Got this too last week, I simply ignored it. However I have to admit I considered answering it for a while.
The Asian domain-name extortion scam
11–20 of 27 posts
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#12I got this a few years back.
I replied and got the email telling me to register for it. I just ignored their reply and guess what. The company registered my domain with the .cn.
After reading this post, I checked the .cn domain again and it expired last Dec.
Base on my experience these guys might just register and hold your .cn domain for a few years.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#13If it was a courtesy email it would of been written in Engrish.
would have been written in English
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#14These scams are very, very common, and have been around for years. On a regular basis, I get letters from a company called "Domain Registry of America" (or something like that) who kindly offer to register .biz variations (and whatnot) for my domain names.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#15I get one of these for every _single_ website or app I launch. It's a benchmark: if I get one, I've made it decently popular enough for it to get around to them. There's always a bright side. :)
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#16These scams are partly enabled by the fact that the domain system has so many suffixes. It was predictable. One solution is to remove the suffixes. Yes there'd be pain migrating/collapsing to that but there is clearly pain now when we don't.
We are moving towards the opposite. You will begin to see a lot more domain extensions as ICANN allows anyone with deep enough pockets to launch their own top-level domain.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#17Has nobody followed up to see which registrars are to blame? Could be a simple fix if reported to ICANN.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#18These scams are very, very common, and have been around for years. On a regular basis, I get letters from a company called "Domain Registry of America" (or something like that) who kindly offer to register .biz variations (and whatnot) for my domain names.
I have had 100+ paper letters from Domain Registry of America (or similar) trying to snipe domain renewals over the years. Waste of paper.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#19You'll get these for every domain you register, and they can be safely ignored.
Getting your .com.cn domain wasn't a priority yesterday, so why would you waste even a second considering it today? You registered the .com, and the .net/.org if they were available because that's good practice. Maybe a few popular misspellings too if they're available.
But there are 500 other TLDs out there that you didn't register. For good reason. Because they're worthless.
Some random email out of the blue doesn't change that fact.
Re: The Asian domain-name extortion scam
#20Yup, I got the same email from that same company for 2 different sites.
Glad to confirm that its a scam for sure. I figured it was an easy one to pull - play it off like there's trademark infringement and then sell the 12 'hijacked' domains at once.