Domain Name Scam doing the rounds, again

Hi World... :-)

Those of us that have a domain name for our business should (and do) value it; ideally it should be THE domain name that meets our exact needs - short, simple & easy to type (so that people can find us easily on the web).

However, there's always a fear that people may pretend to be us and, at best, generate sales that were intended for us; at worst it could damage our company's reputation; the "official" name for this is "Cybersquatting".

There are some famous examples, one of which is Whitehouse.org, a parody website that Chickenhead Productions created in 2001, though the domain was first registered in 1995. The banner at the top of the website's front page reads, quote: "THE WHITE HOUSE" (and then in smaller print underneath) "OFFICIOUS WEBSITE OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH", end quote. The website is a parody of U.S. President George W. Bush and his family, friends and administration.

So, this current scam plays on our fears... what if someone had a domain name that was so close to our exisiting one that people could easily mis-type and find a different site; for example, just two letters transposed in a web address www.microsotf.com will not take me to Microsoft's web page, but a search engine.

Set out below is such an email that I received today...

Dear President/CEO,

We are a domain name registration service company in Hongkong, which mainly deal with international company's in asia.

We have something important need to confirm with your company.On the Sep 1, 2008, we received an application formally. One company named "Gestppy Investment Co., Ltd "wanted to register following
Domain names:
us4b.asia
us4b.mobi
us4b.jp
us4b.tw
us4b.cn
us4b.com.cn
us4b.co.in

Internet brand name:Us4b

Through our company.

After our initial auditing, we find that the Internet brand name and domain names applied for registration are as same as your company's name and brand name, and they haven't filled in the detailed information on the application, so we need to send you an email to confirm whether you have relation with this company.

If you do not know this company, we suspect such company wants to do some cybersquatting.
Now we have not finished the registration of "Gestppy Investment Co., Ltd" yet, In order to deal with this issue better, please contact us ASAP.

Best Regards,
Gavin.Feng
Auditing Department Director:Hong Kong
Head Office:Tel: 00852 30593057fax: 00852-30198068 00852-31875699
Email:Gavin@dnrcenter.hk
Web: http://www.sknetservice.hk

Should you receive an email along these lines, my advice is to hit the delete button!

Yes, cybersquatting is a worry, but, to be honest, when domain names are registered, there's no checking of who else has a similar one; registering companies just take the money & get on with it!

In addition, these companies would then charge large amounts of money to register the name for you; if you do need additional domain names to protect yourself or because you are moving into wider markets so it makes sense, then arrange for your own webhost to do this; it will be cheaper in the long run!