Domain name scam.

[Dave A]

I got a phonecall from London advising that someone is seeking .com and .net registrations for names I have protected under company law in South Africa.

Start searching the internet - this warning from Northampshire Chamber describes this scam the best:

Domain Name Registration Scam
Be aware of an underhand technique being employed by some domain-name registrars to coerce you into buying domain names that you don't need.

The scam involves the registrar ringing your company and claiming that somebody has used their website to register a number of domain names based on your company's name.

You are told that the name of the person trying to register the domains can not be disclosed because of data protection laws.

The registrar will claim they have a system which cross-references the names entered in their domain registration system to see if the domain is already a company name. If it is, then they ring that company to confirm whether it is indeed them that is perfoming the registration.

Once you tell them that it is not your company that tried to register the names the registrar will employ some scare-tactics, explaining that this could be a cybersquatter, or someone trying to profit from your name. They will then offer you the chance to buy up the domain names before this potential name-thief does.

The truth is that nobody has tried to regsiter a domain name similar to yours, and that it is a ploy to encourage you to buy up domain names (usually at a vastly inflated price) that are vaguely related to your company name.

You will often find that the company that called you up cannot be found on the internet anywhere.

Your best course of action if this happens to you is to just politely refuse, or say you will call them back later.

Search for Evolution Domains - nothing.
Definitely UK accent and calling for action immediately.
Fortunately, I said I looked forward to suing the bastard.

[Dave A]

Blow me down - I've got called again today.

This time a crowd called horizoninterweb.com

Someone is trying to register the following domains that are associated with your company name and admits he has nothing to do with your business...

blah blah.... Bite me!

Checked on the web - they were trying to get me to register 5 domains I don't need. According to their site rates, that would have been 50 Pounds each - I didn't have the patience to see if there was an extra charge for "protecting my interests".

Certainly sounded like a very busy call centre in the background.

[MKJacobs]

Well thank goodness I have just read this.

We received a call last week stating a gentleman in SA was using our company name and was registering at least 10 domains similar to our own. And if our name was googled etc. his would come up first. As far as I know they did not offer to sell the domains to us directly (as my partner chatted with them).

WOW! Amazing what people do for money.

[stephanfx]

Haven't received anything yet but thanks for the heads up!

[duncan drennan]

We received a call last week stating a gentleman in SA was using our company name and was registering at least 10 domains similar to our own. And if our name was googled etc. his would come up first. As far as I know they did not offer to sell the domains to us directly (as my partner chatted with them).

Cybersquatting does happen, but some new laws have come into effect in SA which allow for this to be resolved much faster than before. Paul Jacobson actually posted on this recently in his blog. You can also look at Uniforum's info about alternative dispute resolution.

[RKS Computer Solutions]

what will people come up with next?

[bullfrog]

The new dispute resolution just allows squatters not to charge more than R10k for a co.za domain.

What are the costs involved?
Currently, a single person Adjudicator costs R10 000.00, and a panel of 3 Adjudicators costs R24 000.00. These fees are payable by the Complainent, except where the Respondent elects to have the complaint adjudicated by a panel of 3 Adjudicators. In this instance the Respondent will assume a portion of the ADR fee. No cost orders will be awarded in terms of the Dispute Resolution Process.

[Dave A]

Amazing how thinks look a little different when you cut to the chase.

Quite a point there, bullfrog!

[RKS Computer Solutions]

k, so 10k a pop would make a tidy income if you're so inclined...

Reckon those guys are lower than snail crap on the bottom of the ocean though...

[Martinco]

I got an email from a "company" in China stating that a company in Germany ( Ligit) wants to register my .com domain in China as a .cn and as I am the owner of the .com domain, I need to employ them to register the .cn domain BEFORE the German company does so in order to "reserve" my intellectual property rights !
After doing nothing, I later got another mail stating that is now urgent. I replied to their email by stating that I am passing their email and information on to the Chinese embassy for investigation. I have not heard from them since .

[Sollie]

This is an adaptation of the old scam originating in the far east, as pointed out by Martinco.

UK numbers (+44 7.... or +44 8.... ) are easy to be had that can originate from any part in the world, also common among 419 scammers. Of course you may also receive official looking documents and emails, however there is a distinct danger that they have no substance once you have paid for the new registration; you and your money are forever parted with no quid pro quo.

Ignore - scam!