Trademark and Domain Name Scams from China
Recently, one of our clients received an email from Chinese domain registration company stating a foreign company was attempting to obtain their domain name. Our client, for purposes of privacy we’ll call them “CustomerName,” is a start-up in the process of obtaining a trademark registration for their company name. This email, although suspiciously spam-like, created some concern and confusion for CustomerName. Was this spam? What rights would they have if a foreign company was to use this domain name? What is my recourse?
First things first, it’s important to determine whether something like this is just a “Nigerian Prince” scam or something legitimate. A quick search turned up an article on the domain registration email our client received giving us serious pause. The article, by Happy Living with Hosea, provides a great analysis of the drafting of the email. Hosea pointed out things a Chinese company would have likely done differently if this was a legitimate operation. First, it was evident something peculiar was up based on the grammar and punctuation of the email. I’ll be the first to admit I send out letters with grammatical and punctuation errors on a daily basis. However, this one bereel bad! So I feel “it is our duty to notice you” (a little example) of how this poor drafting is a good indicator of a scam. Additionally, had this been one carelessly drafted email that would be one thing, but after some research, it becomes clear this is not an isolated case (just read the comments to the Hosea article).
However, with any scam these crafty “artists” will adapt and mutate this approach and at some point you can be sure they will succeed in passing this first grammar test. The next item to consider, when dealing with a questionable domain registration request, is the procedures and literature of the company regarding the registration. This pre-registration option is common. A similar letter was sent out for the .co internet launch. As I wrote in a previous article, Cointernet, provided a period of time where specific trademark holders were provided a time period to secure their .co domain names. However, in this case, Cointernet provided rules and regulations on the process. This email and website listed nothing of the sort. This would be a red flag as well.
So what if this email was real? What options would you have to protect your name? If you have a United States Trademark, you are reasonably secure. The holder of a federal trademark is afforded protection when the mark is used in connection with a particular good or service. Therefore, if your software company name is "AwesomeSoftware" and your website is the same, then the no matter who owns the website "AwesomeSoftware.com" they can not advertise software under that name (at least within the jurisdiction of the United States). Alternatively, if a company advertises and provides goods or services in connection with your trademark, but only in China, you won’t have much recourse. If the foreign company does establish a presence in the United States, you must prove infringement of your trademark. You would need to show you had a prior use of the trademark (which is easy if you have a federally registered mark), there was a commercial use of your mark, and a likelihood of confusion. If infringement is difficult to prove, cybersquating claims could be available, but would depend on the foreign entity’s use of the mark. Was the use legitimate or intended to only keep another from obtain that site (the depth of cybersquatting should be reserved for another topic).
One must be aggressive in protecting your intellectual property, so researching these topics and checking with your attorney are highly advised. Be aware of scams similar to this one, as they will be sure to change. For reference, here is the letter sent to our client:
Dear Manager,
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On July,7th,2010, We received HUATAI Company's application that they are registering the name "Customer Name" as their Internet Trademark and "CustomerName.cn", "CustomerName.com.cn" ,"CustomerName.asia"domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Kind regards
Angela Zhang
Angela Zhang
Registration Department Manager
3002, Nanhai Building 854.Nandan Road
Xuhui District, Shanghai
Office: +86 216296 2950
Fax: +86 216296 1557
Email: info@ygnetwork.cn
web: http://ygnetwork.cn
web: http://www.ygnetwork.cn
Thanks for this article. I received one of these emails this morning.
This scam has been going on for years and still continues. I’ve written about this issue on my blog at http://learnthenet.org/2010/05/10/the-domain-game/ and many others have shared similar experiences and emails they've received that mirror the one you posted. Amazingly, despite the publicity, I still receive email from these companies. Haven't they ever heard of a search engine?
P.W.,
We are just one of the sites trying to reveal these scams to the public, as Michael has pointed out. It's an a frustrating situation and several people have gotten confused and worried about this.
Hopefully, people will do some due diligence and research this issue before they contact, or worse, purchase these domains under the pretense that have to do so.
I just got this email scam today. I knew it was a scam because the domain name in question isn't even registered to me. Still, if you're not too savvy and don't do any research, it can get you.
Thanks! Glad I have researched this. I got the exact same letter, with the exact some wording (except my domain inserted). Looks like the same company (HUATAI) wants mine too...LOL!
Agreed, Nora! HUATAI appears to be an aggressive domain purchaser!
Steve,
They have definitely gotten lazy with this scam. All the misspelled words and as you mentioned, not even obtaining the right contact in some cases.
I'm glad that folks are checking into this.
Thanks for the alert. We just got this very scam today from the ygnetwork about registering our domain names.
I just receive the same email template today from the same person and company. It seems that HUATAI company wants mine as well.
I received exactly the same mail a couple of days before and I have to say i responded. Stupid me! I should have checked immediately. Of course I did not do any purchase but instead some research here in USA. Today I found this website and I can't thank you enough to get all these very helpful information. Good thing is that I probably will trademark my company name here in USA even it it expensive but it will give me peace for my mind. At least here in USA.
Thanks you for this excellent article. I received one email from them too. I was about to respond to them and sell my domain name at $100K. Chinese companies are super rich now and they are buying properties all over the world with hard cash...
A message from "down under".
A great big THANK-YOU to Stuart and bloggers Ben, Sasha, Michael and P.W. Anderson, for alerting us to this scam.
We received one today - almost replicating the letter detailed above. It was even signed by the same busy lady Angela Zhang. In addition to commenting on the bad english grammar and definite lack of knowledge about Trademarks/brand names (as distinct from domain name/s),we will report this scam to the Australian domain name registration organisation in Melbourne. Once again, without your blog, this scam, could lead the unwary into a trap. Barry Poole, Well Connected Travel, Sydney
Just received this email this morning and googled and found your confirmation that this is a scam! so thanks
Thanks Stuart,
I got the exact same email, Copied a chunk from the middle, - "According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited," - "trademark,In" had caught my eye and the search brought up your site first. Congrats on that and thanks for posting this.
Only difference I could see was the date and of course they had my website name in the mix.
They had TODAY'S DATE! How thick can you get? Of course it is tomorrow there due to the date line but am I supposed to believe that their company moves that fast for my best interest?
I wish them luck with using my website name. HEY! Think they will trade links?
P.S. Ben - Your reply has me rolling with laughter my friend.
Thank you very much, Barry. The more posts and blogs out there letting people know about this scam the better.
Prying1,
It is quite odd that they can move so fast ... only to "protect" your trademark. What a humanitarian company!!! If it were real, why wouldn't they want to bid up the price on you and get you to pay more money? It's a company right? They have no restrictions like .Co that requires them to give notice to trademark owners. Additionally, most people that have been contacted don't have a registered trademark just a domain name.
P.S. Barry I think contacting your domain name registration organization is a great idea, and I'm going to look into doing the same thing here.
Thanks to all you guys who alerted us to the scam. I was furious when I read the email but my partner decided to look online and we stumbled across you. I am also located in Australia so maybe they are targeting Australian websites? Nevertheless I'd love to report this to our domain name registration organisation too!!
Bless you all!! and I am not even religious....
I got the same emails, word for word about my website. I laughed at them and told them I was an attorney. What a joke.
I’m so glad I found this site. Thank you also Michael Lerner, I responded on your site as well. I got the same kind of spam email this morning. I initially (gut-instinct) thought it was spam, but then I started to worry. Luckily, I googled and found your site. I also reported it to service@cnnic.cn (a tip I found on Michael's site). Here is the email I got below, with a company name I work for inserted in COMANY NAME (It is not even my company!):
Dear President&CEO,
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in HongKong, China.
On Oct.22, 2010, we received an application from MEIHUA Group requested”COMANY NAME”
as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking ,we find this name is conflict
with your company’s name or trademark. In order to deal with this issue better, it’s necessary to send this email
to you and confirm with your company whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better.
Looking forward to your reply
Best regards,
Tiffany
Tiffany Dai
Checking Department
————————————
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HongKong China Technology Ltd
Tel:+00852-37556517 Fax:+00852-37556340
Email:Tiffany@ChinaTechnology.org
Web: http://www.ChinaTechnology.org
We rec'd the exact same email as Deanna (22 Oct 2010). Ours arrived on 5 Nov 2010. As this is not the first time we've rec'd such approaches, we were aware not to take them at face value. Although I have to say that this one appeared a little more legit than previous ones, mostly because they didn't ask for money upfront to hold the domain name...although I figured that was just an email away! Surely there should be a law against bombarding people with this sort of rubbish, which costs businesses significantly in wasted time?
I got the same e-mail yesterday.
"Angela Zhang" is a busy bee! Got the same email. Thanks for this article and thread. Saved me a lot of time and energy in pre-massacre research.
UPDATE:
I'm exited about the awareness this post has brought to such a scam. I recently received another similar email from a different company. Please see below.
Dear Principal,
I'm sorry to disturb you so abruptly. We are a domain name registration and dispute organization in Hong Kong, which mainly deal with international domain names registration of the global companies. Currently, we have a pretty important issue needing to confirm with your company.
On Sep 3. 2010, we received an application formally. One company named "Letty International Trading Co.,LTD" wanted to applied for the network brand "malverdeaustin" and some international domain names through our body.
Now we are handling with the registration of find that the keyword of these domain names and network brand is identical with your company. So we have to confirm with you at two points:
1. If your company consign Letty company to register these domain names and network brand, we will send application form to them and help them finish the registration at once.
2. If your company have nothing to do with Letty company, they maybe have other purposes to register these domain names and the network brand.
We haven't finished the registration of Letty company yet, and we have postponed this application of this company temporarily already. In order to deal with this issue better, please give me a confirm.
Looking forward to your reply!
Best Regards,
Jamie Leung
Auditing Department
-------------------------------------
Hongkong Headquarter
: Tel: 00852-8135-9178
: Fax: 00852-8135-9278
: Email: Jamie@bestnet.hk
: Web: http://www.bestnet.hk
This e-mail may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail including any enclosures. Any unauthorized copying, disclosure or distribution of the material in this e-mail is strictly prohibited.
Thank you for the info about the scam. I received the email today. I was concerned and actually had a reply ready to send but then did a quick search.
One thing that concerned me was that I recently did some business with a developer from China, so the first thing I thought of was that he was impressed with one of my products and therefore was going to register the domain name and compete with me or steal from me. Ha!
Awesome. Received the same email this morning, Googled it to MAKE SURE it was scam, but decided to have some fun of my own. Have asked them to register the names at their earliest convenience and on my behalf and I will execute/cover payment on my behalf shortly after... NOT. :)
The same with me. Becareful!!
Dear Pako:
Thanks for your letter.
Yes,Now MEIHUA Group want s to apply for China domain names(.CN) and Internet trademark Keyword you company have not registered yet,
You must know China Domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle.So MEIHUA Group has right to register them.
As a domain name registrar, we have no right to refuse their application. So required by China government to inform your company to protect your interest.
But according to other registration principle,as the owner of the name or trademark,you r company get the priority to register these domain names. Of course,each company has their own idea.
If you think their application will not affect your company, you can give up this priority, and meanwhile we will finish their registration.
But if you think these domain names are useful for your company, we can send a dispute application form to you and help you register these within dispute period.
This is the only way to prevent. Pls let us know your decision soon, so that we can handle the next step.
Looking forward to hearing your reply.
Best regards!
Linda
2010-11-16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linda Wang
Checking Department
------------------------------------
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HongKong China Technology Ltd
Tel:+00852-37556517 Fax:+00852-37556340
Rm 1105,Lippo Centre Tower 1,89 Queensway,Admiralty,Hong Kong
Email: linda@ChinaTechnology.org Web: www.ChinaTechnology.org
I have received mail from Tiffany Dai. I am lucky that I googled and found this site. How can such a nice woman as you do such bad things!
I registered my website behind a curtain wall. So my real identity and location are not published by WHOIS etc.
I received the email from the website's customers email account. Pretty certain it was a scam from the tone of the email and the method used to reach me.
Dear Manager:
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Anhui, China. On December,2nd,2010, We received HUADI Company's application that they are registering the name "hastingleigh" as their Internet Trademark and "*******.cn","********.com.cn" ,"********.asia"domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Kind regards
Angela Zhang
Anhui Office (Head Office)
Registration Department Manager
Room 1008 Shenhui Building
Haitian Road, Huli Anhui, China
Email: info@yg-networks.com
Office: +86 0553 4994789
Fax: +86 0553 4994789
web: www.ygnetworks.org
So I replied including a spypig (google it if you don't know about spypigs) and my email was read by two different computers.
Both times by computers in Hefei Anhui China.
The 1st IP address 114.98.33.126 and next some 10 hours later 114.98.36.204. where it was read three times.
The latter computer was used to send me a reply:
Dear Mr ********:
Thanks for your prompt reply. We already know that you do not have any relationship and we knew you have registered the domain name www.*********.com and own the intellectual property,
this is why we informed you. But now the Investment company wanted to apply for other cn/asia domain names and Internet trademark Keyword you have not registered yet,
like "www.**********.cn, www.***************.com.cn, www.**********.asia". It's china and asia domain name.
You must know Domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle. So the Investment company has right to register them. As a domain name registrar,
we have no right to dispute their application.So required by China government to inform your company to protect your interest. But as the company whose trademarks relate to the applied domains,
you will get the priority to register these domain names. Of course, each company has their own idea. If you don't think their application will affect your company, you can give up,
we will finish their registration. The Investment company will become the legal owner of these domain names in the world. You will be responsible for the loss caused by the matter yourself.
But if you think these domain names are useful for your company, we can send an application form and the price list to you and help you register these within dispute period.
This is the only way to prevent domain name grab. Pls let us know your decision soon, so that we can handle the next step.
Looking forward to hearing your reply.
Best regards
Ms Angela
------
It would appear that the emails are indeed being read within China, and sent from China, which from other blogs seems to indicate that this scam is being run right under the noses of the Chinese authorities. Rather embarrassing for China's reputation I would say.
I hope that the authorities keep track of their citizens computer IP address locations. I am sure they do.
And sooner or later the person behind the scam will get a knock on their door and be whisked away to explain why they have brought shame on their country.
I always use spypigs in my replies to would be scammers.I prefer to know who I am dealing with.
I suggest any of you responding to any such emails in the future, also track where your replies are going.
Fun and Games perhaps, but it might just cause the scammers to think twice about what they are doing.
Too damn funny. I was researching this for a client who received the exact same email! Same Angela Zhang, same everything.
Thanks for this article. Received the same email this morning.
In my reply i linked this article. Will they have fun?
Thank you again
We've investigated this a bit, the so called "scam" is still running but the email and web address keeps changing, today it's:
www.rg-net.org
There's dozens of others in use, but nearly all currently refuse email.
I received the same email today:
Dear Manager:
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Anhui, China. On February,21st,2011, We received HUNDI Company's application that they are registering the name "********" as their Internet Trademark and "********.cn","********.com.cn" ,"********.asia"domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Kind regards
Angela Zhang
Anhui Office (Head Office)
Room 1008 Shenhui Building
Haitian Road, Huli Anhui, China
Office: +86 0553 4994789
Fax: +86 0553 4994789
web: rg-net.org
web: www.rg-net.org
I responded with this:
After much research and investigation, it has been proven top me that your email is a scam. Please cease and desist immediately from further correspondence or solicitations to ********.com for any sort of domain name renewal. I have lodged a complaint with the ASIAN DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTRE (ADNDRC), (HONG KONG OFFICE) of your email and have also posted on several forums of your scam solicitation. The domain name "********.com and .org have been registered for over 10 years and are copyrighted. Please desist immediately from further solicitations from us to register any domain names through your scam operation.
I also sent an email to the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (Hong Kong Office) hkiac@adndrc.org in regards to this. I hope no one gets taken in by their scam. I did notice that they have a "legit" website - way to make people think that damn email is legit!
i GOT ONE TODAY
LOOKS DIFFERENT SAME MO
Dear President&CEO,
This is a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in HongKong,China.
On February.24th, 2011, we received an application from Meihua Holdings Group requested"heavymagicleather"
as their internet trademark keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking ,we find this name is conflict
with your company's name or trademark. In order to deal with this issue better, it's necessary to send this email
to you and confirm with your company whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better.
Looking forward to your reply
Best regards,
Maliya
Maliya Dai
Checking Department
------------------------------------
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HongKong China Technology Ltd
Tel: +00852-39711641
Fax: +00852-39711857
Rm 1105,Lippo Centre Tower1,
89 Queensway,Admiralty,Hong Kong China.
Web: www.ChinaTechnology.org
Ok, Down under aussies have endured recent floods, cyclones and our poor NZ neighbours a devastating earthquake but here on the last day of February 2011 someone in China Town has the time to start SPAMMING...?>)(*&^%$
Thanks for your letter.
Yes,Now MEIHUA Holdings Group want s to apply for "internetpowertools"China domain names (www. internetpowertools.cn/www. internetpowertools.com.cn...)
and Internet trademark Keyword you company have not registered yet,
You must know China Domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle.So MEIHUA Holdings Group has right to register them.
As a domain name registrar, we have no right to refuse their application. So required by China government to inform your company to protect your interest.
But according to other registration principle,as the owner of the name or trademark,you r company get the priority to register these domain names. Of
course,each company has their own idea.
If you think their application will not affect your company, you can give up this priority, and meanwhile we will finish their registration. But if you think these domain
names are useful for your company, we can send a dispute application form to you and help you register these within dispute period. This is the only way to prevent.
Pls let us know your decision soon, so that we can handle the next step.
Looking forward to hearing your reply.
Best regards!
Linda
2011-02-28
________________________________________
Linda Zhou
________________________________________
发件人： Internet Power Tools
发送时间： 2011-02-27 07:01:52
收件人： linda_zhou@chinatechnology.biz
抄送：
www.chinatechnology.biz home page ... you guessed it UNDER CONSTRUCTION........
Thanks for the information. I just received the exact same email as the one you listed your client receiving. The domain name was different of course, but it is from the same Angela Zhang. New contact numbers and address for the scammers but all else identical.
Thank you-- we got the exact email today and were concerned. Very much appreciate everyone's input too
I got this email last week and hesitated to respond. Thanks for the information on this blog I will not fall for this spam.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks again for this article even though I may be a bit behind time ;) I only received something of the sort this morning, which I found very strange... so I decided to google the address and website of the company, which lead me to this.
I hope anyone else out there would do the same before falling for it!
Also received the same email by the ubiquitous Angela. I was not sure if it was a scam as their website looked legit so I replied as if it were anyway as below. My suspicions were confimed when I read all of the posted comments on this site. I am of Chinese ethnicity and "Angela" just gives Chinese a really bad name. But I love her Chinglish!! It's amazing the Chinese Government has not cracked down on such corruption.
Hi Angela
As you already acknowledge that our Company is the owner of the name “XXXXXXXXX” which is correct, I am uncertain as to why you wish to query this with us.
We therefore object to plagiarism of our name and if your email is related to any solicitation of funds from us to protect our already trademarked entity, we will be instructing our lawyers in Hong Kong to act against any offending party.
Teresa Chen
Thanks for the info. I recieved the email and forwarded to our CEO thinking it was real. Only after I searched for info on the company wanting to do the registration did I find out it's a scam.
The lovely Angela spammed us today with the same old bad grammar. You'd think she'd buy a little book on how to speak Business English. In fact most of my friends in China speak frighteningly good English! Anyway I've passed her nice email to the UK Government's Action Fraud people (email@actionfraud.org.uk)because I just know she'll be soooo happy to meet them!
Got one of these today as well. Text is below. Clicked on link to website in email (probably a bad idea) and it was all in Chinese.
Dear President&CEO,
This is a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in HongKong,China.
On June 13 2011, we received an application from Meihua Holdings Group requested"mineralhub"
as their internet trademark keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking ,we find this name is conflict
with your company's name or trademark. In order to deal with this issue better, it's necessary to send this email
to you and confirm with your company whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better.
Looking forward to your reply
Best regards,
Tiffany
Tiffany Dai
Checking Department
------------------------------------
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HongKong China Technology Ltd
Tel: +00852-39711641
Fax: +00852-39711857
Rm 1105,Lippo Centre Tower1,
89 Queensway,Admiralty,
Hong Kong China.
Web: www.ChinaTechnology.org
I was quite concerned when I read this, did a quick search on china domain name registration center and found this blog, thank you very much. I am in Canada. Here's the email I received (I guess Angela has retired):
Dear Manager:
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On July 11th 2011. We received Tianhua Ltd's application, they want to register " ********" as its Internet keyword and CN/Asia domain names. It is china and Asia domain names. But after checking we find this domain name conflict with your company, in order to deal with this matter better, so we send you email, and want to confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Best Regards,
John
Oversea marketing manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 136615 29704
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetwork-ltd.com
Awe... I thought the grammatical errors were just poor translation!
I responded - saying I'm opposed to new registrations... (of course). Then I looked up the businees name HUNDI... And up came your site haha. Now I feel stupido! I shall await an interesting response and plan my revenge. I wasn't planning on offering training in China, but, you never know... With the proposed Aussi carbon tax I might have to go off shore!
Thanks for the posts, been fun reading them, so annoyed I was momentarily sucked in.
Angela hasn't retired, he sent me this on Saturday July 23, 2011. Scam Scam Scam.
From: "Angela"
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2011 01:59:33 +0800
To:
Subject: Notice of Intellectual Property-Trademark Name
Dear Manager,
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Anhui, China. On July,21st,2011, We received HUNDI Company's application that they are registering the name "freightlinerofreddeer" as their Internet Trademark and "freightlinerofreddeer.cn","freightlinerofreddeer.com.cn" ,"freightlinerofreddeer.asia"domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check.According to the principle in China,your company is the owner of the trademark,In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Kind Regards
Angela Zhang
Anhui Office (Head Office)
Registration Department Manager
Room 1008 Shenhui Building
Haitian Road, Huli Anhui, China
Office: +86 0553 4994789
Fax: +86 0553 4994789
web: www.yg-net.net
Here's the email I received. I also checked the name Meihua Holdings Group and it's a chemical company so very unlikely to want our domain name in China.
Here's the scam email:
We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in
HongKong, China.
On July 21, 2011, we received an application from Meihua Holdings Group requested
"xxxxxxxxx"
as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names.But after checking it, we
find this name conflict with
your company name or trademark.In order to deal with this matter better,it's necessary
to send email to you
and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
Looking forward to your reply
Best regards,
Alice
Alice Zhou
Checking Department
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HK(HongKong) China Technology Ltd
Tel: +00852-39711641
Fax: +00852-39711857
Rm 1105,Lippo Centre Tower1,
89 Queensway,Admiralty,
Hong Kong China.
Mail:alice@chinatechnology.hk
Web:www.Chinatechnology.hk
Good morning Mr. Hiserodt.
I just received an e-mail message from a scammer by the name of Angela Zhang at Network Service Company in China, this morning at 09:50:39, Friday, August 05, 2011.
I was concerned to say the least upon receiving it, but decided to go online and do some investigating; whereupon, I found your informative blog.
The message was identical to the very first message you posted, on your site, July 16, 2010;; except the name of the company had my name on it.
Thank you for rooting out these scammers. Keep up the good work.
Joanne Fedden, Owner & Designer
ThreadOnThreads.com
My friend Alice send me message too..
From: Alice Zhou alice@ChinaTechnology.hk
Dear President&CEO,
(If you are not in charge of this please transfer this email to your President or appropriate person, thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration
and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On August 9, 2011, we received an application from Meihua Holdings Group requested "xxxxx"
as their internet keyword and China (CN.ASIA) domain names.But after checking it, we find this name conflict with
your company name or trademark.In order to deal with this matter better,it's necessary to send email to you
and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
Looking forward to your reply
Best regards,
Alice
Alice Zhou
Checking Department
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HongKong Office(Head Office)
HK(HongKong) China Technology Ltd
Tel: +00852-39711641
Fax: +00852-39711857
Rm 1105,Lippo Centre Tower1,
89 Queensway,Admiralty,
Hong Kong China.  ÂÂ
Mail:alice@chinatechnology.hk
Web:www.Chinatechnology.hk
I received the same message:
From:
John
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetwork.com.cn
Message:
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On October 3rd 2011, We received Tianhua Ltd's application that they are registering the name " commissionquilt " as their Internet Keyword and " commissionquilt .cn "、" commissionquilt .com.cn " 、" commissionquilt .asia "domain names etc.., It is China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
What is going on with the world?
I thought the domains are based on first come first served.
W3C has to reinforce this and make it legal. You shouldn’t have to worry about a domain that you have registered.
If a trademark holder wants the domain, they will have to pay the domain owner the requested price.
Because of the new law that is coming out more and more scammers will be using tactics like this to make money.
THIS HAS TO STOP!!!
Check this scam and beware:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Domain Name and Internet Keyword
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:16:22 +0800
From: John
To:
Dear Tony ,
The checking time will be over soon, we have not received your reply about the domain name and internet keyword since our last communication. You must know domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle. So the company has right to register them. As a domain name registrar, we have no right to refuse their application. We aslo suggest this company should change another name but they stick to this name so if your company want to prevent anybody from using these domains, the only way is to register these CN/ASIA domains and internet keyword. In our checking time, your company has first priority to register them. Could you tell us whether your company want to make this application to prevent anybody from using them or not?
Best Regards
John
Hello friends,
1st thanks for all of these conversation. Today morning I got same line to line email from "John [john.xia@yg-network.com]". At the moment I got this email I really scared that now what should I do. But when I found this blog I really be happy and realize what they need to do with. This is new techniques for earning money. Just leave this email and delete. I attached here my email copy....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On November 14th 2011, We received Tianhua Ltd's application that they are registering the name " ******* " as their Internet Keyword and " ********* .cn "ã€Â" ******* .com.cn " ã€Â" ************ .asia "domain names etc.., they are China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so we are sending you this email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Best Regards,
John
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 136615 29704
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetworkltd.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I got the exact same as above a few minutes ago with the exception of my domain name, which actually is my name. And it would never be a name used in China, Ireland maybe, but no way on China.
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On November 21st 2011, We received Tianhua Ltd's application that they are registering the name " ******************** " as their Internet Keyword and " ********************* .cn "ã€" ********************* .com.cn " ã€" ********************* .asia "domain names etc.., they are China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so we are sending you this email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Best Regards,
John
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 136615 29704
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetworkltd.com
Like all the comments above, these guys are still at it. These guys just don't give up. I just received the exact same message today that Jack received a week ago. I kind of figured it was a scam. Stewart, thanks for the article.
I just received the same email. This time the person didn't bother to write his full name. It's the same type of letter as in the article signed by "John" the general manager. It looks like they decided to go to Europe. I will do what I can to warn and advise authorities here in the Czech Republic, thank you for the article Stuart.
Just got the same as the one above, - from John in Shanghai, excact same letter.
I might sound dumm :) but what do they do it for ? Whats the gain ?
Do they hope that you engage in some kind of deal with them - or what, bying the domains in china before others :) with their help of course ??? is it like that ?? ..
I just really dont get it ...
I received one last week. Not knowing it was a scam, I emailed them back asking how a Chinese domain name would affect the business of a small rural newspaper.
I got a reply today from John saying he told the company it was ours but OH NOES! The company STILL wants to use it! And to make sure they don't I needed to send some money to make sure we're registered in China. He'll be HAPPY to send me a price list.
Uh huh...
I got the exact same as above a few minutes ago with the exception of my domain name.
Dear Manager,
(If you are not the person who is in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO,Thanks)
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On December 26th 2011, We received Tianhua Ltd's application that they are registering the name " sromix " as their Internet Keyword and " sromix .cn "ã€" sromix .com.cn " ã€" sromix .asia "domain names etc.., they are China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so we are sending you this email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!
Best Regards,
John
General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 136615 29704
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetworkltd.com