I thought I would try and post something useful today. Something that many people fall for because it just looks too legit and they may not know any better.
As a web designer I feel its my job to try and remember to tell my clients who have an online presence (especially new) that they will eventually get spammed or scammed wether it comes in email or snail mail. My usual suggestion is..."If in doubt, ask. But never respond or make a payment till you know for sure."
Ever get emails from Trademark scams...
"We are a Domain Name registration service company, which is a professional Internet Domain Name Registration and dispute resolution organization in China.On August.24th,2009, We received HAITONG Investment company's application that they are registering the name "your company here" as their Internet Trademark and "yourdomainnamehere.cn"、"yourdomainnamehere.com.cn"、"yourdomainnamehere.asia"domain names etc.,It is China and ASIA domain names.But..............blah blah"
First thing to notice in the above...they can't type! You can always catch alot scammers by the way they write. Mispelled words, improper punctuation,etc. or they really dont make sense.
Delete! Do not respond...and if in doubt Ask someone. The web is a usefull tool for this. Many others have complained on blogs, forums, etc. so the information is right at your fingertips. Just do a search on the web for the company name, maybe add such words as "scam", "spam"..."YiGuan China Co scam"...look at all the results you get. The first result in Google for "YiGuan China Co scam" is a site with the title scam, scam, scam. You can just tell by all the results other websities have been complaining about this company. Red Flag-delete.
Every year I recieve (and so do others) a Domain Name Expiration Notice in my regular mailbox (poor trees) from Domains Registry of America (and now there's another but I forget the name) that is reminding me that my domain name is about to expire and I must renew my domain name to retain exclusive rights. Pitch it! Most domain and hosting companies do not snail mail people, they email you letting you know your domain name is about to expire and in so many days they will automatically charge your credit card on file...or if you pay by check...make a note of the company you do business with. All others are a fraud or some solicitor.
Know the companies names that you do business with. We seem to remember who our water bill is paid to, our internet provider or phone company...know your domain and hosting company ('s) name. Or if in doubt, comment here and I'll help. ;)
If you want to learn more on website business scams and spam go here. I found this site not long ago. Nicely written, easy read.
