[AfrICANN-discuss] Search engine registration scam emails

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/articles/search-engine-registration-scam-emails-0

Search engine registration scam emails
  2011-01-04 15:08
  ShareThis
     Tags: Domain
names<http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/knowledge-centre/business/domain-names>,
Internet marketing<http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/knowledge-centre/business/internet-marketing>,
Search engines<http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/knowledge-centre/business/search-engines>,
Domain names<http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/knowledge-centre/personal/domain-names>

We have recently been made aware of an online scam targeting domain
name<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/d#term259>registrants. It
involves an
email <http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/e#term267> that advises the
recipient to send in a ‘search engine registration’ for their domain name,
and suggests that if action is not taken quickly, it would be difficult for
customers to find the recipient’s
website<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/w#term305>using search
engines.

This claim is of course false, but the scammers hope that people will click
on the web address link within the email to submit their details, and in
doing so the recipient may unwittingly give the scammer access to their
computer for other illegal activities such as
phishing<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/p#term246>or identity
theft.

This is a variation on a scam we encountered a few years ago where domain
name registrants were urged to update the ‘register entry’ for their domain
name.

Please be wary of any unsolicited emails or calls regarding your domain
name(s) or web presence.

If you have an existing domain name and you receive an unsolicited email
about its registration, you should contact your
registrar<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/r#term218>in the first
instance and they will be able to give you advice and verify if
any action needs to be taken.

If you don’t know who your registrar is, you can use the
WHOIS<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/w#term198>search on Nominet’s
website at
http://www.nominet.org.uk. Enter your domain name in the WHOIS search box
and it will return details of your registrar. If you have a domain name that
is coming up for renewal, your registrar will generally give you notice of
this well in advance, rather than a matter of days before expiry.

You can find more information about domain name scams and how to avoid them
on Nominet’s website at
http://www.nominet.org.uk/registrants/security/scams/.

Your registrar may also be able to advise you on search engines. There is
also a wealth of information on the
Internet<http://knowthenet.org.uk/glossary/i#term232>about search
engines and how they work, including this section on Search
Engine Optimisation
(SEO)<http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/knowledge-centre/search-engine-optimisation-seo>on
knowthenet.
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