domain scam ?

[paul]

Got this to the info@ and via web contact form today.

Notice that the email is .hk.cn wjile the domain is www.hknsc.hk

XXX Zhao <XXXX@hk-nsc.hk.cn> wrote:
Dear Sir/Madam,

We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “MYDOTCOM” as their domain name and Internet keyword on January 8th, 2009.Since after our investigation we found that this word has been in use by your company, and this may involve your company name or trade mark, so we inform you in no time. If you consider these domain names and internet keyword are important to you and it is necessary to protect them by registering them first, contact us soon. Thanks for your co-operation and support.

Kind Regards,

XXXX zhao


Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited

Website: www.hknsc.hk

Website: www.hknsc.hk

not that I want to register the .hk, more I am wondering is this the latest type of scam going on . As far as I can see it would seem so.

It was a new one to me.

 

[mneylon]

The MO changes slightly, but it's just a variation on one of the many out there

 

[Byron]

Same sh**e, different bucket. I really wish we could send some form of trace to spammers and annoyances like these.

I did once get onto the "Domain Registry Of America", or something similar, and caught them under Data Protection Act, they apologised, I sent them all my clients web addresses, and a load others of people I like and said, if you send me or them another letter, email or try to phone us, we will sue.

They were much obliging. I then sent them 58 copies of the same email, one after the other. I never heard another word, neither did any of my clients.

 

[link8r]

I then sent them 58 copies of the same email, one after the other. I never heard another word, neither did any of my clients.

Hey Byron,

I see this day in, day out too! Many clients ring up freaked out about it! A few years ago, under a similar campaign, we were actually able to register the domains one "vendor" was offering for £3,000 for $30, they had the nerve to sell something they didnt even own. But is sending your clients list smart though? I mean are you helping them? Can you sue a company that you may not be able to locate legally? Are you giving client information away that you may hav promised them you wouldn't?

 

[Byron]

Nope, the domains were on my (our company as it was) website at the time, on the homepage, so it was publically available. Plus two of our clients had previously been annoyed by them, so we reckoned, lets give it a go and see how they react.

The other three domains were ones we had worked on and were also listed, so it was fine.

They really were quite offended by the fact I would threaten legal action, but they had posted through my home address on my companies domain details, which I never used elsewhere, so after talking to a friend on mine, we determined it was most likely a breach of the DPA to send an unsolicited letter.

They apologised, but never replied to emails I had sent in relation to one of my clients a few months earlier recieving similar mail through a business address.

 

[link8r]

Nope, the domains were on my (our company as it was) website at the time, on the homepage, so it was publically available. Plus two of our clients had previously been annoyed by them, so we reckoned, lets give it a go and see how they react./quote]

Good point. Fair enough.

If I can add: I'm really delighted you stood up to them. Scamsters will do anything if they think they can get away with it.

 

[Byron]

I have been pretty lucky in general, one client has "accidentially" revealed my bank details to his entire address book (I had called him to transfer funds, and he thought lets send an email to confirm!!). But I have been always very strick about clients details, purely just because the last thing I need is a legal action as a sole trader

 

[Byron]

Ah found the first original emails, my god they sounded very similar to a certain Irish company...

Myself:

are you and your firm aware that it is illegal to send unsolicitied mailings to private postal addresses in the Republic Of Ireland, and failure to acknowledge this email as an ordered request to remove my personal details from your database, or further communication through unsolicited methods is in defiance of the Data Protection Act(s) 1988-2003.

Them:

If you would like to be removed from the mailing list all you must do is ask.

You seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions with your questions below and are coming at us with an obvious bias. We can only hope that, as a journalist you will and deliver your story with honesty and accuracy and not with what could only be construde as an attempt to slander our company.

At that time I was doing a wee bit of journalism and radio presenting. It continued on a little longer than those two comments obviously!

Hope it finds some enjoyment. I got a big speel of why they use such methods, that the letters were not actual bills and that they are only offering a service! - I think they wanted to avoid the big "It's my fkin home address issue!"