The China Registry scam has been ongoing for several years. Operating from the domain ChinaRegistry.com.cn and several others, this is an attempt by scammers in China to pay up for fake trademark applications.
How does this scam from China work?
Let’s begin with the email below, that urges us to send it to the CEO of the “domain name”:
Dear CEO,
This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration in China. On 15-07-2020, we received an application from Hongxin Ltd requested “[domain name]” as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names (domainname.cn, domainname.com.cn, domainname.net.cn, domainname.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it’s necessary to send this message to your company and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
Best Regards
Oliver Liu
The idea is to persuade us to register a number of overpriced Chinese domain names that are not needed, as no-one is actually applying for a trademark for “domain name” in China.
The scam is explained in detail here.
The domain ChinaRegistry.com.cn is not the only one perpetuating this scam. Here are some additional domains owned by the same email address, nimesh@163.com:
acoustic-technology.cn
acpaf.cn
attenu8tor.cn
borel-barbey.cn
borel-barbey.com.cn
borel-barbey.org.cn
cannatrade.cn
cargocorp.cn
centellino.cn
chinaiem.cn
chinaiem.com.cn
chinaregistry-ja.org.cn
chinaregistry-jb.org.cn
chinaregistry-jg.org.cn
chinaregistry-jh.org.cn
chinaregistry-ji.org.cn
chinaregistry-jk.org.cn
chinaregistry-sa.org.cn
chinaregistry-sh.cn
chinaregistry-sh.com.cn
chinaregistry-sh.org.cn
chinaregistry-shanghai.cn
chinaregistry-shanghai.com.cn
chinaregistry-shanghai.org.cn
chinaregistry-sj.org.cn
chinaregistry-st.org.cn
chinaregistry-sv.org.cn
chinaregistry-sx.org.cn
chinaregistry-sz.org.cn
chinaregistry.cn
chinaregistry.com.cn
chinaregistry.net.cn
chinaregistry.org.cn
chinaregistryshanghai.cn
chinaregistryshanghai.org.cn
climanosco.net.cn
climanosco.org.cn
cnregistry-da.org.cn
colourstrings.cn
dmacommunicationservices.cn
dmacommunicationservices.org.cn
ecosign.com.cn
fusioncomputing.cn
greenhse.cn
gsrthreads.cn
gsrthreads.com.cn
kagran1.cn
maviflex-asia.cn
puzzel.cn
rmbinvest.cn
rmbinvest.net.cn
scutumnano.cn
snoday.cn
snodayspirits.cn
solarius-asia.cn
solarius-global.cn
southamericancopper.cn
southamericancopper.net.cn
surfaceactivae.cn
surfaceactivae.com.cn
surfaceactivae.net.cn
tech-knots.cn
theblackcabcoffeeco.cn
theblackcabcoffeeco.com.cn
My domain name was stolen during COVID pandemic. I believe it is a company in China. I think they are holding it for ransom. I had ID theft and all my accounts were hacked. Every bank account, credit card etc had to be frozen. My computer was also hacked and by the time I was able to receive my bills etc my domain name was gone.
@Patricia Caprio: Far be it from me to express gloating. However, private computers are not hacked just like that – they are hacked with the help of phishing, scam or similar. They are taken over with the help of phishing, scam, or similar attacks – usually in a largely automated manner. Without the user’s intervention – e.g. clicking on an attachment or the like. – this usually does not work.
Therefore, please pay attention to this in the future:
– Always disable the reloading of images from external sources.
– Do not open e-mails of unknown origin, but delete them unread.
– Never click on links in e-mails from unknown senders.
– E-mails with unsolicited or unexpected attachments from unknown persons: Never open the attachments – no matter who is writing.
– Email with unexpected attachments from known people: Call and verify!
Also important:
– A well-maintained, regularly updated operating system.
– No software from dubious sources (especially no cracks, trainers or so)
– Run an up-to-date and well-tested virus scanner
– Never surf the net with an administrator account