Think the Domain Renewal Scam is Bad? Check out MediaNetCom.
Monday, July 26th, 2010
Company will help me protect my trademark by listing it on its low traffic web site for $1,117.00.
One of the more frustrating and misleading domain name shenanigans is the fake renewal notice. This notice, often sent via postal mail and disguised as an invoice, gets unsuspecting businesses to pay to renew their domain name. At the same time, they are unknowingly consenting to transferring their domain to a new registrar.
It’s bad. It’s misleading. It’s wrong.
But check out this doozie I just got in the mail from a company called Medianetcom. Their invoice-looking solicitation (pdf) asks me to list my registered trademark on its web site for only $1,117.00 for three years. What a steal!
Medianetcom has a few disclaimers on the “order form”, noting in small print that it’s not a legal requirement nor a mandatory service. But it also warns you that “Protecting a trademark from confusingly similar names in the responsibility of the owner and not of the US Patent and Trademark Office. Save your registered trademark in the media:net:com Trademark Internet Service and enjoy worldwide the recognition of your trademark.”
So listing my trademark on web site with little traffic for $1,117.00 will help protect my mark beyond a listing in the official USPTO web site?
Nope.
Of course, I’m sure a number of companies just process the order form as an invoice and send along the money.
Further Reading:
They use a Minnesota address on the “invoice” though the whois for their site shows an address in Vienna…
Yep, medianetcom.org definitely falls in the scam category. Though at least it’s a somewhat inventive scam, the others were getting boring.
Along with the mailings, it looks like they preloaded the search database with existing marks to attract interest.
Looks like a non-US based scam but that’s not totally clear:
Medianetcom.org
From whois:
MCN Monschein KEG
Junkgasse 11
Vienna AT 1228
From site:
Medianetcom AG
Industriestraße 26
FL-9491 Ruggell
Liechtenstein
e-mail:office@medianetcom.org
Medianetcom AG
302A West 12th Street # 161
New York
NY 10014
e-mail:office@medianetcom.org
Medianetcom AG
149 South Barrington Ave #367
Los Angeles
CA 90049
e-mail:office@medianetcom.org
It may become a “service” to make sure domain owners **reach** the largest audience.
Over 20 Billion (yes B Billion) DNS queries per day. Do YOU exist ?
http://www.opendns.com/community/domaintagging/search/?q=dnw.com
I dont’ know any companies that would send 1.1k. Most have trouble with legit bills.
Won’t be successful.
@ Jim – please keep comments on topic
Hi,
They just busted a big operation about a month or so ago.
It was sending out the phony renewal letters for like $39.00 per year
Multi-million operation…
I thought I posted the link on dnforum…
but I cannot seem to find it.
Anyway… it is an easy scam….
Theses letters go to “bookkeepers & Personal assistants etc… and just plain dumb people…that just pay the bill.
Send out enough…you make a lot of money
Trouble is…each one is ‘MAIL FRAUD’ which makes it a FEDERAL CRIME…
Which makes the “Risk to reward ratio” very, very…bad.
A ton of time in jail for what?
Its Like robbing a liquor store with a gun for $12…with 2 strikes already on you.
NOT WORTH IT FOLKS…anyway you look at it.
Peace!