Domain Name Fraud
By: Julie Clark – Senior Marketing Director
7/2/2007

E-mails are being sent to manufacturers as a scare tactic to purchase Chinese domain names from a Chinese registrar. BMG has been contacted by manufacturers who have received these messages, and BMG has received them. Here is an example of an e-mail using this scare tactic:

We are Shanghai IDC Network Information Technology Co.,Ltd. which is a domain register center in China. We have something important need to confirm with your company.

We have received an application for registration formally, one company who is called Fosca (HK) Venture Capital Co.,Ltd applies for the internet brand/keyword (Barlow) and domain names (www.barlowmktg.cn, www.barlowmktg.cc, www.barlowmktg.com.cn, www.barlowmktg.net.cn, www.barlowmktg.org.cn, www.barlowmktg.hk, www.barlowmktg.tw) on the ground of an authorized unit of your company on 2007-07-11. We would like to know the opinion of your company because they may relate to the usufruct of your brand names. Please contact us by telephone or email.

Best regards,

Wisdom Tao
Register Department
Shanghai IDC Network Information Technology Co.,Ltd.
Address:Rm.601A, Block 2,Shanghai Withub White-cat Science Park,
No.641 Tianshan Road,Shanghai, 200336, P.R.China.
Tel: 0086-21-51750318 Fax:0086-21-51750301

We have done a fair amount of research on this issue.  To put this into perspective we located many articles on the Web with complaints and concerns of e-mails much like the one shown above. 

Our suggestion is not to act upon this e-mail due to the following reasons:

1. While purchasing the Web domain names is not a scam, what may, and typically will, follow after the purchase could be. More than likely, they will follow with another purchase ploy of your other brand names as domain names among others. The dishonest registrars can sometimes put fraudulent clauses such as long-term registrations and subscriptions to complementary services which are very costly.
2. This Chinese company will quote an excessive amount of money for the listings. BMG priced the exact same domain names and the price was $1,200.00 ($200.00 each name for 10 years) compared to the $3,860.00 they have quoted. The price they are quoting far exceeds normal standards. If the domain names are something your company would like to purchase, we highly suggest purchasing those through the known provider you currently use. 
3. The domain names can be lost to the profit of swindlers. These registrars are dishonest and will add costly clauses in the small print of the contract.
4. We have searched for information on Fosca (HK) Venture Capital Co., Ltd and found nothing. However, the Shanghai SQL Network I & T Co,. Ltd has been rampant over the internet with these e-mails which have always been referred to as “scams.” 

While it is important to enhance your Web presence – it is also important to know who it is you’re dealing with. Always check with a reliable source to validate the integrity of the service you’re considering.