Spoof Website

What Does Spoof Website Mean?

A spoof website is a site that uses dishonest designs to trick users into thinking that it represents some other uninvolved party. Spoof websites commonly imitate the sites of banks and other official businesses or government agencies, often in order to fraudulently collect sensitive financial or personal information from users.

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This term can refer to a site that is a parody or satire, although this use is less common.

Techopedia Explains Spoof Website

Spoof websites are commonly considered a form of phishing, which is hacking or building IT structures with the purpose of stealing data. Commonly, a spoof website will use logos, impressive text and visual design or other means to effectively imitate the style of a legitimate enterprise or group. Users will often enter financial details or other data, trusting that they are being sent to the right place.

Hackers can use extremely sophisticated methods to deceive end users. Methods like URL cloaking or domain forwarding can hide some of the biggest clues that a site may not be legitimate. Experts recommend that users only access financial sites and other sensitive sites directly through a main page or other verified avenue in order to avoid being cheated by a spoof website.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…