DNS Australia Scam
I’ve been seeing some emails come through recently that are a scam trying to rip Australians off by selling them the .info version of their .au domain for stupidly high prices and suggesting that bad things will happen if you don’t pay them for the domain. Here’s what the emails look like:
From: William | DNS Australia
Subject: Your domain name has been claimed
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have received a request for the registration of the website www.cbl.info Our system shows that you are the owner of www.cbl.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:
www.cbl.info
After agreement we will link this website to:
www.cbl.com.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 .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
They provide a bogus address in Canberra – 15 Moore Street – which is the address of an ANZ bank branch. So if you receive one of these it is safe to ignore it.
