domain name scam

[Jon M]

not a new phenomenon i know, but i thought i'd be worth posting about nonetheless as my company was targetted this morning.

the company "solus" or "solus online" (http://www.solus-online.net) called up trying to get us to "secure" some domain names that some fictious client was going to register if we didn't do so.. fortunaly my boss asked me about it first before he got suckered and i smelled a rat straight away, so i told him i'd look into it.

my investigations started purely by looking up the company themselves.. which seems to have both changed locations and websites in the not too distant past.. (first bad sign)

then i phoned the contact to see if i could get any more incriminating evidence out of him... well it seems to fit all the trademarks of the scams you see documented around the place.. so I strung him along for a bit making out that i was really worried etc etc..

he made some very basic mistakes like: "our client wants to register the .co.uk domain of your .com address for 10 years" oops *bssst* you can only register a .co.uk for 2 years.
and the list goes on..

this company are definately a bunch of cowboys.. so my advice is to steer clear if you come across them.
i wasn't fooled for a second, and i know my boss wasn't taken in.. but to even a semi/moderately I.T literate person it may sound legitimate... so keep on your toes people

[Sociable]

LOL Just be happy they didnt call NTL and sell them a .co.uk domain for nthellworld.com!!

[Scarlett]

Having briefly looked at the site,

I can see the fact that the about page is all in caps, the post code is in lower case and the T&C'c all refer to the relevent naming authority without hinting who that might be in any case. might have alerted you to them.

As for there amazing £100 for 2 years offer...

[Bifta]

Let me just add, they're using "homestead" to host some of their content ... Homestead in case you didn't know is a sh*te free web host. If you want to query his extortionate prices for domain registration, drop him an email (or loads of spam) to mrrugby@ntlworld.com

[Jon M]

Originally Posted by Scarlett

Having briefly looked at the site,

I can see the fact that the about page is all in caps, the post code is in lower case and the T&C'c all refer to the relevent naming authority without hinting who that might be in any case. might have alerted you to them.

As for there amazing £100 for 2 years offer...

didn't look at the site until after i had finished talking to them.. but yes, those are obvious..

i'm a bit further on than that in my investigation now.. it seems the company was investigated by the office of fair trading only a month ago.. and the london office in their whois data doesn't exist .. the plot thickens eh

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

didn't look at the site until after i had finished talking to them.. but yes, those are obvious..

i'm a bit further on than that in my investigation now.. it seems the company was investigated by the office of fair trading only a month ago.. and the london office in their whois data doesn't exist .. the plot thickens eh

According to Companies House "Solus Online Ltd" does not actually exist as a legal entity.

[Frank]

Registrant:
Solus
14 Orpington Terrace
London, England W14 0PR
GB

Domain name: SOLUSONLINE.NET

Administrative Contact:
Marshall, Mr P info@solusonline.net
14 Orpington Terrace
London, England W14 0PR
GB
+4402074587598 Fax: +4402074587598

Technical Contact:
Marshall, Mr P info@solusonline.net
14 Orpington Terrace
London, England W14 0PR
GB
+4402074587598 Fax: +4402074587598

Registration Service Provider:
UK Reg, domains@fasthosts.co.uk
+44 1452 541252
+44 1452 538485 (fax)
http://www.ukreg.com/

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 15-Jul-2003.
Record expires on 15-Jul-2004.
Record Created on 15-Jul-2003.

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.FAST-HOSTS.ORG
NS2.FAST-HOSTS.ORG

I suggest you e-mail abuse@fast-hosts.org and abuse@tucows.com; dnsadmin@tucows.com (http://resellers.tucows.com/opensrs/)

Forward the spam/scam to them and get them to close this joker's account on ukreg.com

This must breach the ukreg.com T&C's...

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Scarlett

As for there amazing £100 for 2 years offer...

Not to mention their form to type type your credit card details into. Not an SSL cert in sight tho