This is a popular type of scam, which I call "domain scams." I get several of these scams every month, all offering a variation on the same offer. These scammers have not been approached by anyone to register any of your names. They're cold calling, and yes, they want to set up a business relationship. If you respond, they will register your name, and then charge a big fee to sell it back to you. The scammer will also demand a recurring fee to keep your domain safe... and that means handing over your credit-card number. You'll never hear the end of it. Just ignore these scams. Don't respond, don't be fooled. (I changed the domain name used in the this message to MYDOMAIN.)
From: "Tim"
Subject: About "MYDOMAIN" intellectual property rights( TO CEO&Principal )
Dear CEO & Principal
We are a domain name registration and dispute organization in Asia, which mainly deal with the global companies' domain name registration and internet Intellectual property right protection in Asia. Currently, we have a pretty important issue needing to confirm with your company.
On Jul 3, 2009, we received an application formally. One company named "FYP Holdings Ltd" wanted to applied for the internet keyword "MYDOMAIN" and some domain names through our body.
Now we are handling with the registration of these domain names and find that the keyword of these domain names and internet keyword is identical with your company's. So we have to confirm with you at two points:
1. If your company consign FYP Holdings to register these domain names and internet keyword, we will send application form to them and help them finish the registration at once.
2. If your company have nothing to do with FYP Holdings, they maybe have other purposes to register these domain names and internet keyword.
In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us by email or telephone ASAP.
Best Regards,
Tim Hu
Auditing Department
Tel: +852-2297-9279
Fax: +852-2297-9209
Email: Tim@eworld.hk.cn
Website: http://www.eworld.hk
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tonight I received two email much like the above. Gut reaction = spam. But I'd never seen this approach before ... a company in Asia is apparently trying to acquire full use of my domain "XXXXXXXX.com" for use across .com / .com.cn / org.cn / .asia.
ReplyDeleteI'd consider selling if the price was right, but nothing even close to a hint that they're willing to buy "XXXXXXXX.com" from me ... just this new angle of "hope to get the affirmation of your company because that may related to your internet intellectual property."
Like I said, spam / phishing alarm bells are going off in my head.
So I Googled the phrase "what happens when another company wants my domain name"; one link on the first results page was to this post.
While not 100% identical (word-for-word) to one another, they are 100% identical to me in that they cover the same themes/points in the same order, and occasionally use identical phrasing.
1. We are a domain registration service company.
2. We have something important we need to confirm with your company.
3. We have received a "formal application" on "DATE XX,YYYY" from "Company XYZ" to use "XXXXXXXX.com" as their "internet keyword".
4. We've researched this name ("XXXXXXX.com") conflicts with your company.
5. They "hope to get the affirmation of your company because that may relate to your internet intellectual property."
6. "In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us ASAP."
I already wouldn't have replied, but seeing this blog post confirmed my suspicions.
Below is the text of one of the two identical emails I received:
==================================
From: John [mailto:john@webregistry.org.cn]
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 10:57 PM
To: myemailuserid@XXXXXXXX.com
Subject: notice protect-- internet trademark intellectual property safeguard
Dear Manager:
We are a Domain Name registration service company, which is the domain name register center in Shanghai,China. We have something important need to confirm with your company. A formal application here dated On Oct.8th,2009 from HAITONG Investment company requested " XXXXXXXX " as their Internet Keyword and CN/Asia domain names (.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/org.cn/.asia) on internet .After our initial examination,we find this name conflicts with your company. We send this email to the owner who have used this name and hope to get the affirmation of your company because that may relate to your internet intellectual property. Now we have not finished the registration for this company, in order to deal with this issue better, please let the someone who is responsible for this matter to contact us as soon as possible.Thank you!
Best regards,
John
Oversea marketing manager
Tel:+86(0)21 6296 2950
Fax:+86(0)21 6296 1557
web:www.webregistry.org.
I too just received this exact email from "John" from webregistry.org.cn.
ReplyDeleteI have an Japanese based web name because of my Japanese ancestry. I wonder if they are targeting these names since they are based in China, as the Japanese and Chinese language are similar. Are others noticing this trend or are they targeting all domain names?
Either way it did seem fishy to me and that's why I didn't respond and did some quick research. Thanks for the heads up and maybe this information will help someone that isn't as careful.
Replying to the person with the Japanese based web name:
ReplyDeleteI've received a similar email, with different wording, and my domain name is not Japanese based, so I think they are casting a bigger net.
thanks a lot for this post, i received a similar email today from someone named mike @ webregistry.org.cn
ReplyDeletemy domains are not japanese based either.
i thought it's spam, but preferred to check. great that you take the time to post stuff like this :)
Hello I received a similar e-mail from another person but from the same company: www.webregistry.org.cn, I keep clicking that website, and nothing happens, they are waiting for the payment, but I wanted to check a little bit more about this company before I do that payment. Is this spam, is this Company for real?
ReplyDeleteGot the same e-mail today (11 May 2010) from 'John' with the same wording. I also thought of it as spam but then thought it was odd that they had gone to so much effort to actually include my domain name then find out my e-mail address so I was a bit unsure.
ReplyDeleteDear Manager:
ReplyDeleteThis email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On March 24th 2011. We received HAITONG company's application, they want to register " laptopbackpacksandbags" as its Internet keyword and CN/Asia domain names. It is china and Asia domain names. But after checking we find this domain name conflict with your company, in order to deal with this matter better, so we send you email, and want to confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~MORE SCAMS~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best Regards,
John
Oversea marketing manager
Office: +86(0)21 6191 8696
Mobile: +86 1366152 9704
Fax: +86(0)21 6191 8697
web: www.ygnetworkltd.com
Dear Sirs,
ReplyDeleteWe are Tianhua Ltd based in Chinese office, our company has submitted the "myonlinemediaplayer " as CN/Asia domain name and Internet Keyword, we are waiting for Mr. John's approval. We hope your company will not object our application, because this name is very important for our products in Chinese and Asian market. We don't want your company to use this name in China and Asia, we believe our company will become the legal owner of this name in China and Asia. Even though Mr. John advises us to change another name, we will persist in this name and permanent registration of this name.
Best regards
Lin Dong
Damn these china scammers....
Dear Manager,
ReplyDelete(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration in China. We received an application from Hansen Ltd on June 15, 2012. They want to register " ajhsjournal " as their internet keyword and China/Asia (CN/ASIA) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflicts with your company. In order to deal with this matter better, so we send you email and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China or not?
Best Regards
John
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetwork-ltd.com
Yep, it's still going around. Mine was 'due to a request from Kenya LTD'. That got my (spam alert) attention. LOL - Got me to read it though, although the broken English and the fact that their own domain name in the email didn't go anywhere confirmed it was spam.
ReplyDeleteEver Vigilant!
Choosing low competition keywords (long tail keywords) that
ReplyDeletewill connect your product with the audience in (1) above. Ebooks are an excellent
way to drive targeted traffic to your website.
A crafts person can work at his or her own pace and choose how much to spend for startup costs.
Also visit my web page; ways to make money
It's an amazing article in favor of all the online visitors; they will obtain benefit from
ReplyDeleteit I am sure.
Here is my page - Site (www.youtube.com)