Beware of Asian Domain Name Registration Scams

A very valued and business savvy client called me this morning for my assistance with a domain name and trademark dispute that had been brought to his attention via email by a person claiming to represent a "domain name registration organization" in Hong Kong.

While not as prevalent or well known as Nigerian Bank Scams or other Advanced-Fee Frauds, there are a lot of Asian Domain Name Scams being emailed lately. ANY EMAIL RECEIVED BY THE OWNER OF AN INTERNET DOMAIN WHO RECEIVES AN EMAIL PURPORTING TO OFFER PROTECTION OF HIS/HER DOMAIN NAME AND/OR TRADEMARK RIGHTS SHOULD MEET THAT EMAIL WITH SUSPICION.

HOW THE SCAM WORKS

You will receive an email will read something like:

Dear President,

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. On the Jan. 19, 2010, we received an application formally from "SOME BUSINESS YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF" who applied for the Internet Keyword"SOMETHING CLOSE TO YOUR DOMAIN NAME"and some domain names relevant to this trademark from our organization.

According to our procedures and in order to protect your intellectual property rights, we need to send this email to the original company for confirming the actual relationship with this company. If you do not know this company, we doubt that they have other motivation to register these domain names and probably want to do some cybersquatting. Currently, we have postponed this application of this company temporarily already. In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.

PS:If you are not in charge of this matter,please transfer this email to appropriate dept. Have a nice day!

Best Regards,

A FAKE NAME

A FAKE TITLE
SCAMMER'S COMPANY NAME
Tel: +###-#### #### Fax: +###-#### ####
Email: SCAMMER@SCAM.NET
Web: www.SCAMCOMPANY.org

HOW THE SCAM WORKS

The business owner receiving the email responds to the person listed in the email by phone, fax or email and of course wishes to block someone from registering a domain using his or her corporate identity or trademark. Invariably, the representative of the "domain name registration organization" will tell you that the best way to block the registration is to buy the domain names in question for yourself. Naturally, if the domain names in question are purchased, the price per domain name will be artificially inflated by the "domain name registration organization" who is "protecting" your corporate identity and trademark.

HOW TO COMBAT THE SCAM

The best way to combat this scam is to do what my client did this morning: forward the email to corporate counsel or the law firm which represents your business and ask how to proceed with the information. San Diego Corporate Law advises its clients to forward any and all communications offering services or business deals which our clients do not fully understand. In this case, we investigated the correspondence and identified the scam it was intended to perpetrate, potentially saving our client from purchasing thousands of dollars worth of internet domains which might be truly worth less than one-hundred dollars if procured from a reputable source.

A strategy for protection of corporate identity might entail purchasing several domain names for your business (in addition to www.sdcorporatelaw.com, I also own www.sdcorporatelaw.biz, www.sdcorporatelaw.info, www.sdcorporatelaw.me, www.sdcorporatelaw.mobi, www.sdcorporatelaw.net, www.sdcorporatelaw.org, www.sdcorporatelaw.us, and www.sdcorporatelaw.ws). However, the time and place to purchase additional domains for your business is NOT when you are being held hostage by a supposed "domain name registration organization" asking for unrealistic prices.

WHO IS RUNNING THE SCAM?

While not intended to be an inclusive list, here are the domain names of some companies reportedly running the Asian Domain Name Scam:

http://www.alg-tech.com

http://www.anwins.com

http://www.asiaao.cn

http://www.asiadm.org

http://www.asiadnr.hk.cn

http://www.asiadnr.net

http://www.asiadnr.org

http://www.asiaip.org

http://www.asianetwork.ws

http://www.asianetworkonline.com

http://www.asiaregistrar.org

http://www.beijing-anwins.com.cn

http://www.bj-hk.asia

http://www.bj-hkzc.com.cn

http://www.bjhknet.cn

http://www.china-domainsolution.org.cn

http://www.china-net.hk.cn

http://www.china-net.hk

http://www.chinasps.net.cn

http://www.chinasps.org.cn

http://www.chooke.com.cn

http://www.chuk.com.cn

http://www.cnbcgov.org.cn

http://www.cnnet.hk

http://www.cntl.hk.cn

http://www.dnrnic.net

http://www.domainaudit.org.cn

http://www.domaininasia.com

http://www.domaininasia.org

http://www.erimut.com

http://www.europaregistry.net.cn

http://www.europaregistry.org

http://www.europatech.com.cn

http://www.europetech.com.cn

http://www.fexon.hk

http://www.firetrust.org.cn

http://www.govisp.cn

http://www.ha-zd.com.cn

http://www.ha-zd.comhttp://www.ha-zd.org

http://www.hkstareast.com

http://www.hkstareast.net

http://www.idci.org.cn

http://www.inveis.com.cn

http://www.inveis.com

http://www.inwis.cn

http://www.netinasia.com

http://www.netinchina.hk

http://www.netservice.hk

http://www.shanghainic.org.cn

http://www.shnetnic.cn

http://www.shundajishu.com.cn

http://www.skholdingscompanyltd.asia

http://www.sknet.hk.cn

http://www.star-east.hk

http://www.ujane.cn

http://www.ujanegroup.cn

http://westnet.hk.cn

http://www.westtechnology.asia

http://www.worldregistry.com.cn

http://www.ytym.org