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Warning about deceptive emails concerning non existent registration of Domain Names in Asia

This document is intended to alert entrepreneurs to certain deceptive behaviors of Internet operators.

It is a proven fact that certain domain registrants from Asia are using as business strategy, the indiscriminate sending of emails to companies that have a formal web page. These emails mostly say that one particular company in Asia is requesting the registering of a first level domain name that is similar to the domain name used by the potential victim. Therefore, and in order to alarm and intimidate, they formally ask to the victim if he has given permission to the alleged company to register the domain names or trademarks.

An example of such communications is the following:

“This is a formal email. We are the auditing department of a professional domain name registration and dispute solution organization. We formally received an online application on June 22, 2015 that a company claimed …… were applying to register “……” as their top-level domain names.

According to the registration principle in China, we will audit every application of our customer in order to avoid the conflict of the Intellectual Property. You are the original trademark owner, so I am sending you this E-mail to check if your company has authorized that company to register these names. If you have authorized this, we will finish the registration at once, otherwise, please inform me as son as possible.

Our time limit for dissent application is 7 workdays. Out of the time limit we will unconditionally finish the registration for that company.”

In these cases, we recommend not to answer this kind of emails. Now if the company reply and request further information, it is most likely that the Asian companies send others emails saying that your enterprise has the preferential right to register the suggested domain names. Of course, payment has to be done to these registrants and sometimes they will pushed to the victim with nonexistent deadlines.

The actions of the Asian domain registrants apparently are not illegal in international field, even though, depending on the variants acquired, in practice could be considered a kind of deception and/or fraud.

We recommend to avoid falling into the deception that supposed these emails, not respond and not to acknowledge receipt of these emails.