Domain Name Scam?

[spenland]

I recently received an email from a company in China that read:

Dear ceo,

we are Shanghai Squile Network Information Technology Co., Ltd, which is the domain name register center in China.I have something need to confirm with you, we formally received an application. emin company are applying to register "my-company-name" etc as internet brand keyword and domain name on the 07th of Mar, 2007 . which regarding your interest of Internet intellectual property. We hope to get the affirmation of your company. Please contact us by email or call us directly as soon as possible.

In addition, please let someone in your company who is responsible for trademark or intellectual right contact me freely.

Kind Regards,


When I responded to the email I received this email back:

Thank you for your reply.

XXX(china)venture capital co,ltd are applying to register "my-company-name.cn.com""my-company-name.cn""my-company-name.net.cn" and internet brand keywrod"my-company-name"

The doamin name is takes open registeration,so long as it has not been registered any company can file and apply for the registertion Domain names are corporation's intellectual property.The other party's registration of these domain names and internet brand keyword will cause confusing on Internet,your company have priority of registered.If you don't want these domain names and internet brand keyword to be registered by other party,pls contact to us.Then we will send the register procedure and cost and the application form to your company.You can register these domain names and internet brand keyword in your own name and keep your intellectual property from infringement.if your company give up,I will say"thank you" ,I will help XXXX company registered.

If you have any further questions,pls contact us directly.


My intuition tells me that this is a scam to get me to register domain names in my company name in China, especially the part about registering an "internet brand keyword" for my company name.

Do any of you think this is a legitimate business or just another internet scam.

Thanks!

[yoshd]

Our company has just received an identical letter and we also are dubious whether this is a legitimate enquiry or an "agressive marketing".
2 interesting facts: 1) Together with your case, this is the 4'th letter reported in the same week
2) 2 of the domains mentioned had .info and .biz suffix - which are not, to the best of my knowledge, China local.
Did anybody verify the legitimacy of Shanghai Squile?

yoshd

[TKOTC]

I have recieved the same e-mail.

I am going with some sort of marketing scam. They are writing as if they are the official registrar of china, which they are not.

I am putting this in the spam list.

[cfinlayson]

I've been doing some digging and have a couple of resources for you to check.

Have a look here to read up on what appears to be if not an outright scam, at least some questionable business practice.

http://www.searchengineforums.com/ap...d::1154540945/

If you're really concerned, find an accredited domain registrar in China and buy through someone else.

I went to ICANN, and they don't have anyone on their list, so they suggested I go to IANA.org and check their list here: http://www.iana.org/root-whois/index.html.

From there I found CNNIC, the Chinese Domain Authority. They have an English version of the site, and a list of accredited registrars.

Whatever you do, don't reply, they will probably sell your email to a spammer.

Chris

[imported_helen_]

We are Shanghai Squile Network Information Technology Co., Ltd, which is the domain name register center in China.


We are Shanghai Squile Network Information Technology Co., Ltd, which is the domain name register center in China.


GET my love domain names!

[imported_helen_]

Tips and Concerns

1- Domains are addictive.

2- Domain game can be costly.

3- Domain names have a valuation formula. (most likely, today's inventory of available names won't fit into the top valuation models)

4- Two strategies a) development b) quick flips. If you develop them, might as well buy out the 10 year registration.

5- Marketing / Advertising - it's better to invest in a good name upfront in order to lower your marketing cost across time. Spend $1,000 - $2,000 today and save $5,000 across time.

6- "Real Solution Secret". This saves time and money. Go to AT&T website and search their toll free database. There are still valuable toll free numbers available that will allow you to easily create your own "Packaged Brand" with top level category name and magnetic toll free number. Trust me, I have over 290 of these. visit www.1888ahorras.com

7- Becareful when somebody sells you a domain name that has a Google PR8 or PR9.

8- www.godaddy.com has aggressive pricing plans.

9- It clearly helps you assess what names / terms to buy.


That's all until later.



---------------------------------------------------
It maybe good to get loved domain names from squile

[iphonedomain]

Originally Posted by indoman

where can i buy cheap expired domain name with PR and good backlink...?

Although I am not an affiliate If you are willing to spend a few bucks initially I'd recommend:
www.domainprofiteer.com/

If you put in the time within a month or so you will know just about everything there is to know about profiting in expired domains. Matt shows you how to bid on on domains and how to evaluate domains for auction at sites like snapnames, enom, clubdrop, pool, and others. He also provides solid information on generating revenue from parking domains.

Three of the best places to aquire expiring domains in order of the ones I like the best are; snapnames.com, pool.com, and clubdrop.com. Clubdrop can be confusing.



Lifesyle longue

[silkspinner]

I received the following email today, and since this is about 18 months after these others were posted, and since no one came back and posted any negative consequences...I assume it is safe to mark this as just a scam or a spam.

Dear President/CEO,

We are the department which is in charge of registering Internet intellectual property of Asia. I have something need to confirm with you. We have received an application formally, one company named "QianKun Investment Limited" applies for

The Internet Trademark Keyword:

My Company Name

The domain names:
mycompanyname.asia
mycompanyname.in
mycompanyname.info


On Oct 22. 2008. After our initial examination, we found that the internet brand applied for registration are as same as your company's name and trademark.These days we will deal with it, hope to get the affirmation from your company. If your company has not authorized the aforesaid company to register these, Please contact us as soon as possible.
In addition, we hereby affirm that our time limit for dissent application is 10 workdays. If your company files no dissent within the time limit,we will unconditionally approve the application submitted by "QianKun Investment Limited.".


Best Regards,

Brian
-------------------------------------------------------
Tel: 00852 9566 0496 or 00852 9566 0489
Fax: 00852-8226 1011
Website:

[louisemj]

I received the same email today, October 24 2008. I was going to reply to disent then decided to do aweb search for QianKun Investment Limited. This scam/span discussion thread was the first reference I found. Whoever is sending these emails appears to be aggressively searching domain names for whatever reason. . . . . . . .Any more advice re: ignoring or replying in dissent would be apreciated,

Dear President/CEO,

We are the department which is in charge of registering Internet intellectual property of Asia. I have something need to confirm with you. We have received an application formally, one company named "QianKun Investment Limited" applies for

The Internet Trademark Keyword:
mycompany

The domain names:
mycompany.hk
mycompany.us
mycompany.cn
mycompany.com.cn
mycompany.com.hk

On Oct 24. 2008. After our initial examination, we found that the internet brand applied for registration are as same as your company's name and trademark.These days we will deal with it, hope to get the affirmation from your company. If your company has not authorized the aforesaid company to register these, Please contact us as soon as possible.
In addition, we hereby affirm that our time limit for dissent application is 10 workdays. If your company files no dissent within the time limit,we will unconditionally approve the application submitted by "QianKun Investment Limited.".

Best Regards,

Brian
-------------------------------------------------------
Tel: 00852 9566 0496 or 00852 9566 0489
Fax: 00852-8226 1011
Website: DON'T LINK BACK TO THEM!

This is a letter for confirmation.If you are not in charge of this please transfer this email to appropriate dept. Thanks for your cooperation.

[dharrison]

Hi spenland

You are so right, it is a scam. One of my clients got a similar letter a couple of weeks ago and basically it is just an aggressive selling tactic.

If any company was going to apply for a trademark, you would be hearing from the said company's solicitors, not a guy sitting in front of his computer on the other side of the world. He just wants to scare you into buying domain names which unless you are intent on covering those areas are just a waste of your time and money.

File it in the trash bin.

[chadhaajay]

Its a scam! Don't be a victim of these scammers. You need not to do anything!

[tdave]

Thanks for letting us know these scammers.