New scam trick: Fake sites that look too good

August 26, 2025

By Kim Komando

Here’s the newest con in town: Scammers are using AI to clone legit websites, and they’re scary good at it. I’m talking about perfect logos, identical layouts, right down to the fonts and buttons. 

The crazy part is that they spin these sites up in minutes. Then, they shove them to the top of Google, where you search for your bank, power company or even a government site. One wrong click, and boom, you’ve handed over your login, your info, your identity.

🚨 Spot the fakes

Want to outsmart these scammers? Slow down and study this list I put together for you. Note: Just so the bad links are not clickable, I used the word dot in the URL.

• Check for funky URLs: If your bank’s site is usually mybank⁠(dot)com, don’t fall for mybɑnk⁠(dot)com (that’s a Latin “a,” not an English one).
• Look for sneaky swaps: Lowercase L’s and capital I’s (l vs I) can look the same, but googIe⁠(dot)com is not google⁠(dot)com.
• Watch for extra words or dashes: If the site is verizon⁠(dot)com, skip anything like verizon-help-login⁠(dot)com or secure-verizon123⁠(dot)net.
• Spot the weird endings: Real companies usually use .com or .org. Be suspicious of .click, .online, .xyz or .info tacked onto legit-looking names, like netflix-account-support⁠(dot)xyz.
• Beware of doubled-up letters: Scammers repeat letters to fool your brain – amaazon⁠(dot)com, netflfix⁠(dot)com, paypaal⁠(dot)com. If it looks off, it is.
• Ignore random security warnings in the URL: Some scam sites toss in words like “secure” or “SSL” to look official; for example, secure-update-google⁠(dot)com. Nope.
• Check for missing letters: Typos cost you. Make sure you’re not clicking on instgram⁠(dot)com or facbook-login⁠(dot)com. 
• Don’t trust subdomains: Scam links might start with something familiar such as amazon.fakeupdate⁠(dot)com or wells-fargo.loginverify⁠(dot)net. The real domain is at the end, check it.

🔖 Don’t trust Google search

Instead, build a bookmark list for your important accounts: your bank, credit card, cell provider, insurance, utilities, all of it. Open the real site once, click that little star in your browser, and save it. From then on, use your bookmarks, not search results. 

Or use the official apps from the App Store or Google Play. You’ll never wonder if you’re logging into a trap.

🔥 These scams are spreading like wildfire. Use the icons below to share this important information with your family and friends, especially the ones who think the cloud is a weather report.