Domain Name Scam Confirm Registration of Your Website found me!
I got this letter today, it had some half truths in it to push some of my buttons - someone about to use the name of your website for their brand, ouch, but also some suspicious signs, see if you can pick them out or if you got something similar:
The Email
Dear Manager,mywebsite name application for registration confirmation, please read the following letter:We are an agency engaging in registering brand name and domain names. Today, Our center received an application from MarTan Company and they apply to register mywebsitename as their brand name and some top-level domain names(.CN .HK etc). We found the main body of domain names is same as your company name. I am not sure about the relationship between you and them. Please tell me whether or not your company authorizes them to register names.We are dealing with the application and we need to confirm whether you have authorized them? If you don't authorize them, please reply me an e-mail. Looking forward to your reply.Best regards,
David Wan | Service & Operations Manager
Tel:0086.553836.6231 || Fax:0086.553836.6231
My Suspicions
- Does this really make sense?
- If my .com is registered then that's out there already that it is taken
- He's included a couple of phone numbers but anyone can do that
- Is he getting a little desperate pressing me to reply as the letter moves on?
- Is the English grammar beginning to unravel just a little, hm, but I'm a perfectionist
- Chinese name on the end, hm, I'll type it into google and see what happens
Google Search Reveals Domain Name Scam
So I just typed in the guy's name as he signed it and this scam has been going round at least since 2015, and the top ranked sites exposing it reveal that they do catch people in various ways, and warn us not to reply!! Navigate past the guy's LinkedIn profile and see these, I read the Yucatan Times article and they went to great length to expose the entire thing.
As usual, the new people and lesser experienced people have a bigger risk of believing or getting caught with these things. If ever in doubt remember to come in here and ask questions, if you don't find an answer pretty quickly on google.
Mary
Recent Comments
79
Glad you didn't fall for it Mary. I got an email last year from someone saying that my site had been nominated for an award for new blogs in the beauty niche industry (my niche is fragrance). It seemed legitimate and without typos, included phone numbers in the UK and they even had an impressive looking website which I located by googling them. Something us felt off though and when I did some deep digging I discovered that it was a phishing email. I'm glad I trusted my gut and didn't respond to their email.
Erica
WOW! So believable, so sneaky!!
Websites do win awards, well done trusting your gut and digging deep!!
Thank you for sharing the information with us.
I just wonder what is the motive?
What is the modus operandi?
Joe
the Yucatan times article explains all the parts to it and how they catch peeps, basically like any pushy salesman one toe in the door and they'll presure sell you something 'you need'
The grammar in the letter is the first clue. There are so many grammar mistakes in the letter. Definitely fraud!
Thanks Mary, it is easy to be hoodwinked especially when many don’t have the experience. WA fills in those gaps for the inexperienced. WA does more than we are aware of. Thanks WA.
See more comments
Thanks for sharing Mary.
Emails like these do look so real and believable. It is no surprise then that many people fall for these scams.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
It reminds us that we need to check and verify emails before we reply or give out information.
I tend to send emails I don't recognise straight to the spam folder. I've unsubscribed from a lot of mailing lists I had signed up to in the past and have done some housekeeping on the few I have left so it is much easier for me to sift out spam.
congrats on staying on top of the emails! :D