Should I buy?

[FredAt]

I have recently launched a new website with a somewhat exotic TLD - i.e. not one of the generics such as .com. This was partly through choice because I wanted to set it apart and partly because there were people squatting on most of the generics. I subsequently bought the .net domain which was still free although I am not using it.

Today I have got an email <snip> offering to sell me the .com domain name for $200. Sounds like not too bad a deal but I am not sure if it is genunine.

My site is doing very well - considering it is barely six weeks old - and I do have plans to monetize it in due course. My lawyer advised me a few weeks ago that I shouldn't spend too much time trying to buy out squatters since there are legal remedies I can resort to if they attempt to benefit from my brand name.

That may well be true but the lawyer would cost a great deal more than $200. I am quite new to this game so I would appreciate some advice. Are these guys genuine? How did they find out about me? Should I just bite the bullet and shell out the $200?

[edited by: Webwork at 2:20 pm (utc) on Oct. 11, 2007]
[edit reason] Removed company name per Charter [/edit]

[IanTurner]

Do the details the person who sent you the email, match with the whois info for the domain?

[FredAt]

Nope - whois on the email sender suggests a company is based in Montreal whilst the domain name in question is registered to someone in Virginia. This appears to be new - the last time I checked it was owned by an individual in Canada, though not Quebec.