Lin Dong of Hanson Ltd in China and John, a scam?

We have just been online for a while and has just been starting to explore online opportunities and risks. Last September 18, 2012 we were surprised by an e-mail alleging some internet trademark intellectual property safeguard matters. This is our first time to receive an e-mail of a kind and was alarmed so we were inclined to go attend to the matter to protect our domain. After a while of searching the links and names of involved, we found some articles saying this as a scam.

We wish to share the exchange of communication that you may see their modus operandi and avoid being victimized, if indeed, this is a scam. Below are the exchanges of e-mails and sequence of events:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Internet Keyword & Asia/Cn domain name registration
Date: 2012-09-18 12:01
From: “John” <jo*****@***********rg.cn>
To: <le***@************er.org>

Subject: notice protect– internet trademark intellectual property safeguard

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 in China. We received an application from Hanson Ltd on September 17, 2012. They want to register ” taxacctgcenter ” as their internet keyword and China/Asia (CN/ASIA) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflicts with your company. In order to deal with this matter better, so we send you email and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China or not?

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 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetwork.com.cn

In reply to the above message, we replied saying that we are not affiliated to Hanson Ltd based in China and we have nothing against them. On September 20, 2012, another e-mail came from Lin Dong worded as follows:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Our company need to register domain name and internet keyword
Date: 2012-09-20 08:53
From: “Lin Dong” <ha*******@***oo.cn>
To: <le***@************er.org>

Subject: notice protect– internet trademark intellectual property safeguard

Dear Sirs,

We are Hanson Ltd based in Chinese office, our company has submitted the “taxacctgcenter ” as CN/Asia domain name and Internet Keyword, we are waiting for Mr. John’s approval. We hope your company will not object our application, because this name is very important for our products in Chinese and Asian market. We don’t want your company to use this name in China and Asia, we believe our company will become the legal owner of this name in China and Asia. Even though Mr. John advises us to change another name, we will persist in this name and permanent registration of this name.

Best regards

Lin Dong

We were a bit threatened by the above and we were supposed to make a reply contesting the alleged consequences until the thought of searching the internet about Hanson Ltd in China, John, and Lin Dong. We even visited the site www(.)ygnetwork(.)com(.)cn. Online searches gave us an answer saying that the emails are scam and had been there for quite sometime. Thanks to Bill Hartzer, for his article on “Intellectual Property Domain Name Scam Still Rampant“.  Looking at the two e-mails above, gave us the following observations that,  more or less,convinced us that they are scam:

• The name of John is incomplete and no family name
• John does not seem to be a Chinese name, though the website provided in his e-mail signature seems to be working and the e-mail address of John is taken from the domain name;
• Domain of John’s e-mail is different from the official website;
• Lin Dong does not provide any company details as signature. Legitimate business normally provides company details – legal company name, company address and contacts, position, website.
• Lin Dong’s e-mail is a yahoo. Normal business with website uses email address from their website domains.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Asia/Cn domain name & Internet Keyword
Date: 2012-09-21 05:40
From: John <jo*****@***********rg.cn>
To: <le***@************er.org>

Subject: Asia/Cn domain name & Internet Keyword

Dear ____,

Based on your company having no relationship with them, we have suggested they should choose another name to avoid this conflict but they insist on this name as CN/Asia domain names (.asia/.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/.org.cn) and internet keyword on the internet. In our opinion, maybe they do the similar business as your company and register it to promote his company.

According to the domain name registration principle: The domain names and internet keyword which applied based on the international principle are opened to companies as well as individuals. Any companies or individuals have rights to register any domain name and internet keyword which are unregistered. Because your company haven’t registered this name as CN/ASIA domains and internet keyword on the internet, anyone can obtain them by registration. However, in order to avoid this conflict, the trademark or original name owner has priority to make this registration in our audit period. If your company is the original owner of this name and want to register these CN/ASIA domain names (.asia/.cn/.com.cn/.net.cn/.org.cn) and internet keyword to prevent anybody from using them, please inform us. We can send an application form and the price list to you and help you register these within
dispute period.

Kind regards

General Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 1870199 4951
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetwork.com.cn