Domain Name Scams - Timeline

Timeline

This section outlines reported domain scams as a timeline of events, showing how they have evolved, the companies involved and the outcome of complaints.

• In 2001, the federal Competition Bureau (of Canada) issued a warning about documents that appeared to be invoices sent out by a business called the "Internet Registry of Canada".

• "Complaints received by the Competition Bureau indicate that the mailings from the 'Internet Registry of Canada' give the impression that it is affiliated with the Government of Canada or that it is an officially sanctioned agency registering domain names in Canada. The 'Internet Registry of Canada' is not associated with any government agency," the Competition Bureau advisory stated.

• VeriSign was sued in 2002 for their actions in sending ambiguous emails informing people, often incorrectly, that their domain was about to expire and inviting them to click on a link to renew it. Renewing the domain resulted in the registration company being transferred to VeriSign from the previous registrar.

• In March 2002, the FTC shut down "TLD Network Ltd", "Quantum Management (GB) Ltd.", "TBS Industries Ltd." of London, England for selling bogus domain names ".USA", ".BRIT", which they deceptively marketed as usable suffixes.

• In April 2002, the FTC charged National Domain Name Registry, Electronic Domain Name Monitoring, Corporate Domain Name Monitoring, and owner Darren J. Morgenstern, founder of the adult infidelity website Ashley Madison, with making false and misleading statements to domain name holders whereby they duped consumers into needlessly registering variations of their existing domain names by deceptively contending that third parties were about to claim them.

• In May 2002, Peter Kuryliw the sole director of 1473253 Ontario Incorporated (operating as Yellowbusiness.ca) pleaded guilty to targeting over 40,000 business and non-profit organizations with a deceptive mailout for their web directory.

• On 2 July 2002, the "Domain Registry" served papers against Canada-based domain registrar Tucows Inc for alleged defamation and sought $21 m in damages. Tucows later said: "The Company (Tucows) does not believe it will be liable for any damages and accordingly has not accrued any amounts at June 30, 2002."

• In 2002, Register.com sued Domain Registry of America (aka "Domain Renewal Group"), claiming the company illegally lured away thousands of customers by tricking them into transferring their domains.

• In 2002, the UK Advertising Watchdog Authority (ASA) slammed Domain Registry of Europe over similar mail shots.

• In response to this, Alan Freeman, Relations Manager for DRoE, said that the company - which also trades as Domain Registry of America and Domain Registry of Canada - had registered 1.1 million domains for customers and was registering between 5,000 and 7,000 new domains a day.

• In 2003, Dutch hosting provider Deinternetman pondered legal action against Domain Registry of Europe for sending their customers letters urging them to renew their domain contracts.

• In 2003, VeriSign was found not to have broken the law but were barred from suggesting that a domain was about to expire or that a transfer was actually a renewal.

• In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with the Domain Registry of America for practices such as transferring domain registrations to their service under the guise of domain renewal, a practice known as domain slamming, and having hidden fees.

• In April 2004, James Tataka, Simon Benlolo, Alan Benlolo, and Elliot Benlolo were found guilty by a jury for violating the Competition Act. Their scam involved mailing almost 900,000 phoney invoices to businesses and non profit organizations in Canada.

• In May 2004, as the result of a Competition Bureau investigation into 1473253 Ontario Incorporated, operating as Yellowbusiness.ca, James Tetaka was sentenced and fined for sending out phoney invoice mailings.

• In July 2004, Daniel Klemann and 1480455 Ontario Incorporated, operating as Internet Registry of Canada (IROC), was sentenced to a $40,000 fine and a five-year prohibition order for deceptive Internet domain name renewal mailouts that targeted 73,000 businesses and non-profit organizations across Canada.

• In April 2005, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission warns of a domain name renewal scam where domain name holders have received a letter that looks like an invoice for the registration or renewal of a domain name, where the domain name in question is very similar to your actual domain name except has a different ending, for example it will end in “.net.au” instead of “.com”

• In March 2006, Consumer Fraud Reporting reports about about a company called “Domain Listing Service” sending out emails to domain name holders that look like a bill to register/renew their domain name listing a “final notice”.

• In 2006, reports appeared from New Zealand that Blair Rafferty had resurrected his bankrupt brother Chesley's domain name service, "domain slamming" New Zealand and Australian registrants.

• In 2007, a company known as "Domain Renewal SA" operating from Brussels was sending out emails that told you that you need to renew your domain.

• In August 2007, the Internet Centre reports of a wave of emails originating from China from “Asian Domain Registration Service”, implying that a domain name will be lost, or all Asian TLDs of the domain name will be taken away shortly by a foreign company. The Internet Centre has found no indication that any of these are valid, and in fact they appear to be a scam

• In 2007, it was reported that a company under the name of Liberty Names of America (or Liberty names of America Inc., also referred to as "Lnoa Inc." or "Lnoa.com") too has been sending out "Domain Name Expiration Notices", which one experts said is "not exactly domain name slamming. But it is sleazy marketing."

• In March 2008, PC News Digest reports “Network Solutions Scam”. When searching on the Network Solutions website to see if a name was available for registration, Network Solutions was actually registering the name and then attempting to sell that name at an inflated price.

• In 2008, ICANN said: "we are aware of accredited registrars in North America with officers that have been convicted of mail fraud, that continue to be associated with the deceptive marketing practices employed by the Domain Registry of America. We do not consider this an acceptable situation. Accreditation processes must be reviewed, and that review must be released for public scrutiny".

• In 2009, ASA released an adjudication on Domain Registry of America t/a Domain Renewal Group.

• In September 2009, “Law firm puts GoDaddy on Notice” for registration abuses. Law firm alleges GoDaddy and WebDesigners collaborate to register domain names under WebDesigners company name, resulting in actual domain name owner having no control over their domain name and then being forced to pay thousands of dollars in arbitration costs in order to get their domain name back

• As of 2010, the company mailing as DROA, French Internet Registry, Domain Renewal Group or Company Directory, is doing so in order to achieve domain slamming. McAfee Labs also reports that the domain slamming solicitations continue.

• In September 2010, Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. had its licence with the authority responsible for Canada's .ca domain names, Canadian Internet Registration Authority terminated as a result of domain slamming carried out under the name of Domain Registry of Canada. The officer registered with the Ontario government for Brandon Gray Internet Services is Marilyn Benlolo.

• In August 2010, the FTC charged Internet Listing Service with sending fake invoices to small business and others listing the existing domain name of the consumers Website or a slight variation on the domain name.

• In February 2011, Name Pros reported GoDaddy double billing clients through their website and then refusing to offer refunds until complaints made to the Better Business Bureau.

• On March 31, 2011, the law office of Ostrolenk Faber LLP warned about Trademark and Domain Name Scams where its clients received fake warnings of usurpers of internet domain names. Clients were allegedly receiving phony "Trademark Office Notices" from the "United States Trademark Agency"