This week, I found the following mail in my mailbox. Not really sure what the scam is, but I'm sure it's gonna cost me money....
(Letter to the President or Brand Owner, thanks)
Dear President,
We are a domain name registration and protection agency in Asia. I have something to confirm with you. We formally received an application on July 16,2013 that a company which self-styled"Togh International Co.,Ltd"were applying to register"redelijkheid"as their Brand Name and some domain names through our firm.
Now we are handling this registration, and after our initial checking, we found the name were similar to your company's, so we need to check with you whether your company has authorized that company to register these names. If you authorized this, we will finish the registration at once. If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better. Out of the time limit we will unconditionally finish the registration for"Togh International Co.,Ltd".Looking forward to your prompt reply.
Best Regards,
David Zhao
Tel:+86(0551)63434624
Fax:+86(0551)63434924
Address:HuiZhou Ave 999, Hefei, Anhui, China
The obvious part in this mail is; Why would 'Togh Internation Co, Ltd' want my domain name. REDELIJKHEID is a dutch word. Other triggers are the fact that they talk about a brand. A 1 second look at my website shows that it's a personal website. Filled with (mostly) crap.
The biggest tell-tale is that they claim to be from des-services.org (which holds a convincing website), but that website is brand new (registered 22-JUNE-2013) and the name is added as an quick-and-dirty gif file.
Domain ID:D169021731-LROR
Domain Name:DES-SERVICES.ORG
Created On:22-Jun-2013 01:35:10 UTC
Last Updated On:22-Jun-2013 01:35:11 UTC
Expiration Date:22-Jun-2014 01:35:10 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Todaynic.com, Inc. (R1316-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:TOD-43314088
Registrant Name:DES Registry Services Ltd
Registrant Organization:DES Registry Services Ltd
Registrant Street1:HF
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:HF
Registrant State/Province:AH
Registrant Postal Code:519000
Registrant Country:CN
Registrant Phone:+86.18715065604
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:+86.18715065604
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Admin ID:TOD-43314088
Admin Name:DES Registry Services Ltd
Admin Organization:DES Registry Services Ltd
Admin Street1:HF
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:HF
Admin State/Province:AH
Admin Postal Code:519000
Admin Country:CN
Admin Phone:+86.18715065604
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:+86.18715065604
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Tech ID:TOD-43314088
Tech Name:DES Registry Services Ltd
Tech Organization:DES Registry Services Ltd
Tech Street1:HF
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:HF
Tech State/Province:AH
Tech Postal Code:519000
Tech Country:CN
Tech Phone:+86.18715065604
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:+86.18715065604
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Name Server:NS7.01ISP.COM
Name Server:NS8.01ISP.NET
Also, their 'About Us ' section suggests that they are in business for at least a couple of years, which is impossible, because Google would know them for sure.
Looking for exact copies of text using the Googles revealed several other identical websites (also registered in the last month or so). Just compare the two below.
DES Services
DSA Services
Oh, and the WHOIS info on DSA-services is as sketchy as the DES one.
Domain ID:D168628142-LROR
Domain Name:DSA-CENTER.ORG
Created On:07-May-2013 03:08:12 UTC
Last Updated On:06-Jul-2013 03:46:37 UTC
Expiration Date:07-May-2014 03:08:12 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Todaynic.com, Inc. (R1316-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:TOD-43021322
Registrant Name:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Registrant Organization:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Registrant Street1:HKHK
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:HK
Registrant State/Province:HK
Registrant Postal Code:519000
Registrant Country:HK
Registrant Phone:+86.55165523114
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:+86.55165523114
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Admin ID:TOD-43021322
Admin Name:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Admin Organization:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Admin Street1:HKHK
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:HK
Admin State/Province:HK
Admin Postal Code:519000
Admin Country:HK
Admin Phone:+86.55165523114
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:+86.55165523114
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Tech ID:TOD-43021322
Tech Name:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Tech Organization:DSA Web Register Center Ltd
Tech Street1:HKHK
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:HK
Tech State/Province:HK
Tech Postal Code:519000
Tech Country:HK
Tech Phone:+86.55165523114
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:+86.55165523114
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:chinadaomain2013@gmail.com
Name Server:NS7.01ISP.COM
Name Server:NS8.01ISP.NET