Updated: 04/03/2021
Over the last few weeks, we have seen many different email address’s on this scam including
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
There may be others also
We are seeing an increase in the last few weeks in domain scam emails such as the one below. The general theme is that someone writes to you out of the blue and says that a third party is trying to register a domain name that is similar to yours. They then ask you if you want to register the domain instead.
The latest one is a variation of the Chinese Domain scam I wrote about some time ago but a little more sophisticated because it looks a bit more real because of the Australian contact details.
Here is the email
From: William | DNS Australia <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, 20 June 2019 10:03 AM
To: Info <[email protected]>
Subject: Your domain name has been claimed
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have received a request for the registration of the website www.yourdomainname.info Our system shows that you are the owner of www.yourdomainname.com.au. This can have far-reaching consequences for you in the future. We are therefore under the statutory obligation to contact you, in order to offer you the first right of registration. This means that we will reject the application of the third party and the website:
After agreement we will link this website to:
This means that you will have the first option on the domain name, in order to avoid possible future problems.
We are usually under the obligation to register the domain name and to protect it for a period of 10 years. The annual price for the .INFO extension is AU$29.75 per year. This means a one-off payment of AU$297.50. When the link has been completed, all the Internet traffic that goes to the .INFO extension, will be automatically linked to your current extension and website. This process will take a maximum of 24 hours. This domain name will then have a worldwide reach. The third party will be rejected and can no longer use your domain name.
Important information:
– You will receive a one-off invoice of AU$297.50, exclusive of GST, for a term of 10 years.
– This contract can be cancelled at all times after the first term of one year. The paid amount for the remaining number of years will be refunded to your account.
If you agree to our offer, please send an agreement by email within 48 hours after receipt of this email, stating your name, address and ABN number in a reply to this e-mail address.
The third party will subsequently be rejected by us, and we will then complete the link. You will receive a confirmation and all the information you need by email on the same day.
With kind regards,
William Miller
And here is another variation sent to me by a viewer of this page
From: Henry | DNS Australia <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 22 June 2020 9:12 AM
To:
Subject: Your domain name
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have received a request for the registration of the website www.ourtradingname.com Our system shows that you are the owner of www.ourtradingname.com.au. This can have far-reaching consequences for you in the future. We are therefore under the statutory obligation to contact you, in order to offer you the first right of registration. This means that we will reject the application of the third party and the website:
After agreement we will link this website to:
This means that you will have the first option on the domain name, in order to avoid possible future problems.
We are usually under the obligation to register the domain name and to protect it for a period of 10 years. The annual price for the .COM extension is AU$39.95 per year. This means a one-off payment of AU$399.50. When the link has been completed, all the Internet traffic that goes to the .COM extension, will be automatically linked to your current extension and website. This process will take a maximum of 24 hours. This domain name will then have a worldwide reach. The third party will be rejected and can no longer use your domain name.
Important information:
– You will receive a one-off invoice of AU$399.50, exclusive of GST, for a term of 10 years.
– This contract can be cancelled at all times after the first term of one year. The paid amount for the remaining number of years will be refunded to your account.
If you agree to our offer, please send an agreement by email within 48 hours after receipt of this email, stating your name, address and ABN number in a reply to this e-mail address.
The third party will subsequently be rejected by us, and we will then complete the link. You will receive a confirmation and all the information you need by email on the same day.
With kind regards,
Henry Lee
[email protected]
www.dnsaustralia.org
Here is another variation sent in by Peter (Thanks Peter)
From: Paul | DNS Australia <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, 26 November 2020 8:02 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Your domain name has been claimed
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have received a request for the registration of the website www.domainname.com Our system shows that you are the owner of www.domainname.org.au. This can have far-reaching consequences for you in the future. We are therefore under the statutory obligation to contact you, in order to offer you the first right of registration. This means that we will reject the application of the third party and the website:
www.domainname.com
After agreement we will link this website to:
www.domainname.org.au
This means that you will have the first option on the domain name, in order to avoid possible future problems.
We are usually under the obligation to register the domain name and to protect it for a period of 10 years. The annual price for the .COM extension is AU$39.95 per year. This means a one-off payment of AU$399.50. When the link has been completed, all the Internet traffic that goes to the .COM extension will be automatically linked to your current extension and website. This process will take a maximum of 24 hours. This domain name will then have a worldwide reach. The third-party will be rejected and can no longer use your domain name.
Important information:
– You will receive a one-off invoice of AU$399.50, exclusive of GST, for a term of 10 years.
– This contract can be cancelled at all times after the first term of one year. The paid amount for the remaining number of years will be refunded to your account.
If you agree to our offer, please send an agreement by email within 48 hours after receipt of this email, stating your name, address and ABN number in a reply to this e-mail address.
The third party will subsequently be rejected by us, and we will then complete the link. You will receive a confirmation and all the information you need by email on the same day.
With kind regards,
Paul Miller
I suggest that you just delete these emails if you get them and move onto more important things in your day. We have had literally hundreds of our clients emailed in this way so this is definitely a scam.
If you have another variation and would like to send it to support (at) smg.com.au then we will add it to this page.
If you would like to make sure that you are not scammed like this please email us directly on support (at) smg.com.au or call us on 07 33417224 to discuss ways to protect your domain and stop the scammers.