What's up with the fake ProVape site?

[Gato del Jugo]

I got sloppy when I went to visit provape.com, and forgot the "m" right before I hit Enter..


I saw in the URL bar an affiliate link flash by for a quick second, before bringing me to the real ProVape site..


Did a Whois, and found this..

Whois provape.co


Anyway, please don't visit the fake site.. I don't want this guy getting any kind of cut if he's not supposed to..

I immediately cleared my cookies...

 

[twizted]

Registrant Name:Scott Bonner
Registrant Email:igetcha69@aol.com

Sounds legit. LoL

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[Gato del Jugo]

Registrant Email:............................igetcha69@aol.com

Sounds legit. LoL

Did a little more digging..


It's the guy who does the ECR site..

Also has a YouTube channel...

 

[twizted]

Did a little more digging..


It's the guy who does the ECR site..

Also has a YouTube channel...

Yeah, I've seen few of his videos. Strikes me the wrong way.

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[twizted]

BTW,

Why are you manually typing in Provapes url?


Shouldn't it be set as your home page?

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[Gato del Jugo]

Strikes me the wrong way.

I have no issues with affiliate marketing, but the URL extension variation thing is just scummy...

 

[Train2]

Looks to me like he owns the domain, but simply has it being forwarded directly to ProVape.
I don't think it's any kind of scam.
My guess is that he reserved the name thinking he might be a dealer - but never went through with setting up a site.
Better to have it dump you onto ProVape than to have it be an actual con site, or a site full of BS advertisements...

 

[Gato del Jugo]

Looks to me like he owns the domain, but simply has it being forwarded directly to ProVape.
I don't think it's any kind of scam.
My guess is that he reserved the name thinking he might be a dealer - but never went through with setting up a site.
Better to have it dump you onto ProVape than to have it be an actual con site, or a site full of BS advertisements...

An affiliate link (shareasale) very quickly flashes in the URL bar of the browser just prior to redirecting to provape.com

He's making money off this..


I'm not sure of the specific terms in this case, but it tracks your cookies for a certain amount of time so he can get credit for any sales which take place during that period..

Which is why I cleared my cookies right afterward, and recommend anybody else who visited to do the same..


Does he have permission to use ProVape's name? I don't know..

Something tells me he doesn't...


And no, ProVape isn't the 1st company this has happened to -- in the vaping industry or otherwise..

It's a scummy practice...

 

[Gato del Jugo]

Ah, I knew it had a name..


There are several different reasons for typosquatters buying a typo domain:

To redirect the typo-traffic back to the brand itself, but through an affiliate link, thus earning commissions from the brand owner's affiliate program. This "typo domain affiliate" is one of the most financially damaging schemes[citation needed] as it siphons profits from the legitimate brand for traffic/customers that the brand would have gotten anyway had the typo domain not existed.

Typosquatting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


And if US companies can wrangle URLs from people & entities in China, perhaps using WIPO, which I've read about in the past, then ProVape could certainly get custody of this fake site from the guy in the UK (with no financial remuneration to him)..


For starters & at the very least, ProVape should contact Shareasale & have them cut off this guy's affiliate link...

 

[Blake360]

Hey guy,

Thanks so much for spotting this! I will be bringing this up with the department that manages our affiliate links. Definitely don't want any typosquatters making money off of this!

 

[Blake360]

His account is now closed

 

[Mowgli]

His account is now closed

Did you just happen on this thread or did you already get this done from the heads-up I sent to PV via e-mail?
I sent that e-mail about 15 minutes ago.
you're scary fast

 

[Train2]

Ah - got it. It flashed so quick I didn't see it was an affiliate link-through.
Thanks for clarifying!

An affiliate link (shareasale) very quickly flashes in the URL bar of the browser just prior to redirecting to provape.com

He's making money off this..


I'm not sure of the specific terms in this case, but it tracks your cookies for a certain amount of time so he can get credit for any sales which take place during that period..

Which is why I cleared my cookies right afterward, and recommend anybody else who visited to do the same..


Does he have permission to use ProVape's name? I don't know..

Something tells me he doesn't...


And no, ProVape isn't the 1st company this has happened to -- in the vaping industry or otherwise..

It's a scummy practice...

 

[Gato del Jugo]

you're scary fast

Yes.. and no...


Domain Registration Date: Thu Dec 30 14:46:37 GMT 2010

Whois provape.co


ProVape may want to look into any other variations (at least at the URL extension level), if they haven't already...

 

[Train2]

They could USE them
Provape.edu for how-to guides
Provape.org for special fund-raising end caps
Provape.xxx for the sexy user photos

lol

 

[Blake360]

Did you just happen on this thread or did you already get this done from the heads-up I sent to PV via e-mail?
I sent that e-mail about 15 minutes ago.
you're scary fast

I actually got it from this thread. But thank you so much for the email. I just stumbled across this while reading some posts and got lucky.

 

[Gato del Jugo]

Provape.xxx for the sexy user photos

Anyway, to be fair, I think some of the responsibility in cases like these also lies with the affiliate networks..

Should they really be basically automatically approving (from what I understand they do) questionable sites like those with the company's (i.e., their client's) name with variations of the URL extensions??

They should at least first run those by the client prior to any potential approval...

 

[Blake360]

Here's an update for everybody. We have talked to the vendor and it was a honest mistake but it's been cleared up. He was very nice and apologetic and he really wanted to make it right.

 

[Gato del Jugo]

I see that the whois has been updated today to reflect a new owner, and that the .co no longer contains the affiliate link..


I'm betting there was also a change of underwear somewhere in there..

 

[twizted]

They could USE them
Provape.edu for how-to guides
Provape.org for special fund-raising end caps
Provape.xxx for the sexy user photos

lol

provape.org does redirect you back to provape.com

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