.AU Domains Are No Longer Safe - Fraudulently Registered and Used for Selling Counterfeit Goods, and Maybe Scams

• 

  [Deactivated] on 31/10/2014 - 12:42

  I hope people don't actually fall for this, the websites don't look particularly professional and are quite "Chinese looking".
  Having a look at the WHOIS data, it does seem like some of them are registered by chinese scammers.

  • 

    A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 12:55

    I hope people don't actually fall for this, the websites don't look particularly professional and are quite "Chinese looking".

    Unfortunately, I believe plenty of people do fall for this scam.

    Having a look at the WHOIS data, it does seem like some of them are registered by chinese scammers.

    All are registered by the same Chinese scammer.

  • 

    c64 on 01/11/2014 - 11:17

    I hope people don't actually fall for this

    i'm sure there are lots of people not quite as savvy as you. and then there are just plain idiots who buy stuff like http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8-Channel-DVR-Outdoor-Home-Survei… and think they are going to get a real product.

• 

  scotty on 31/10/2014 - 13:05

  Didn't you start the same conversation last year? Yes these days you need a lot more work to determine the legitimacy of business.

  • 

    A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 13:13

    +1

    Didn't you start the same conversation last year?

    Other than the domains being registered using details stolen from legitimate companies, businesses, people. It is a completely different scam.

    In these cases the domains are being used to offer counterfeit goods for sale. The counterfeiter may well deliver the fake items.

    In the other cases the domains were registered using companies that were linked in some way to the domain names in order to steal money - no goods were ever going to be delivered.

    I was going to post in the previous thread - until I did some more research, and realised that this was a different type of scam.

    Yes these days you need a lot more work to determine the legitimacy of business.

    If the registrars did their job correctly, it would be a lot safer out there.

    • 

      scotty on 31/10/2014 - 13:20

      I don't think AUDA cares about counterfeit goods as these .au domains have been registered with proper ABN. It's the brand's to make sure their trademarks are not mis-used and maybe ACCC's responsibility to protect the consumers.

      • 

        A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 13:41

        I don't think AUDA cares about counterfeit goods

        Correct. AUDA should care that the registrar has not confirmed that these .AU domains were legitimately registered by the supposed registrant listed.

        as these .au domains have been registered with proper ABN.

        The company details were fraudulently used in each case.

        It's the brand's to make sure their trademarks are not mis-used and maybe ACCC's responsibility to protect the consumers.

        It is now a criminal offense to sell, supply, or offer for sale or supply, counterfeit goods. It is no longer up to the trademark/brand owner to have to take civil action. FairTrading (in NSW) and the Federal Police handle enforcement of the law. In New Zealand I understand that it is the Commerce Commission.

• 

  timmypete on 31/10/2014 - 13:06

  Makes you almost wish for the days when Melbourne IT did registrations by hand..

  • 

    timmypete on 31/10/2014 - 13:06

    +1

    I realise I've just effectively endorsed Melbourne IT. Am going to go lie in a quiet little corner and shudder.

  • 

    A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 13:15

    Makes you almost wish for the days….

    Some registrars DO STILL CHECK out the registrant. The scammers choose the registrars that do no checking at all.

    • 

      timmypete on 31/10/2014 - 14:01

      Yeah - but back in those days mIT was the only .au registrar.

      • 

        A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 14:08

        back in those days mIT was the only .au registrar.

        I liked it better BEFORE Melb IT - when it was free and that bearded guy did it all.

      • 

        peteru on 01/11/2014 - 22:15

        when it was free and that bearded guy did it all

        Geoff does not have a beard, but yeah, he made you jump through hoops. Then again, back in my days he probably only registered about 3 sites per week, if that.

      • 

        A3Australia on 01/11/2014 - 23:57

        @peteru:

        Geoff does not have a beard

        No, but I believe that Robert did ->

        "The operation of .au began with Robert Elz of Melbourne University. He devised the original policies, and was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the domain. All services were provided free.

        In 1996, the operation of the popular .com.au sub-domain became too much for him to accomplish on a voluntary basis. He decided to give its operation exclusively to the commercial arm of the university Melbourne IT for a term of five years.

        The service was run on a for-profit basis. Many also argued that Melbourne IT had no right to charge for services that had been previously provided free, ultimately resulting in a class-action lawsuit filed by ISP iiNet on behalf of all domain holders.

        Disenchantment in the way .au was run also grew when times taken to process registrations or updates to domain names in other areas (such as .org.au) ballooned to months or even years. For these and other reasons, Robert Elz lost control of the .au namespace to auDA on December 12, 2001."

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  A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 13:49

  +1

  I have now reported all five of the .AU domains to AUDA.

  I had to make a separate report for each - there was no way to report 'in bulk'.

  Let us see how long it takes to remove these domains.

  I also reported all eight of the .NZ domains to the NZ ComCom and to the NZ Domain Name Commission.

• 

  quaddie on 31/10/2014 - 15:24

  +1

  Good stuff, Serpico.

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  A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 16:18

  Serpico
  Francesco Vincent Serpico (born April 14, 1936) is a retired American New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who is famous for blowing the whistle on police corruption in the late 1960s and early 1970s—an act that compelled Mayor John V. Lindsay to appoint the landmark Knapp Commission to investigate the NYPD. Most of Serpico's fame came after the release of the 1973 film Serpico, which starred Al Pacino in the title role, for which Pacino was nominated for an Oscar.

• 

  Davo1111 on 31/10/2014 - 16:22

  sigh A3 on his standard counterfeit/scam argument.

  Just report to AuDa and move on. The domain registrars don't care, provided it's got a valid ABN and they're paying their bills on time, they have no obligation to remove the site.

  Also please read this in regards to "scam" claims

  • 

    A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 17:14

    Just report to AuDa and move on.

    Done already.

    The domain registrars don't care, provided it's got a valid ABN and they're paying their bills on time, they have no obligation to remove the site.

    The domain registrars are not hosting the sites - so of course they do not remove the sites. Nor is there any obligation to do so.

    The domain registrars are obligated to follow the AUDA regulations for registering .com.au and .org.au domains. According to AUDA it is the registrar who should first be informed of any discrepancy. Then the registrar is meant to contact the registrant and give them a chance to fix/remedy the problem.

    Unfortunately, the registrar in these .au cases above refuses to accept the complaints and has said to contact the AUDA.

    If there is no reply or if the discrepancy is not fixed - the registrar is meant to remove the domain name.

    Also please read this in regards to "scam" claims

    That link is regarding a real Australia business, using properly registered domain names. The Chinese 'business', behind all these fraudulently registered domain names, selling counterfeit brand name goods, is hardly likely to claim defamation.

    I note that the Australian business that was threatening OzBargain has removed the counterfeit goods from their website. However their reviews are not getting any better:-

    http://www.productreview.com.au/p/we-all-save.html

    http://www.resellerratings.com/store/weallsave

    They are also still deleting all FaceBook posts that question the authenticity of the items they sell (especially perfumes).

    http://www.fragrantica.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=100930

    I assume they are still spamming as well.

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2015021

    Recent ACA report on WeAllSave - or as ACA called it the "Online shopping company where we all get ripped off"

    http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8921862/online-shopping-co…

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  scotty on 31/10/2014 - 17:43

  Just did some investigation and I think now I understand where A3 is getting at. All the .au domains are registered by this @qq.com address. Googling that email address leads to this company (a Chinese human resource website) — an exporting company for shoes and kids clothings in Fujian China.

  However those domains were registered by Australian companies with legitimate ABN/ACN. Therefore it is possible that the Chinese company just take a random ABN to register domains. It might be a good idea to reach out to the ABN holder as well. We had our ABN mis-used once by someone registering a domain (with a trademark), and it took both me + the trademark owner to get AUDA to de-register the domain and it took over a month.

  • 

    A3Australia on 31/10/2014 - 18:19

    +1

    Just did some investigation and I think now I understand where A3 is getting at.

    Sorry, as usual it seems, I was not clear enough at first.

    All the .au domains are registered by this @qq.com address.

    The only part of the domain registration information that is not "stolen" from legitimate companies/businesses/people.

    Googling that email address leads to this company (a Chinese human resource website) — an exporting company for shoes and kids clothings in Fujian China.

    However those domains were registered by Australian companies with legitimate ABN/ACN.

    And the .nz ones by using a lady's name and home phone number.

    Therefore it is possible that the Chinese company just take a random ABN to register domains. It might be a good idea to reach out to the ABN holder as well. We had our ABN mis-used once by someone registering a domain (with a trademark), and it took both me + the trademark owner to get AUDA to de-register the domain and it took over a month.

    Yes, it takes a lot of time and trouble - plus as we found previously, if the ABN holder as been 'wound up' or has simply closed down, it takes even longer. The responsibility lies with the registrar - they should be forced to be more diligent.

• 

  A3Australia on 01/11/2014 - 01:26

  And, some more…

  http://www.alegris.com.au/
  http://www.ncci.org.au/
  http://www.specialforever.org.au/
  http://www.colours.org.au/
  http://www.ahta.org.au/

  http://www.30beaches.com.au/
  http://www.a1officemachines.com.au/
  http://www.actionmc.com.au/
  http://www.athsos.com.au/
  http://www.bowraldentists.com.au/
  http://www.crest.net.au/
  http://www.clubunique.com.au/
  http://www.desq.com.au/
  http://www.giftsformygirl.com.au/
  http://www.healthpages.com.au/
  http://www.integrative-clearing.com.au/
  http://www.janedooleyphoto.com.au/
  http://www.pilbarapositive.com.au/
  http://www.tekmark.net.au/
  http://www.thecompendium.com.au/

• 

  Nutrino on 01/11/2014 - 10:14

  Au site were safe before?

  • 

    Davo1111 on 01/11/2014 - 11:14

    -1

    clickbait

  • 

    A3Australia on 02/11/2014 - 00:03

    Au site were safe before?

    Well, they were held in very high regard.

• 

  c64 on 01/11/2014 - 11:13

  +1

  it surprises me that the shoe companies don't take any action to take these sites offline

  • 

    A3Australia on 02/11/2014 - 00:10

    it surprises me that the shoe companies don't take any action to take these sites offline

    I believe that .au domains can only be 'removed' from the register by either the AUDA or the registrar.

    It is not like the USA where the FBI seizes domains.

    I do not think our Federal Police and/or state Fair Trading authorities can do anything about domain names. They just act on the counterfeit goods - which in the cases of these domains would be stocked outside of Australia.

• 

  Saul Goodman on 09/12/2014 - 16:37

  If anyone is interested… From what I can see all of these or most have been dropped and now domain rights up for auction via netfleet.

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  A3Australia on 13/12/2014 - 23:36

  http://www.ccpnz.org.nz/

• 

  A3Australia on 23/02/2015 - 12:11

  http://yachtwinch.com.au

  Supposedly registered by:-

  Registrant FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED
  Registrant ID ACN 008663161
  Eligibility Type Company
  Eligibility Name FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED
  Registrant Contact ID DI_28024727
  Registrant Contact Name ZhouRunFa
  Registrant Contact Email [email protected]