The China domain name scam has been circulating for over a decade. It’s a simple yet sometimes effective scam that gets businesses to part with money in exchange for domain names — that they’ll never get.
This particular scam uses the age-old technique of fear to spur business owners or their employees into action. Read on to learn exactly what the China domain name registration scam is and how it works.
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How the China Domain Name Scam Works
The China domain name scam starts with a simple email that looks like this:
Basically, the scammer is trying to make you believe that someone wants to register a domain name using your company name, but in China. They’ll list domains like yourcompany.cn, yourcompany.net.cn, and yourcompany.com.cn which are all China-exclusive domains.
The fear is that a third party could be using your company name illegally to make a profit in a country where you can’t do much about it.
The next step of the scam is getting you to address the problem. If you reply to the email, you’ll be given someone to contact to “buy” the domain names before this supposed third party snaps them up. In some cases, the third party themselves will contact you to tell you that they’re buying the domain names as they’re essential for their business.
Business owners who are taken in by the scam will spend real money on securing these domain names with the scammer. They may receive bills for thousands of dollars from supposed domain name registrars. However, these bills aren’t connected to genuine registrars and, in most cases, the emails aren’t even from China.
How to Identify the China Domain Name Scam
If you receive an email like this and want to confirm it’s a scam, there are a few things to look out for.
Spelling and Grammar Mistakes
These emails are often rife with spelling and grammar errors. Novice scam spotters may think these are just translation errors. However, a major Chinese domain name registrar will have a professional translator if dealing with international clients and issues. They won’t make mistakes such as “…we found that the keyword are the same…” as seen in the screenshot above.
Look out for missing spaces, names spelled incorrectly, and sentences that don’t read in a professional manner.
Email Addresses That Don’t Match the Name/Organization in the Signature
Usually, the sender’s email address won’t match the organization listed. It will often be garbled letters and numbers to try and conceal the identity of the scammer. A genuine organization will always have a professional email address.
Names/Organizations You Can’t Find Online
Put the name of the sender or the supposed organization into Google. The chances are that you won’t be able to find it because the organization does exist or it has logos and branding far different from the email you’ve received.
How to Report the China Registry Scam
If your email client has the ability to report phishing scams, utilize this feature. Otherwise, let your organization’s chief information security officer (CISO) or IT team know, depending on your internal cybersecurity protocols.
If you receive this scam as an individual, you can forward it to [email protected] to keep the relevant authorities updated about the ongoing nature of this years-old scam.
Protect Yourself From Scams
You can stay savvy about the latest scams and avoid them by subscribing to Scam Detector’s Scam Alerts. You’ll receive regular emails about what to watch out for and red flags to stay vigilant for — plus top tips on how to stay safe online.
Our site offers plenty of resources concerning email scams, including how to protect your identity online and how to tell genuine emails from fake ones.
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