12Wonder
June 20th, 2005, 03:17 PM
More domain registration scams See also this related topic about domain "renewal" scams (http://forums.12wonderhosting.com/index.php?act=ST&f=14&t=149):
IDENTITY THEFT SCAM:
Some of the domain renewal scams appear to also be attempts at identity theft. Some things to watch for:
You are unable to reach anyone, ever, at the phone number listed on the site
Their company web site doesn't offer additional services other than renewing domain names.
Visitors are brought to a single page, where they are asked to input personal contact and credit card information.
The web site does not use SSL encryption (an https:// url) to securely pass this information.
"VALUATION" SCAM:
There is another somewhat widespread scam currently going around in which a domain registrant receives an unsolicted purchase inquiry about their domain. When the domain owner responds to the inquiry, the prospective "purchaser" states that they will pay the amount provided by an objective appraisal, and the "purchaser" states that they only trust any of three or four services. One of those services is conveniently priced well below the other ones. So, the domain owner obtains the appraisal, sends it to the "purchaser", and the "purchaser" is never heard from again. The point of the scam is to induce domain owners into buying useless appraisals (which of course are actually done by the prospecive "purchaser" or a partner), and in some cases to also steal credit card information from the domain owner.
"IDENTICAL DOMAIN NAME APPLICATION BY A THIRD PARTY":
This one has actually been around for several years and was halted by the FTC; however that hasn't stopped the scammers from working it, or a variation of it. This domain scheme dupes consumers into needlessly registering variations of their existing domain names by deceptively contending that a third party, acting in bad faith, is about to claim it. Tens of thousands of consumers may have been victims of the scam.
Consumers - many of them operating small businesses on the 'Net - received unsolicited fax or mail solicitations stating, "URGENT NOTICE OF IDENTICAL DOMAIN NAME APPLICATION BY A THIRD PARTY", or a similar heading. The letterhead usually identifies the sender as some kind of domain monitoring agency.
As an example, the solicitation warns that an application for a domain name almost identical to the recipient's has been "submitted to the National Domain Name Registry (NDNR) for registration," by an unidentified third party. For example, the owner of a site "www.somedomain.org" was told that an application had been submitted to obtain the domain name "www.somedomain.net" The solicitation says, "Consequently, it is our opinion that this application may have been submitted in bad faith..." The solicitation lists four reasons someone might want a copy-cat domain name, including "disrupting the business of a competitor," or intentionally attempting to lure someone else's customers by creating a confusingly similar Web address. The fax solicitation offers to block the application by obtaining the copy-cat domain name for the fax recipient for a fee of $70. It warns that, if the consumer fails to act, "WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE LOSS OF DOMAIN NAME LICENSE, IDENTICAL OR CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR USE OF YOUR COMPANY'S NAME; OR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY OR BUSINESS LOSSES."
According to the FTC, no third party has applied for the name, and the information in the fax solicitations is false, in violation of the FTC Act. An FTC memorandum to the court states, "Defendants representation that a third party has applied for a domain name by submitting a registration request to NDNR or any other entity is not only false, but also nonsensical. As explained in the declaration submitted by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, 'the purchase of domain names is practically instantaneous,' meaning there is no period during which an application [for a domain name] is pending and could be challenged."
Anne
IDENTITY THEFT SCAM:
Some of the domain renewal scams appear to also be attempts at identity theft. Some things to watch for:
You are unable to reach anyone, ever, at the phone number listed on the site
Their company web site doesn't offer additional services other than renewing domain names.
Visitors are brought to a single page, where they are asked to input personal contact and credit card information.
The web site does not use SSL encryption (an https:// url) to securely pass this information.
"VALUATION" SCAM:
There is another somewhat widespread scam currently going around in which a domain registrant receives an unsolicted purchase inquiry about their domain. When the domain owner responds to the inquiry, the prospective "purchaser" states that they will pay the amount provided by an objective appraisal, and the "purchaser" states that they only trust any of three or four services. One of those services is conveniently priced well below the other ones. So, the domain owner obtains the appraisal, sends it to the "purchaser", and the "purchaser" is never heard from again. The point of the scam is to induce domain owners into buying useless appraisals (which of course are actually done by the prospecive "purchaser" or a partner), and in some cases to also steal credit card information from the domain owner.
"IDENTICAL DOMAIN NAME APPLICATION BY A THIRD PARTY":
This one has actually been around for several years and was halted by the FTC; however that hasn't stopped the scammers from working it, or a variation of it. This domain scheme dupes consumers into needlessly registering variations of their existing domain names by deceptively contending that a third party, acting in bad faith, is about to claim it. Tens of thousands of consumers may have been victims of the scam.
Consumers - many of them operating small businesses on the 'Net - received unsolicited fax or mail solicitations stating, "URGENT NOTICE OF IDENTICAL DOMAIN NAME APPLICATION BY A THIRD PARTY", or a similar heading. The letterhead usually identifies the sender as some kind of domain monitoring agency.
As an example, the solicitation warns that an application for a domain name almost identical to the recipient's has been "submitted to the National Domain Name Registry (NDNR) for registration," by an unidentified third party. For example, the owner of a site "www.somedomain.org" was told that an application had been submitted to obtain the domain name "www.somedomain.net" The solicitation says, "Consequently, it is our opinion that this application may have been submitted in bad faith..." The solicitation lists four reasons someone might want a copy-cat domain name, including "disrupting the business of a competitor," or intentionally attempting to lure someone else's customers by creating a confusingly similar Web address. The fax solicitation offers to block the application by obtaining the copy-cat domain name for the fax recipient for a fee of $70. It warns that, if the consumer fails to act, "WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE LOSS OF DOMAIN NAME LICENSE, IDENTICAL OR CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR USE OF YOUR COMPANY'S NAME; OR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY OR BUSINESS LOSSES."
According to the FTC, no third party has applied for the name, and the information in the fax solicitations is false, in violation of the FTC Act. An FTC memorandum to the court states, "Defendants representation that a third party has applied for a domain name by submitting a registration request to NDNR or any other entity is not only false, but also nonsensical. As explained in the declaration submitted by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, 'the purchase of domain names is practically instantaneous,' meaning there is no period during which an application [for a domain name] is pending and could be challenged."
Anne