As we continue to tackle the current world crisis – COVID-19, Scammers have been out in full force.
Many of the oldies like Accident Scams, ISP Scams, “You Won Money!” Scams, have all played their roles successfully.
Then you have COVID-19 Scams, especially acting as either your Government Entity or the WHO, trying to scare you or make you do something like give details or “donate”.
Businesses are also targets to scams. An oldie but strong one is a panic buy for Domain Names under your Business Name, more prominently in China.
You will receive an email that goes something like this:
“Dear CEO,
(It’s very urgent, please transfer this email to your CEO. If this email affects you, we are very sorry, please ignore this email. Thanks)
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in China.
We received an application from (INSERT COMPANY HERE) on (A DATE USUALLY 3-31 DAYS FROM SENT DATE). They want to register ” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) ” as their Internet Keyword and ” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) .cn “、” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) .com.cn ” 、” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) .net.cn “、” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) .org.cn ” domain names, they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find ” (YOUR BUSINESS/DOMAIN) ” 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
**************************************
Mike Zhang (NAME CHANGES) | Service Manager
Domain Registry China (Head Office)
No. 300, Xuanhua Road, Changning District, Shanghai200050, China
Tel: +86-2161918696 | Fax: +86-2161918697 | Mob: +86-1582177 1823
Web: www.domainregistry.org.cn
***************************************************
(DETAILS ABOVE CAN CHANGE)
What you end up with is usually the business saying “No I do not associate with them and Yes it will conflict”.
Then the pressure response begins. They will send you a Response, tailored to your reply, and basically tell you they will continue to process the order without your consent and that there is nothing you can do…….. UNLESS! ….. Pay us $XXXX and we can register it in your name for you so there is no conflict.
Simply don’t do it!
When you register your Business Information in Australia, you are really only protected in Australia. Technically, someone could Register your Business Name and the Domain in their country, but there will be a huge mess for them to hold together if they try to do anything in Australia.
If you want a presence in other Countries, you will need to consider registering and protecting your Brand in those countries.
If you have a serious Brand Name, consider Trademarking Internationally so nobody can use it.
Otherwise, if you are a small business, just doing your own thing in your Town, City, State or Australia, then don’t buy into these threats.
Delete the email and continue on as normal.
Have you recently been sent this email? Let us know in the comments below.
If you have a Scam to Report, please let us know by filling out our Online Form.
We also encourage you to Report to SCAMWATCH if you do not wish for us to report on your behalf.
If you have fallen for a scam and/or had a serious Online Crime done against you, contact us so we can help on what to do next.
