May 2008
Domain Name Slamming - How to Protect Yourself Against Unscrupulous Entrepreneurs
One of the latest internet scams is that of Domain Name Slamming, whereby you will receive an email from someone pretending to be a domain name registrar, often based in China or Hong Kong, advising that a third party is about to purchase your domain name with for example a .jp, .cn, .hk or .asia suffix. They then offer you the opportunity of purchasing the domain for a fee so as to prevent the third party from doing so. Unbeknown to you, there is in fact no third party and this is an attempt to extort money from you.
If you had no intention of expanding your business into the East, these emails and letters are nothing more than an inconvenience. What is clear is that the company or person contacting you often has no right to your domain, and often no intention of purchasing this. In the main if you do nothing, then the company will not purchase the domain. However, if you do respond, they will then purchase the domain and attempt to sell it to you for an exorbitant fee.
Another situation which will occasionally occur is where you will be contacted from a rival Registrar, who is a completely different Registrar from that with whom you originally registered your domain. They offer to sell you a domain, which if you do so, will then result in you having to go through the process of de-registering so as to return to the status-quo, often paying large fees as a result. A great number of people are not aware of whom their registrar is and are duped by this scam.
In 2002 a large American domain company was sued for sending letters to the holders of domains of rival registrars. The letters featured ‘Domain Name Expiration Notice’ and ‘Domain Name Renewal Form’ and asked registrants to send a fee for ‘Renewal and Transfer’ of their domain names. The case was settled by a large out of Court settlement in damages. Despite this another American company in the following year sent letters to customers offering to transfer their domain name registrations for a fee.
Briffa's commentShould you receive an email or letter from someone purporting to be a registrar or company offering to register your domain for a fee, usually accompanied by an ‘expiration notice’ and a deadline for reply, you should simply ignore these. Similarly, should you receive correspondence from someone offering to purchase a domain that you may not own, again you should ignore this.
If you are interested in purchasing domains you should do so, however do not be fooled into an offer to purchase a domain that you already own. Remember who your registrar is so that you do not fall victim to this scam.
With purchase of domain names for the Far East you should do so, however make enquiries through legitimate channels with an appropriate registrar first. If you had no intention of expanding your business into the region simply ignore these emails.
Finally check your trade mark portfolio to ensure you have trade mark rights in place in countries where you do business.