domain. Directories are a way for threat actors to find unused DNS records or page URL paths that are not being used. 

  
  

• Cloned UI with stolen assets: Building a near-perfect replica of a legitimate site by using copied logos, CSS, and wording to deliver a fake site that visually matches the real one (DMCA-relevant).This is where AI assistance can play a big role for threat actors — helping them create a consistent tone, fluent microcopy, and synthetic images that look genuine. 

  
  

• Phishing kits and automation: Using turnkey kits that rotate templates, captchas, and anti-bot measures to quickly build and deploy fraudulent sites to trick customers. This level of sophistication and automation in a modern phishing ecosystem means a takedown service is not enough to keep fraudulent sites at bay.

  
  

• Fast-flux/DNS rotation: Using a domain-based technique that rapidly changes the DNS records (e.g., Domain Name System that translates domain names into IP addresses) associated with a single domain to evade blocks and extend the amount of time the fake site can target potential victims.

How Smishing and Social Ads Drive Traffic to Fake Sites

Earlier, we mentioned that driving traffic to these impersonation sites is a key step for bad actors in the attack chain. Catching threat actors at this early stage before they capture credentials and can steal funds is key. 

However, it’s harder than ever for consumers to distinguish a legitimate ad (and site) amid the rise of AI-generated content that can create a more genuine replica of a bank or credit union. 

In addition, threat actors will also create a sense of urgency or timeliness to prompt consumers to take action before they have time to stop and think. For example, threat actors use: 

• Smishing: SMS text messages to unsuspecting victims with urgent payment/verification prompts and shortened URLs, often spoofing sender IDs so that consumers think the message is from their bank.

• Paid social media or search ads: Targeted ads that show up for consumers when they search for common customer support questions and keywords tied to a bank’s brand on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) or search pages like Google. 

Signals That Differentiate a Scam Site From a Legitimate Bank

While spotting fraudulent sites has become harder than ever, here’s a few practical signals both consumers and financial institutions can use to spot a scam site from a legitimate bank or credit union: 

• Domain age and WHOIS inconsistencies: Has the site been recently created? Is any of the information in the domain registry outdated or inaccurate? 

• Certificate anomalies: Is there a mismatch between the domain owner and the site domain? Are there discrepancies between the common name (CN) and Subject Alternative Name (SAN) on the certificate? Is the site using free domain validation (DV) certificates with suspicious issuance timing?

• Broken navigation links and non-functional legal pages: Do any of the navigation links lead to broken pages? Do legal pages like privacy policies, terms, and accessibility go to legitimate policy information? 

• Payment-first flows: Does the site pressure you to act quickly to make a payment with prompts before there is any authentication process or context?

• Out-of-band data capture: Does the site use non-standard methods, like SMS or Bluetooth, to communicate and exfiltrate data or send commands? 

• Content reuse: Does the site reuse pixel-identical assets or wording throughout its pages? This could be evidence of a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright.

How Banks Can Take Down a Scam Website Fast

Taking down fraudulent websites quickly is critical to protecting a financial institution’s customers and reputation. The following section outlines your step-by-step playbook to take down scam websites quickly from discovery through suspension.

Manually tracking down malicious websites can be slow and ineffective. The best automated solutions will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to search the internet for misuse of your brand’s name and likeness across a multitude of data sources.

The first step in taking down a scam website once detected by your teams or an automated solution is evidence collection and triage workflows: 

Evidence Collection and Triage Workflow

Any brand protection platform and security team should have a rapid, standardized intake process that includes:

• Confirming scope: domain, subdomains, mirrors, short links, and hosting footprints.

• Capturing evidence: full-page screenshots, HTTP archive files, server headers, certificate details, WHOIS, DNS history.

• Preserving telemetry: timestamps, IPs, redirection paths, phishing kit artifacts, and payment endpoints.

• Classifying severity: live credential harvest vs. parked; prioritize high-traffic or paid-ad campaigns.

Site Takedowns and Contacting Relevant Authorities

When a fake website using your brand is detected, the best takedown services will immediately act to remove the fraudulent site. This includes working with domain registrars, hosting providers, and search engines to take down the site, and contacting relevant authorities when necessary. 

Protecting Customers During the Takedown Window

While the removal process is taking place, it’s also important for banks and credit unions to take steps to protect customers and members. This can include communicating on owned channels through a warning banner about the risks of fraudulent sites, arming call centers with messaging and escalation paths to help victims, social media updates, and ongoing monitoring. 

Bank Playbook to Prevent Reappearing Scam Websites

Finally, it’s important to have ongoing, proactive coverage to prevent scam websites from reappearing. Automation through the right brand protection platforms is important to be able to scale brand protection. In addition, proactive prevention should include: 

• Domain watchlists and lookalike registration monitoring, including:

  • Watchlists that look for brand terms, common misspellings, executive names, product lines, and high-risk locales.

  • Continuous scans for lookalikes, Punycode, and high-risk TLDs with risk scoring.
    Auto-open tickets for high-confidence hits; pre-filled evidence packages.

• Rapid re-takedown and persistent adversary handling, including monitoring for response patterns such as: 

  • Playbook reuse: Clone original case artifacts and legal notices; reuse contacts; track adversary infrastructure shifts.

  • Infrastructure correlation: Map common hosts, ASNs, kits, and payment processors; strike upstream services.

  • Escalation ladder: From provider abuse desks to executive hotlines and trusted reporter channels.

• Customer education and post-incident reporting to help customers understand what “real” looks like, how to identify phishing/smishing red flags, and what safe steps they can take to protect themselves. 

Protecting your brand and customers from brand impersonation requires diligence and speed. Netcraft’s brand protection solutions are designed to offer quick response and resolution to cyber threats targeting your organization before they can cause extensive damage to brand value and customer trust. Netcraft protects brands in 100+ countries and performs takedowns for four of the ten most phished companies on the internet. 

To find out how Netcraft’s platform can protect your brand and your customers, request a demo today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Can Help Me Get Rid of a Fake Website Quickly?

Engage a specialized provider like Netcraft that can offer automated detection, established registrar/host relationships, and pre-takedown neutralization to protect customers immediately. Netcraft’s brand protection platform operates 24/7 to discover phishing, fraud, scams, and other cyber attacks through extensive automation, AI, machine learning, and human insight. Our disruption and takedown service ensures that malicious content is blocked and removed quickly and efficiently — typically within hours.

What Is the Best Way to Take Down a Scam Website if It Targets My Bank?

Your best approach is to partner with a strong brand protection platform to automate detection and take down of scam websites. Netcraft performs takedowns for nearly one-third of the world’s phishing sites, blocking close to 170 million malicious sites and counting. 

Many of the largest brands and organizations around the world trust Netcraft. Our client base includes a diverse mix of industries, sizes, and organizational types, including leading companies within the financial, retail, and technology sectors.

How Long Does It Take to Remove a Fake Website and What Can We Do Meanwhile?

Most takedowns are completed within 24 to 72 hours, depending on the host, registrar, and jurisdiction. During that window, you should focus on protecting customers by enabling browser blocklists, arming your call center with messaging and escalation paths, and leverage real-time credential protection to prevent fraud and account takeovers. 

How Should Banks Handle Fake Profiles and App Listings Linked to the Scam? 

Fake profiles and app listings on public social media platforms and app stores can be more difficult to detect and disrupt as they rely on a single party to take action — the platform itself. Banks will need to submit platform-specific impersonation and IP infringement claims to social networks and app stores using a strong evidence package, and request ad takedowns in parallel. Netcraft’s social media and app store monitoring and takedown platform enables you to track platform misuse and launch takedowns against these criminal impersonation attempts.