Elliott C. Back: Technology FTW!

Domain Name Registration Scam

Posted in My Blog, Spam by Elliott Back on October 7th, 2008.

I just received an interesting email, which “offers” to help me secure my .com domain name in the Chinese varieties .cn and .hk. It’s more of a threatening piece of spam, because it carries the fear that if I do not avail myself of their services, them or another company will steal my brand!

Subject: YOUR DOMAIN NAME (elliottback)’S CURRENT SITUATION

Dear ELLIOTT C.Back

We are the domain name registration organization in Hong Kong, ,which mainly deal with the domain names’ conflicts of the company in China and Asia regions.We have received an formal application online from one company named “TianHaiYuanTong (China) Investment Co.Ltd” who is trying to apply for the domain names(www. elliottback.cn www. elliottback.hk etc.) and the Internet keyword(elliottback) as their domain name and internet brand on Oct 6,2008.After our initial examination, we found that the keywords and domain names being applied are the same as your company’s name and trademark. These days we are dealing with it. If you don’t know this company, we doubt that they buy these domain names with other aims. We have not started the registration for TianHaiYuanTong company until now. In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.

Best Regards,
Boyce Meng

Tel: +852-31757931 (ext8048)
Fax: +852- 31757932
Email: boyce.meng@hk-nsc.org.cn

Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
website: www.hknsc.hk

However, as far as I can tell, there is no such “Tian Hai Yuan Tong” company, and I am not replying. I advise you to do the same, and post any more samples of this spam in the comments!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 5:34 am and is tagged with dear elliott, chinese varieties, domain name registration, china investment, internet brand, internet keyword, initial examination, formal application, investment co, domain names, meng, nsc, boyce, yuan, hk, current situation, tong, email, cn, conflicts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.

Viewing 54 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    I just got this and wanted to check out if it was simply spam.

    it reads as follows:

    OTC7, 2008

    (My Company Name)

    Domain name & Internet keyword

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China.We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “..my company name......” as their domain name and Internet keyword on OTC6, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.



    Kind Regards,

    Martin.Liu

    Tel:+852-31757930

    Fax: +852-31757932

    Email: Martin.Liu@hknsc.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

    Website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    Hi-
    I just received the same email for my company, http://vermontwoodsstudios.com/
    Seems there is a new spam scam every day:
    "Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “vermontwoods” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 8, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.



    Kind Regards,



    Bob Lu

    Sponsoring Registrar: Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

    Tel:+852-31757930 (ext8039)

    Fax:+852-31757932

    Email: bob.lu@hknsc.cn bob.lu@hknsc.hk

    Website: http://www.hknsc.hk"

    Thanks for providing a place where we can compare notes. Best regards,
    peggy
    • ^
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    Our Finnish company just received this email:
    (It's crazy because our domain name is so long and Finnish that it's nonsense in every other language.)

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “ourcompanyname” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 8th, 2008. Because this involves your company name or trade mark so we inform you in no time. we would like to confirm if this company is your partner, subsection or some one you authorized, if it is not, pls inform us if these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first or not, thanks for your cooperation, looking forward to your reply..

    Kind Regards,

    Jeff.Yu

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Tel: +852-31757930-8050
    Fax: +852- 31757932
    Email:jeff.yu@hknetwork.org.cn
    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
    • v
    GOTTA ADMIRE THE ANGLE, AND AT LAST I AM RECEIVING SPAM NOT ABOUT SIZE OR DYSFUNCTION-

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “MYDOMAIN” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 10,2008. Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.

    Kind Regards,

    Jessica.pi

    Tel: +852-31757931（ext.8030）

    Fax: +852-31757932

    Email: Jessica.pi@hk-net.hk.cn or Jessica.pi@hk-net.hk

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

    Website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    So that others are warned off this half baked scam here's the same drivel that they sent to us as well. It's not the first time we've had this hard sell rubbish aimed at us but this time we thought we'd try to post as wide as possible in the hope of alerting others to the same sort of scams.

    [QUOTE]
    Name: andy liu
    Company:
    Email address: andy.liu@hknetwork.hk
    Telephone:

    Postal address:


    Notes:
    Domain name & Internet keyword

    Dear Sir/Madam,
    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company, Limited. which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “projectevita” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 12, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and supp
    • ^
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    Does anyone have a clue as to how this type of scam is supposed to work ??

    We've also received this one on several domains.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dear Sir/Madam,



    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “xxxxxxxxxxx” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 11th, 2008. Because this involves your company name or trade mark so we inform you in no time. we would like to confirm if this company is your partner, subsection or some one you authorized, if it is not, pls inform us if these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first or not, thanks for your cooperation, looking forward to your reply..

    Kind Regards,



    Jeff.Yu

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Tel: +852-31757930-8050
    Fax: +852- 31757932
    Email:jeff.yu@hknetwork.org.cn
    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    I just received this exact same email. I checked out the www.hk-ncs.org.hn website and it does exist but is in Chinese and NOT a functional website. If you get this email just mark the sender as spam.

    Its all a bunch of BS! I gotta hand it to whoever thought of this, it sounds like a great idea and I bet several companies fall for it.

    V



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From: morgan.zhai [mailto:morgan.zhai@hk-nsc.org.cn]
    Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 9:22 PM
    To:
    Subject: YOUR DOMAIN NAME (business name)'SCURRENT SITUATION




    Dear (Business Name),



    We are a domain name registration organization in Hong Kong, mainly dealing with the company domain names conflicts in China and Asia regions. We received an formal application from one company named " Dongxing (China) Investment Co.Ltd " which applied the domain names(www. firstmatemarine.hk www. firstmatemarine.com.hk etc.)and the Internet keyword(firstmatemarine) as their domain names and internet brand at October 10, 2008. After our investigation, we found that it is the same as your company name and trademark, so we inform you about this. In order to find out if it could affect you or not, we still have not confirm the third company yet, and if you think the domains are important and would like to register to protect it, Please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.



    Best Regards,

    Morgan.Zhai



    Tel: +852-31757931 (ext8023)
    Fax: +852- 31757932
    Email: morgan.zhai@hk-nsc.org.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    I just received a similar email. Has anyone called these people using the phone numbers they offer? The email reads as follows:

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: morgan.zhai
    To: (my email address from domain public registry)
    Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 2:36 AM
    Subject: YOUR DOMAIN NAME'S CURRENT SITUATION




    Dear (my co. name),



    We are a domain name registration organization in Hong Kong, mainly dealing with the company domain names conflicts in China and Asia regions. We received an formal application from one company named " Dongxing (China) Investment Co.Ltd " which applied the domain names(www. my co. name.hk www. my co. name.com.hk etc.)and the Internet keyword(my co. key words) as their domain names and internet brand at October 13, 2008. After our investigation, we found that it is the same as your company name and trademark, so we inform you about this. In order to find out if it could affect you or not, we still have not confirm the third company yet, and if you think the domains are important and would like to register to protect it, Please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.



    Best Regards,

    Morgan.Zhai



    Tel: +852-31757931 (ext8023)
    Fax: +852- 31757932
    Email: morgan.zhai@hk-nsc.org.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: www.hknsc.hk


    2008-10-14

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    morgan.zhai
    • ^
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    Otc 14 2008

    xxxxxx

    Domain name & Internet keyword



    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register“ xxxxxxx”as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 10, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.





    Kind Regards,

    Eileen.tao



    Tel: +852-31757931（ext.8029）

    Fax: +852-31757932

    Email: eileen.tao@hk-net.hk.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

    Website: www.hknsc.hk







    2008-10-14

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    eileen.tao
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    An der Grenze, ein Mann fährt mit dem Fahrrad vor, auf dem Gepäckträger einen Sack.

    Zöllner:
    "Haben Sie etwas zu verzollen?"

    Mann:
    "Nein."

    Zöllner:
    "Und was haben sie in dem Sack?"

    Mann:
    "Sand."

    Bei der Kontrolle stellt sich heraus: tatsächlich Sand. Eine ganze Woche lang kommt jeden Tag der Mann mit dem Fahrrad und dem Sack auf dem Gepäckträger. Am achten Tag wird's dem Zöllner doch verdächtig: Zöllner:
    "Was haben sie in dem Sack?"

    Mann:
    "Nur Sand."

    Zöllner:
    "Hmm, mal sehen..."

    Der Sand wird diesmal gesiebt - Ergebnis: nur Sand. Der Mann kommt weiterhin jeden Tag zur Grenze. Zwei Wochen später wird es dem Grenzer zu bunt und er schickt den Sand ins Labor - Ergebnis: nur Sand. Nach einem weiteren Monat der "Sandtransporte", hält es der Zöllner nicht mehr aus und fragt den Mann:
    "Also, ich gebe es Ihnen schriftlich, dass ich nichts verrate, aber sie schmuggeln doch etwas. Sagen sie mir bitte, was!"

    Der Mann:
    "Fahrräder..."
    • ^
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    Oct 15 2008
    xxxxxxx
    Domain name & Internet keyword

    Dear Sir/Madam,
    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “xxxxxxx” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 14, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.

    Kind Regards,
    Kris Yu

    Tel: +852-31757931（ext.8024）
    Fax: +852-31757932
    Email: Kris.yu@hknetwork.hk
    kris.yu@hknetwork.hk.cn
    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    Website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    Dear CEO:

    On 15th Oct,"Doncar Group Investment Co,Ltd" sent us an application , they trying to register "ignesbags" as domain name and Internet Brand. They want to use this name to promote them in the internet and do the promotion Google and Baidu and other search engins. But after auditing we found this name been used by your company .

    As a company registrar,it's our duty to notice you that:during our auditing procedure we find out that the alleged "Doncar Group Investment Co,Ltd" has no trademark, Intellectual property, nor patent even similar to that word. we found that the keywords and domain names applied for registration are as same as your company's name and trademark.

    So one point need you to confirm: Whether this alleged "Doncar Group Investment Co,Ltd" is your business partner or distributor in China?

    These days we are dealing with it ,and we only can keep your domain names safe in our auditing time .
    If you are not in charge of this,please transfer this email to appropriate department.In order to deal with this issue better,please let someone who is responsible for trademark or domain name contact me as soon as possible.

    Yours sincerely Eric Wang

    Eric Wang
    Tel: +86-0513-8011 8538
    Fax:+86-0513-8011 8539
    website: www.mordenwork.com.cn
    • ^
    • v
    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “My Company” as their domain name and Internet keyword on October 08, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.

    Kind Regards,

    William Han

    Tel: (+852) 31757930-8002

    Fax: (+852) 31757932

    Email: william.han@hongkongnet.hk

    william.han@hongkongnet.hk.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service company Limited

    Website: http://www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
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    Our Canadian company was also contacted by the Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited and we have exchanged emails back and forth. Can anyone say whether they are legitimate?

    Oct. 8, 2008
    Domain name&Internet keyword

    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “companydomainname...” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 7, 2008.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support

    Kind Regards,

    Joan.yang

    Tel: +852- 31757930（8042）
    Fax: +852-31757932
    Email: joan.yang@hknetwork.org
    wggmy@yahoo.com

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: http://www.hknsc.hk


    I wrote them back and asked which domain names, they replied with:

    Hello!

    Thanks for your prompt reply. Domain names were open to be registered all over the world. Now, the aforementioned third party is applying the following domain names and internet keyword:

    Domain names as below:

    www.companydomain.cn
    www.companydomain.com.cn
    www.companydomain.hk
    www.companydomain.tw
    www.companydomain.com.hk
    www.companydomain.com.tw
    www.companydomain.asia

    Internet keyword as below:
    (company domain name)

    Once you would like to protect or preserve them by registering ahead due to importance, one valid application form will be sent to start your prior registration. Or we are going to approve the application from the third party if your company does not lay claim to these domains. Please let us know if there is anything more we might be of assistance. Thanks very much and your early reply will be appreciated.

    An introduction of Internet Keyword is enclosed for your review.

    Regards,

    Joan.yang
    • ^
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    I feel like such a fool. I fell for this email and even phoned the company and spoke to "Simon Gao" - who is, apparently, a woman:

    Dear Principal,

    We are Govdm information technology Ltd, which is the domain name register center in China.I have something need to confirm with you.
    we have received an application formally,one company named "Kasem Investment Corp" applies for the domain names

    (thechartist.cn
    thechartist.com.cn
    thechartist.com.hk
    thechartist.com.tw
    thechartist.hk
    thechartist.net.cn
    thechartist.tw ) and the Internet Trademark(Thechartist)on the internet Oct 8, 2008. We need to know the opinion of your company, because the domain names and keywords may relate to the usufruct of brand name on internet.
    we would like to get the affirmation of your company,lease contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible. Please let someone in your company who is responsible for trademark or intellectual right contact me freely.

    Best Regards,
    Simon Gao

    Sponsoring Registrar:
    Govdm information technology Ltd
    + 86 021-6460 7449

    Email: simon.gao@govdm.com
    simon@govdm.com
    Website:www.govdm.com　

    I rang and spoke to her but it was very hard to understand her. I thought she was threatening to give away our domain names so went ahead and ordered the domain names myself through our web server in the US and another Asian registry - one that I could actually read the website. It cost me a small fortune.

    This morning I wake to another threatening email - this time because I registered the domains through other companies and not their own. Now they are threatening to give away our Internet Trademark.

    Trish
    • ^
    • v
    My friend jsut received the following e-mail, which seems very similar:

    From: kate
    To: info
    Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 9:08 AM
    Subject: Your Intellectual Property

    Dear Sir/Mad
    On 17th.Oct. Marffex Corporation sent us an application , they trying to register "faune-flore" as domain name and Internet Brand. They want to use this name to promote them in the internet and do the promotion Google and Baidu and other search engins. But after auditing we found this name been used by your company . So we sent you email .
    We only can keep the domain names safe in our auditing time , once over this period , we should accept their registration , So, please ask your It manager or responsible person to contact me as soon as possible .
    I'm looking forward to hearing from you .
    Yours sincerely Kate

    Kate IT
    Tel: +86-0513-8011 8538 ext 610
    Fax:+86-0513-8011 8539
    Email:Kate@mordenwork.cn

    Bernadette
    • ^
    • v
    Here is another one.
    Oct 17,2008
    BikeBits NZ
    Domain name & Internet keyword
    Dear Sir/Madam,
    We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in China. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “bikebitsnz” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Oct 15,2008. Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.

    Kind Regards,

    Jessica.pi

    Tel: +852-31757931（ext.8030）

    Fax: +852-31757932

    Email: Jessica.pi@hk-net.hk.cn or Jessica.pi@hk-net.hk

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

    Website: www.hknsc.hk

    I am going to ignore it but as a coincidence, I do happen to be doing business with a Chinese Company.
    I will check with them
    John S
    • ^
    • v
    I got one too. Really had me nervous for awhile. Glad I found this site.
    From: boyce.meng
    To: spaluzzi
    Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 11:47 PM
    Subject: YOUR DOMAIN NAME (beadpeddler)'SCURRENT SITUATION




    Dear The Bead Peddler

    We are the domain name registration organization in Hong Kong, ,which mainly deal with the domain names' conflicts of the company in China and Asia regions.We have received an formal application online from one company named "TianHaiYuanTong (China) Investment Co.Ltd" who is trying to apply for the domain names(www. beadpeddler.cn www. beadpeddler.hk etc.) and the Internet keyword(beadpeddler) as their domain name and internet brand on Oct 15,2008.After our initial examination, we found that the keywords and domain names being applied are the same as your company’s name and trademark. These days we are dealing with it. If you don’t know this company, we doubt that they buy these domain names with other aims. We have not started the registration for TianHaiYuanTong company until now. In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.



    Best Regards,

    Boyce Meng



    Tel: +852-31757931 (ext8048)
    Fax: +852- 31757932
    Email: boyce.meng@hk-nsc.org.cn

    Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited
    website: www.hknsc.hk
    • ^
    • v
    I wish I had found this site earlier, although, as I mentioned in my previous post, I now have the domain registrations and I feel good that I registered them through my own sources and didn't have the scammers do it. If you are concerned about your Trademark then I strongly suggest you view the World Intellectual Property Organization website http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/what/. The idea is that you register your trademark in numerous countries (though not all) through one source. You must have a trademark registered in your own country first and then you can apply to all or some of the countries signed up to WIPO. China is one of the countries. If you select all the countries it is extremely expensive to register so it depends how much value you place on your trademark and how financial your company is. If you select a few countries the cost is reasonable. A calculator is provided to determine the cost (prices are in Swiss Francs). It is a very thorough and helpful website.
    Regards,
    Trish
    • ^
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