Domain scammers take advantage of Haiti earthquake

Millions from around the world have donated to help earthquake victims in Haiti. With people so readily giving money, it’s no surprise that domain scammers are trying to take advantage of the situation. As is the norm after all disasters in the Internet age, unscrupulous con artists are registering domains and setting up fake donation sites.

The FBI sent out an alert today warning Americans of this danger. It said to watch out for spam emails and verify the legitimacy of non-profits before donating. According to the Associated Press, more than 400 domains related to the disaster have been registered since Monday. Most of them will likely be used for illegitimate purposes. Unfortunately, most of these scammers will probably never be tracked down and caught.

Photo | Flickr

UK police shut down 1200 .co.uk domains

The Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) announced today that it, in conjunction with the .uk registry, has shut down more than 1200 .co.uk domains.

The domains in question were used by organised criminal networks for scamming. Many contained fake online stores where consumers could order designer goods for low prices, but these people ended getting conned out of their money instead. The names are thought to have generated millions of pounds in revenue.

It’s great to see something being done about Internet fraud. Cyber criminals are often times very difficult to prosecute, but in this case the PCeU found a way it could take action with minimal effort.

Photo | Flickr

Watch out for the Chinese domain scam

Domainers, take note: a new domain scam is making its rounds across the web. This time, the culprit is a Chinese domain registrar trying to recruit more customers.

The victim will usually receive a seemingly polite and well-meaning email from a “domain name register center” in China. The message will mention the recipient’s domain, then reveal that a local company is trying to register the .cn or .com.cn version.

We are Shanghai Foo Network Information Technology Co.,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 “Bar (China) Investment Co.” applies for the domain names(www.example.cn www.example.com.cn etc.),and the Internet keyword(example) on the internet September 17,2009.We need to know the opinion of your company because the domain names and keyword may relate to the copyright of brand name on internet.

we would like to get the affirmation of your company,please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.

Needless to say, the goal of the email is to con the cybersquatting-paroid into buying a Chinese domain from the registrar. If you get a message like this in your inbox, delete it and go on your merry way.

Source | Tech Republic

Photo | ZaNuDa

Watch out for this domain appraisal scam

Domain blog The Domains highlighted a domain appraisal scam today all domainers should be aware of.

Essentially what happens is a domain owner receives a legitimate-looking email from a prospective buyer. The sender tells the domain holder that he will buy it for a certain percentage of the appraisal price, and lists at least two places where the name can be appraised.

The person isn’t looking to buy the name, but is actually a domain appraisal service looking to get business. The emails will usually list two domain appraisal sites. One is legitimate, while the other is a cheaper service owned by the scammer. Since human beings are inherently cheap, victims inadvertently pay the scammer for an appraisal.
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70 gTLDs Now Available for Preorder

I posted a month ago about how two registrars have teamed up to offer preorders for gTLDs. While everything sounded great on paper, the reality was and still is that the duo is misleading consumers.

Now the joint company has issued a press release declaring that 70 gTLDs are now available for preorder. Among the latest additions include .deal, .forsale, .free, .gay and .god. It continues to claim that 10,000 preorders are being made per day.

Keep in mind that none of the gTLDs have been approved by ICANN yet and there is no guarantee a preorder will be honored. After all, the company that buys the rights to the domain extension will be the one who handles registrations, not some fly-by-night operation.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the company is allowing multiple people to preorder the same name and no fees have to paid up front. So in essence the reservations mean nothing. The two registrars claim they are providing vital market research proving that demand for gTLDs exists, but even that is open to speculation because those reserving names, most of whom are likely speculators anyway, are required to make no commitment whatsoever.

If you are interested in preordering a gTLD, you would get better results by writing the name down on a sheet of paper, tucking it under your pillow, and waiting for the extension to be approved by ICANN and become available for registration.

Photo: Flickr