# Lookalike & Typosquat Domain Finder - Phishing & Brand Watch (`centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder`) Actor

Give your domains. Generates common look-alike/typosquat permutations and resolves them over keyless DNS to find which are REGISTERED - flagging the ones with a live site and mail (phishing-ready) + a risk signal. Passive DNS only, read-only, agent-callable.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Centor Prat](https://apify.com/centorprat) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $17.00 / 1,000 domain analyzeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Lookalike & Typosquat Domain Finder — Phishing & Brand Watch

Find the look-alike domains attackers register to impersonate your brand. Give your domain and it generates the common typosquat permutations (missing/extra/swapped/mistyped letters, homoglyphs like `l→1` and `o→0`, hyphenations, extra TLDs) and resolves each over **keyless DNS** to find which are actually **registered** — flagging the ones with a live site and **working mail (phishing-ready)**, with a risk signal. Passive DNS only, read-only — agent-callable.

For security / brand-protection teams, anti-phishing monitoring, and AI agents that watch a brand's domain surface.

### What it does

- Generates look-alike permutations of your domain (the standard typosquat fuzzers: omission, insertion, repetition, replacement, transposition, homoglyph, hyphenation, extra TLDs).
- Resolves each over **DNS-over-HTTPS** (keyless) to find which are **registered**.
- For each registered look-alike, checks a **live site (A record)** and **mail capability (MX)** — a domain that can receive mail is **phishing-capable** — plus its nameservers.
- Returns a **risk signal** per look-alike and a per-domain summary.

| Output field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `permutationsTested` / `registeredFound` / `phishingCapable` | summary counts |
| `lookalikes[]` | each registered look-alike: `domain`, `hasA`+`ips`, `hasMail`+`mx`, `nameservers`, `risk`, `riskReason` |
| `signal` | phishing-capable-lookalikes / registered-lookalikes-found / no-registered-lookalikes |

### Passive & defensive by design

It performs **only public DNS lookups** of the permutations — it never visits, probes, scans or attacks the look-alike sites. It's the passive, defensive essence of tools like `dnstwist`, built for protecting **your own** brand. A registered look-alike is a signal to review, **not** proof a domain is malicious (many are defensively owned by the brand itself, e.g. via MarkMonitor).

### Why not just ask an AI agent?

Generating ~100–200 look-alike permutations, resolving A/MX/NS for each, and classifying phishing-readiness is tedious and error-prone to do by hand. This actor does it deterministically and at once, and returns a clean, structured, risk-ranked list.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `domains` | array of strings | ✅ | Your domains (e.g. `your-brand.com`). |
| `onlyRegistered` | boolean | | Only return registered look-alikes (default true). |
| `webhookUrl` | string | | POST the finished reports here (schedule for continuous monitoring). |

**Example input**

```json
{ "domains": ["paypal.com"], "onlyRegistered": true }
```

### Output

One report per domain. **Example output** (trimmed, real run):

```json
{
  "domain": "paypal.com",
  "signal": "phishing-capable-lookalikes",
  "permutationsTested": 84,
  "registeredFound": 68,
  "phishingCapable": 31,
  "lookalikes": [
    {"domain": "paaypal.com", "registered": true, "hasA": true, "hasMail": true, "mx": ["bh.markmonitor.com"], "risk": "high", "riskReason": "Registered, live site and can receive mail - phishing-capable look-alike."},
    {"domain": "paypal.app", "registered": true, "hasA": true, "hasMail": false, "risk": "medium", "riskReason": "Registered with a live site (no mail) - monitor."}
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Passive public DNS lookups only ... a registered look-alike is a signal for review, NOT proof the domain is malicious."
}
```

### Use cases

- **Brand protection** — discover typosquats impersonating your domain.
- **Anti-phishing monitoring** — prioritise look-alikes that can receive mail (used for spoofed emails).
- **Continuous watch** — schedule + webhook to be alerted when a new look-alike appears.
- **AI security agents** — one call returns a structured, risk-ranked look-alike surface.

### Alerts / scheduling

Set `webhookUrl` and schedule the actor (e.g. daily) — the fresh report is POSTed to Make/Zapier/your endpoint, so you're alerted when a new registered look-alike shows up.

### Ready-made tasks

- [Lookalike Domain Check - Registered Typosquats](https://apify.com/centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder/examples/lookalike-domain-check)
- [Typosquatting Domain Finder for Brand Protection](https://apify.com/centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder/examples/typosquatting-domain-finder)
- [Brand Domain Squatting Watch (Several Brands)](https://apify.com/centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder/examples/brand-domain-squatting-watch)

### For AI agents / MCP

```
https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder
```

Loads as `centorprat--lookalike-domain-finder`. Claude Code:

```
claude mcp add apify -- npx -y @apify/actors-mcp-server --actors centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder
```

### FAQ

**Does it attack or scan the look-alike sites?** No. It only does public DNS lookups (A/MX/NS) of the generated names. It never connects to the sites.

**Does it need an API key?** No — keyless DNS-over-HTTPS.

**Does "registered" mean malicious?** No. Many look-alikes are defensively registered by the brand itself or are parked. The result is a **signal** to review, not an accusation.

**What makes a look-alike "phishing-capable"?** It's registered, has a live site (A) **and** can receive mail (MX) — the setup needed to run a convincing spoof. That's `risk: high`.

**How many permutations?** Up to ~220 per domain (bounded for speed), covering the common typo and homoglyph patterns plus extra TLDs.

**How fast / how much?** A few seconds per domain. Pay-per-event, one charge per domain analyzed.

### Data & attribution

Uses only public DNS, resolved via the keyless Google DNS-over-HTTPS endpoint. No keys, no site contact, no personal data. Signals for brand-protection review, not legal advice.

### Related actors

- [Domain Expiry & Registration Check](https://apify.com/centorprat/domain-expiry-registration-check)
- [Email Auth (DMARC/SPF/DKIM) Check](https://apify.com/centorprat/email-auth-dmarc-spf-check)
- [DNS Health Check](https://apify.com/centorprat/dns-health-check)

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

Your domains, e.g. \["your-brand.com"]. One look-alike report per domain.

## `onlyRegistered` (type: `boolean`):

If on (default), only permutations that are actually registered are returned. Turn off to also see the permutations tested.

## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`):

If set, the finished reports are POSTed here as JSON when the run completes - schedule it for continuous brand monitoring.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "paypal.com"
  ],
  "onlyRegistered": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `reports` (type: `string`):

Per domain: permutations tested, registered look-alikes found, and for each the live-site (A) and mail-capability (MX) status, nameservers and a phishing-risk signal. Passive DNS only.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "paypal.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": ["paypal.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "paypal.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,centorprat/lookalike-domain-finder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Me1OkMHPUqDMh9u8x/builds/Wb1LyOXcvy2xu25gb/openapi.json