Chinese domain offers - beware!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:32PM Alan W Year of the Dog?
I’d hoped that this scam had been nailed once and for all but it’s back again in 2012. I last saw it five years ago when I advised a legal firm about this domain name con-trick. Their client had been approached by a Chinese company purporting to be suppliers of domain names.
The way it works is that a Chinese outfit contacts a UK company with a distinctive name, and tries to flog them a raft of Asian domain names. Their covering story is that someone else [a phony company] recently tried to register [the following domain names] but as you appear to be the genuine holder of intellectual property rights, you’re being contacted first for permission [in reality, to see if we can bounce you into buying them].
This also used to happen in the UK in the early years of the web. Domain name scammers based in Britain would flog a domain for an absolute fortune, and people fell for it.
Typically, the domains being offered have Chinese, Hong Kong, Indian or Taiwanese TLDs (top-level domains – eg .in or .cn for India and China respectively). For pretty much every business I can think of, owning a domain with these TLDs will be of no value whatsoever. It’s unsettling stuff for someone who doesn’t know the score though and the temptation is to cover yourself and buy them just to be sure.
One contact forwarded an email that he’d received recently from “NaSnet Company” in China.
(It's very urgent, Please transfer this email to your CEO or appropriate person, Thanks)
Dear CEO/Principal,
This is Deray Qian---Senior Consultant of domain name registration and solution center in China. have something to confirm with you. We formally received an application on May 9, 2012, one company which self-styled "Diocesis & Holdings Co.,Ltd" were applying to register "s******r" as Network Brand and following domain names:
s******r.asia
s******r.cn
s******r.co.in
s******r.com.cn
s******r.com.hk
s******r.com.tw
s******r.hk
s******r.in
s******r.net.cn
s******r.org.cn
s******r.tw
After our initial checking, we found that the brand name applied for registration are as same as your company's name and brand, so we need to check with you whether your company has authorized that company to register these names. If you authorized this, we will finish the registration at once. If your company has no relationships with that company nor do not authorized,please reply to us within 7 workdays,if we can't get any information from yours over 7 workdays, we will unconditionally approve the application submitted by "Diocesis & Holdings Co.,Ltd" .
Thanks for your cooperation.
Best Regards,
Senior Consultant Manager
Does this pass the sniff test? I looked at their Chinese site http://www.nscns.org.cn/ [now defunct] to see what gives. Much of the text is images (try the Hosting Plans pages), text is badly written and the Add to Cart buttons don’t work. Note the credibility-enhancing logos: what have Mercedes, Omron, Panasonic, Canon or Sharp got to do with it? The last Tech Support announcement is dated July 2009 and their Search box results always lead to a Contact Us page. Much information is missing, but overall it gives a passing impression that it’s an authentic site to do with hosting, email plans, DIY websites.
However, most of the content doesn’t ‘work’, they try to rush you into deciding and finally, I found no information on “Diocesis & Holdings Co., Ltd.” anyway. I noticed one or two product similarities with the (authentic) web hosting firm Dotster whose name is also found in the 'Announcement' in their 'Support KB'.
Emails on the same lines have also been received from an outfit calling themselves "Shanghai SPS Network Technology Co., Ltd" who were allegedly instructed to register a client's trade mark in domain names ending in "cn; hk; mobi; net.cn; org.cn and tw".
Needless to say, on checking a WHOIS database a month later, the proposed domains remained unregistered.
As always, you have to be vigilant out there and my advice is to trust your instincts when confronted by fishy-looking emails like these.
(I updated this on 22nd May.)
Alan W
Godom Trading Ltd. Another example received today, trying to sell me my own domain name...
Dear President, [!!]
We are the department of Asian Domain Registration Service in China. I have something to confirm with you. We formally received an application on September 25, 2013 that a company which self-styled "Godom Trading Ltd". were applying to register some "epemag" Asian countries top-level domain names.
Now we are handling this registration, and after our initial checking, we found the name were similar to your company's, so we need to check with you whether your company has authorized that company to register these names. If you authorized this, we will finish the registration at once. If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better.
Best Regards,
9/F,No.4 Guanghua building,JiangDong Road,Chenghua District,Chengdu City,China
Alan W
Looking for Huatong Ltd.? 17th November 2013
Apparently they want to register my own domain name in China. A quick look at the credible-looking Chinese website (URL below) soon gives the game away. For example, the Knowledge Base refers to the US host Dotster again, a 2012 update reporting a fire at the Seattle data centre (back in in 2009!)
Try the Add to Cart button at http://www.ygregistry.com.cn/websites.html : [now defunct] it doesn't work.
It's enough to give a passing impression of legitimacy though. Nice try...
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China.
We received an application from Huatong Ltd on November 11, 2013. They want to register " epemag " as their Internet Keyword and " epemag .cn "、" epemag .com.cn " 、" epemag .net.cn "、" epemag .org.cn " domain names etc.., they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find " epemag " 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,
Jim
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygregistry.com.cn
Alan W
Aedel Industrial Co. Ltd. 22nd November 2013
Alan W
Here’s the latest one trying to sell us our own 'epemag' domain name again!
Huayuan Ltd. 1st March 2014
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China.
We received an application from Huayuan Ltd on February 28, 2014. They want to register " epemag3 " as their Internet Keyword and " epemag3 .cn "," epemag3 .com.cn " ," epemag3 .net.cn "、" epemag3 .org.cn " domain names etc.., they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find "epemag3 " 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,
Jim
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
[...]
Web: www.ygregistryltd.com
As usual, the website’s designed to give a passing impression that it’s authentic. But none of the ‘Add to cart’ buttons work and (yet again) the Knowledgebase entry of 2012 refers to a fire at ‘their’ data centre back in 2009. It mentions US provider Dotster’s website as they forgot to remove the name.
Alan W
... and beware of Phony ‘chaser’ emails!
In a novel twist to the tale, I learn that Jim & Co may embroider the fraud by sending an email purportedly from the ‘interested company’ in China addressed to the targeted victim.
The bogus email confirms the phony company’s interest in pursuing a keyword and domain name, and despite “Mr Jim’s advice to the contrary”, the company intends to register them [unless you do first, of course]. This ‘chaser’ email comes from a Hotmail address.
A Price List & Order Form from Jim & Co offers a completely worthless keyword for sale at €158 per year (minimum 5 years) and a crop of .cn domain names totalling €240 per year, minimum ten years. That’s €3,190 for starters or US $4,400. Nice work if you can get it, but you’re wise to the con-trick now, aren’t you?
Alan W
CarkyProt Company 7th May 2014
Reports of a new company name have arrived, so if you receive any emails claiming that a business called 'CarkyProt Company' is interested in buying domain names, you know what to do!
Alan W
Ranlbace Ltd. 13th June 2014
A new phony company name 'Ranlbace Ltd' has been reported and the Chinese outfit is now calling itself NowDigital Online Co.
A quick look at the 'Knowledgebase' shows it's identical to previous versions, e.g. the post dated July 8 2009, related to Dotster Inc in the USA because they forgot to remove the Dotster name.
---
Andy Zhang
Senior Consultant Manager
NS NowDigital Online Co
Tel: +86-553-4228271 Fax: +86-553-4228028
Web: www.nowdigital.org.cn
Adress: No.8-3 New Time Business Street, Wuhu City, China
Alan W
Centdenrry Company 23rd June 2014
A new phony ID of Centdenrry Company has been reported.
Alan W
Another phony Chinese name "Elisten Company" has appeared.
Alan W
RAINLANE LTD 31st July 2014
to add to the list of bogus companies that they claim want to buy your domain name.
Alan W
Contacting the Chinese State Administration
I’ve had nearly 100 comments from people around the world who have been targeted by Chinese domain name scammers who try to pressurise them into buying useless domains that they don’t need, or (even worse) MEANINGLESS “Internet keywords” that are completely WORTHLESS.
I’ve been thinking, what to do about all these phony Chinese domain name scams? In China, industry is regulated by the State Administration for Industry & Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (SAIC). There is an English website here which explains the Government’s legal structure and departments.
One option is to forward scam emails to SAIC via the official web page below, along with your basic contact details and whatever complaint you feel appropriate. See if that gets anywhere?
http://www.saic.gov.cn/english/ContactUs/
Alan W
CNNet Dispute Solutions - HuiDa Industry Company 20th August 2014
I guess Jim & Co. are on vacation, so instead I got a phony email from CNNet Dispute Solutions as follows, a typical scam domain email trying to sell me my own domain name! To be clear: there is no dispute, HuiDa is a phony company and no-one has tried to 'buy' Chinese versions of my (your) domain name.
As always, do not respond, and definitely do not send any cash! Personally, I would smile and go make a cup of tea instead.
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
We are a organization specializing in trademark consulting and domain name registration services in China. We just received an application sent from "HuiDa Industry Company" on 18/08/2014, requesting for applying the "epemag" as the Internet Brand and some Chinese domains such as .cn/.com.cn/.hk/.asia ect... for their business running. Though our preliminary review and verification, we found that this keyword is currently being used by your company and is applied as your domain name. In order to avoid any potential risks in terms of trademark dispute and impact on your market businesses in China and Asia in future, we need to confirm with you whether "HuiDa Industry Company" is your own subsidiary or partner.
Will your businesses in China and Asia be impacted potentially if they apply for this trademark? And will you agree this company to apply for this trademark? Please contact us immediately within 10 working days, otherwise, you will be deemed as waived by default.
Please contact us in time in order that we can handle this issue better.
Best Regards,
[CNNet Dispute Solutions]
Jason Chen
Auditing Department.
Registration Department Manager
4/F,No.9 XingHui West Street,
JinNiu ChenDu, China
Office: +86 2887662861
Fax: +86 2887783286
Web: http://www.cn-network.com [a phony website]
Alan W
Huaxing Ltd. 31st August 2014
Jim's fired up his Outlook Express and is having another go at selling me my domain names
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China. We received an application from Huaxing Ltd on August 25, 2014. They want to register " epemag " as their Internet Keyword and " epemag .cn "、" epemag .com.cn " 、" epemag .net.cn "、" epemag .org.cn " domain names etc.., they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find " epemag " 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,
Jim
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.yg-registry.com
Alan W
Cridany Company 17th October 2014
Reports have surfaced of another phony outfit "Cridany Company" interested in buying "your" domain. As usual, the domain names in question are likely to be worthless so don't be tempted to buy anything, especially at their hyper-inflated prices.
Alan W
Huake Ltd. 8th December 2014
Jim & Co are hard at it, spreading their Christmas cheer by trying to defraud innocent people into buying useless domain names and totally worthless so-called 'Internet Keywords'. Having read my article, you now know what to do!
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China.
We received an application from Huake Ltd on December 1, 2014. They want to register " [my village name] " as their Internet Keyword and " [my village name] .cn "、" [my village name] .com.cn " 、" [my village name] .net.cn "、" [my village name] .org.cn " domain names etc.., they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find " [my village name] " 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,
Jim
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697 Web: www.ygregistry.com
Alan W
ECODOMICS COMPANY - 24th January 2015
A reader has advised this phony company name is being used. They don't exist, and you should not buy any domain names if approached this way.
Alan W
Huayu Ltd 30th April 2015
The latest phony domain name mail from Bill & Co:
Dear CEO, (If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent, Thanks) We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China.
We received an application from Huayu Ltd on April 27, 2015. They want to register " imp---udp " as their Internet Keyword and " imp---udp .cn “, ” imp---udp .com.cn " ," imp---udp .net.cn “ , ” imp---udp .org.cn " domain names etc.., they are in China domain names. But after checking it, we find " imp-udp " 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, Jim General Manager Shanghai Office (Head Office) 3008, Jiulong Building, No. 836 Nandan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China Tel: +86 216191 8696 Mobile: +86 1870199 4951 Fax: +86 216191 8697 Web: www.cnwebregistry.cn
Alan W
TanLen Train Company 10th August 2015
This is the latest phony company supposedly trying to register "your" domain name. As always, these are scams from China trying to fool you into paying a fortune for worthless domains that you don't need, so don't worry about it -- simply ignore them.
Alan W
TangHan Leng Co 31st August 2015
Reported in a domain name fraud, see poster's follow-up comments. This is a non-existent company and, if you are approached by an unsolicited email from China, you should not offer to buy any domain names as they will be worthless.
Alan W
Huabao Ltd on December 29, 2015
The latest efforts of Jim & Co. are using this phony company name. Just laugh and ignore him...
Alan W
TranTon Trade Ltd. - 17th April 2017
Dear Manager,
Regarding registration of your company name *********, hereby send the confirmation letter, please read it carefully.
We are an agency engaging in registering brand name and domain names. Today, Our center received an application from TranTon Trade Ltd and they apply to register ********* 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,
Bella Xu | Service & Operations Manager
TOO Internet Service http://www.tooints.org/
Alan W
Baoyue Ltd - 15th May 2017
(If you are NOT CEO, please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration in China. On May 15, 2017, we received an application from Baoyue Ltd requested "******" as their internet keyword and China domain names (*******.cn, *******.com.cn, *******.net.cn, *******.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether your company is associated with this Chinese company or not?
Best Regards,
Bob Liu | Service & Operations Manager
China Registry (Head Office) | 6012, Xingdi Building, No. 1698 Yishan Road, Shanghai 201103, China
Mob: +86-13816428671 | Tel: +86-2161918696 | Fax: +86-2161918697
Email: bob@chinaregistry.org.cn
Alan W
| From: "Alisa" <alisali@cacus.cn> |
CACTrademark.cn - Damai Co Ltd - 22nd May 2019
After a long lull in these domain name scams, here we go again.... as before, do not be taken in by these scams, simply ignore them completely. Dear Manager, (If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks) This email is from China Internet Service Provider, which mainly deal with the domain name registration in China. We received an application from Damai Co Ltd on May 20th, 2019. They want to register "*****" as their keyword and China/Asia (CN/ASIA) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name 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, Alisa Huang
General Manager
Anhui Office (Head Office) Registration Department Manager Room 1130-1135 MouTian Building
ChiZhuShan ZhongRoad,China web: www.cactrademark.cn
Alan W
Update 3rd July 2019 - Hua Hai Ltd.
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 Hua Hai Ltd on July 1, 2019. They want to register ...
[blah blah snipped]
Mike Zhang | Service Manager
Cn YG Domain (Head Office)8006, Xinlong Building, No. 415 WuBao Road, Shanghai 201105, China
Tel: +86-2161918696 | Fax: +86-2161918697 | Mob: +86-1582177 1823Web: www(dot)cnygdomain(dot)com(dot)cn
**************************************
Alan W
| From: "Adrian Liu" <customerservice@chinanethosting.org> |
Kaiqian Ltd. 23rd July 2019
(It's very urgent, please transfer this email to your CEO. Thanks)
We are the domain name registration service company in China. On July 23, 2019, we received an application from Kaiqian Ltd requested "xxxxxxxx" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names (xxxxxxxx.cn, xxxxxxxx.com.cn, xxxxxxxx.net.cn, xxxxxxxx.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your business partner in China?
Best Regards
***************************************
Adrian Liu | Service & Operations Manager
China Registry (Head Office) | 6012, Xingdi Building, No. 1698 Yishan Road, Shanghai 201103, China
Tel: +86-02164193517 | Fax: +86-02164198327 | Mob: +86-13816428671
Email: adrian@chinaregistry.org.cn
***************************************
Reader Comments (103)
I have been receiving emails the last couple of days regarding the exact scam about our company domain from MATT FUNG Senior Advisor Manager, NSG Serice Ltd. No. 8-8018, Peace Building, Jinghu District, Wuhu City, China
Thank you to yourself and Google for making it very easy to check information regarding this scam that is still on going, it has saved me so much time and no doubt money.
Shane
I received similar from a 'Jim Bing'. For this post, I removed my e mail address and also my domain name. Hence the 'XXXXX'.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Bing <jim.bing@cnwebregistry.net>
To: XXXXXXX
Sent: Fri, Jan 1, 2016 2:10 am
Subject: Re:"XXXXX.com"
Best Regards,
Jim
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3008, Jiulong Building, No. 836 Nandan Road,
Shanghai, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.cnwebregistry.net
Dear CEO,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent, Thanks)
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China.
We received an application from Huabao Ltd on December 29, 2015. They want to register " XXXXX " as their Internet Keyword and " XXXXXX .cn "、" XXXXX .com.cn " 、" XXXX .net.cn "、" XXXXXX .org.cn " 、" XXXXX .asia " domain names etc.., they are in China and Asia domain names. But after checking it, we find " XXXXX " 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?
Thank you for this post. I got several emails similar to this. See below:
Dear Manager,
Regarding registration of your company name e*******ns, hereby send the confirmation letter, please read it carefully.
We are an agency engaging in registering brand name and domain names. Today, Our center received an application from TranTon Trade Ltd and they apply to register e******ns 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,
Ivy Fu | Service & Operations Manager