However, they can be pretty sophisticated. If you go to their site, they have the Cisco Systems logo on the right side of their screen. They are clearly trying to appear as if they are a subsidiary of Cisco. I tried to let Cisco know, but I don't think that Cisco accepts email from anyone.
The site also has IBM, Microsoft and Oracle brands along the bottom of their page.
I hope that everyone here is sophisticated enough to not be taken in by this, but I have had experienced Web developers come up to me clutching those Domain Registry of America envelopes in their hands with concerned looks.
Just to make it clear: If you get a notice that your domain is expiring, take it with a salt cellar. Make sure that the email is from your original registrar, and log into your registrar's control panel before authorizing anything.
I did hear about one of these scams that not only took over as a registrar, but fooled users into signing over the "true owner" to the registrar, so they became renters in their own homes. That was some time ago, so I assume that it isn't that egregious anymore.
I don't know if I can be tricked though. Many new webmasters and people who know less about domain names (can't even remember where they were registered) will fall into the trap.
No one seems to save them. How can you reach those people?
How can you reach those people? Did I ask this question? If I knew, my ecom sites would have had much more sales by now.
In any case, domain registrations are often handled by the ISPs that provide hosting, and are thus bundled into the initial "Welcome" emails.
The way to reach some people is to let them get burned. They'll learn. We also need to reach Cisco, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft, and let them know that their official logos and branding are being used to add legitimacy to a scam.
I couldn't believe it when I figured out that Cisco will not let anyone contact them to warn them about stuff like this. I have run across several bank sites that will not let you report phishing attacks under their branding.
People need to learn to take care of their brands. I'll lay odds that this company has been using these brands for quite some time.
What I *do* find annoying, though, is getting renewal notices from the old registrar for domains that I've already transferred to another registrar. Gives me one more reason to be glad that I switched...
I don't get these emails, for some reason.
You probably use a "cloaking" service. I use it on some of the domains I run, but not all. I don't get these on my cloaked accounts.
Loved the design of their "This is not a bill". Sure "looked" legit. Like all those yellow and black non-bills I got for "renewing" my online yellowpages or business directory ads.
Looking legit: Isn't that the essence of a good scam . . . I mean marketing campaign?
I used to delight in the sheer volume of "This is not a bill" mail that was delivered to my office by a certain operator in this realm.
I used to receive so many the postal carrier had them bundled with rubber bands ...
I still get dozens of the credit card offers, addressed to the domain name as the "company name". I'm not sure how those are selected -- all of my domains are opted-out of the "bulk whois" scheme.
They are clearly trying to appear as if they are a subsidiary of Cisco. I tried to let Cisco know, but I don't think that Cisco accepts email from anyone.
I did the same thing, then found contact info for Oracle's legal dept and notified them too (at least they responded with a "thanks we'll look into it" note).
I despise scammers!
As a registrar, often warn of these types of incidents, but there are too many legalities protecting the scammer, it would be nice to point the finger and say "Joe Bloggs of Company XYZ is a scammer", but that would be defamation.
Getting Oracle or IBM to shut them down due to logo usage is quite difficult, and the best way to tackle it is thru the Domain Refulator (ie icann) and consumer regulators/watch dogs, such as the office of Fair Trading or the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) in Australia.
I believe that a Canadian Watchdog denied DROA from trading in Canada, however they've since changed their name to DROC (Canada), and when you're dealing with overseas companies, your local watchdogs powers are limited by their territories.
It would be nice if the likes of ICANN could be a little more involved in these scams, but thus far, I think their efforts have been minimal.
In Australia, the Australian Domain Administrator (auDA) were successful in working with the regulator to shut down one such scammer:
[auda.org.au...]
If only other regulators were as proactive.
Getting Oracle or IBM to shut them down due to logo usage is quite difficult
Shut down, difficult. Stop using logo, easy.
At the very least, the brand owners can get them to remove all logos from their site. If you saw what they are doing, you would immediately see how bad it is. This is exactly why the concept of a trademark was invented.
They may be able to go after them for damages. IANAL, and I know that the company in question is Belgian (I remember dealing with these jerks when they were but wee laddies), so I am not sure.
