Mousetrapping is a technique used by some websites (often
tech support scam
Tech or The Tech may refer to:
* An abbreviation of technology or technician
*Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT
*Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S.
* Tech (river), in southern France
* "Tech" (''S ...
sites) to keep visitors from leaving their website, either by launching an endless series of
pop-up ad
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are forms of online advertising on the World Wide Web. A pop-up is a graphical user interface (GUI) display area, usually a small window, that suddenly appears ("pops up") in the foreground of the visual interface. The pop-u ...
s, redirects or by re-launching their website in a window that cannot be easily closed; sometimes this window runs like a stand-alone application, and the
taskbar
A taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. It typically shows which programs are currently running.
The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally a ...
and the browser's
menu
In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...
become inaccessible. Many such websites also employ
browser hijackers to reset the user's default
homepage
A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website. The term may also refer to the start page shown in a web browser when the application first opens. Usually, the home page is located at the root of the website's domain or subdomain ...
.
The
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
has brought suits against mousetrappers, charging that the practice is a deceptive and unfair competitive practice, in violation of section 5 of the FTC Act. Typically, mousetrappers register
URLs with misspelled names of celebrities (e.g. ''BrittnaySpears.com'') or companies (e.g. ''BettyCroker.com'' and ''WallStreetJournel.com'').
[A catalog of examples of URLs that one mousetrapper registered, which then became involved in ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution proceedings, is availabl]
here
Thus, if someone seeking the ''BettyCrocker'' website typed ''BettyCroker'', the user would become ensnared in the mousetrapper's system. Once the viewer is at the site, a Javascript or a click induced by, as one example, promises of
free samples
''Free Samples'' is a 2012 American independent comedy starring Jess Weixler and Jesse Eisenberg. It was the first film directed by Jay Gammill and the first film written by Jim Beggarly.
Plot
Jillian (Weixler), a Stanford Law School dropout reb ...
, redirects the viewer to a URL and regular site of the mousetrapper's client-advertiser, who (the FTC said in the Zuccarini case) pays 10 to 25 cents for capturing and redirecting each potential customer. An FTC press release explaining why the agency opposes mousetrapping states:
See also
*
Phishing
Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...
*
Typosquatting
Typosquatting, also called URL hijacking, a sting site, or a fake URL, is a form of cybersquatting, and possibly brandjacking which relies on mistakes such as typos made by Internet users when inputting a website address into a web browser. Shoul ...
*
Clickjacking
Clickjacking (classified as a user interface redress attack or UI redressing) is a malicious technique of tricking a user into clicking on something different from what the user perceives, thus potentially revealing confidential information or ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Mousetrapping and Pagejackingby
Richard H. Stern
Richard Harvey Stern (born September 9, 1931) is an American attorney and law professor.
Biography
Born in New York City, Stern received an Bachelor of Arts, A.B. ''cum laude'' from Columbia College of Columbia University, Columbia College in ...
"Is Mousetrapping Unfair?", ''IEEE MICRO'' (Nov.-Dec. 2001)
Internet terminology