TE
TechEcho
Home24h TopNewestBestAskShowJobs
GitHubTwitter
Home

TechEcho

A tech news platform built with Next.js, providing global tech news and discussions.

GitHubTwitter

Home

HomeNewestBestAskShowJobs

Resources

HackerNews APIOriginal HackerNewsNext.js

© 2025 TechEcho. All rights reserved.

Ask HN: Best API to check for scam/phishing/spam domains?

1 pointsby Daktestover 1 year ago
I'm building an app where the user has to input a domain as part of one of our user flows. For safety/security reasons, I want to integrate with an API that can check if the domain that the user has input is scammy, spammy, or contains other malicious content. I was looking into Scamadviser (https://www.scamadviser.com/scamadviser-api), but does anyone have recommendations for any other potential APIs or tools?

2 comments

verdvermover 1 year ago
The ad blockers also typically block these things. There are big lists that back them, typically open sources on GitHub.<p>You could check against the lists by wrapping in a simple API. You&#x27;ll also be able to choose which lists and make exceptions or edits, as well as keeping them up to date
sargstuffover 1 year ago
Api for domain policy enforcement&#x2F;filtering typically handled by server&#x2F;gateway service handling dns requests. (per nat&#x27;ing, local&#x2F;non-local addressing, subneting, virtual addressing, etc).<p>aka app uses dns service. Typically, the gatway&#x2F;server of dns service does appropriate checks per system&#x2F;network administration setups&#x2F;policies. Aforementioned dns service returns a &#x27;failure to resolve&#x27; if domain&#x2F;address doesn&#x27;t meet &#x27;valid&#x2F;appropriate&#x27; policy&#x2F;rules.<p>An application on a properly configured network &#x2F; box should only have to verify an address&#x2F;domain exists&#x2F;reachable via dns lookup[1].<p>An application &#x2F; non-server box &#x2F; non-gateway box attempting to do this via other methods may be taken to be malicious &#x2F; violate network policy of domain box running app is on.<p>From system&#x2F;network administrator view, end user box suddenly starts using information related to malicious sites. aka system&#x2F;network administrator sees &#x27;information related to malicious sites&#x27; and not &#x27;this a query to see if this information is related to a malicious site&#x27;.<p>Failtoban[2] &#x2F; unbound[3] &#x2F; dnsmasq[4] or BIND[5] are some programs run as system service which make use of dns queries to let an app know if domain is a &#x27;do not use&#x27;.<p>-------<p>[1] : a) <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;stackoverflow.com&#x2F;questions&#x2F;41060027&#x2F;how-to-use-nslookup-in-bash-to-verify-is-dns-is-configured-properly" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;stackoverflow.com&#x2F;questions&#x2F;41060027&#x2F;how-to-use-nslo...</a><p><pre><code> b) https:&#x2F;&#x2F;community.jisc.ac.uk&#x2F;library&#x2F;janet-services-documentation&#x2F;how-block-or-sinkhole-domains-bind </code></pre> [2] : fail2ban blacklisting : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Fail2ban" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Fail2ban</a><p>[3] : unbound blacklisting : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.howtoforge.com&#x2F;how-to-set-up-local-dns-with-unbound-on-debian&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.howtoforge.com&#x2F;how-to-set-up-local-dns-with-unbo...</a><p>[4] : dnsmasq blacklisting : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;alblue.bandlem.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;05&#x2F;using-dnsmasq.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;alblue.bandlem.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;05&#x2F;using-dnsmasq.html</a><p>[5] : BIND blacklisting : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;community.jisc.ac.uk&#x2F;library&#x2F;janet-services-documentation&#x2F;how-block-or-sinkhole-domains-bind" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;community.jisc.ac.uk&#x2F;library&#x2F;janet-services-document...</a>