Local businesses falling for domain-name scams

Scammers trying to con money for domain names are targeting businesses, the Office of Fair Trading warned today.

The OFT said it had received complaints from businesses that had been cold-called by alleged domain registrars who employ less-than-legitimate tactics to try and get the firms to cough up.

The usual trick, according to the OFT, is to call local businesses and tell them that someone else is trying to register their domain name and their only hope of saving it from the other URL-hungry firm is to sign up with the dodgy domain-name firm sharpish.

When put on the spot by the OFT, none of the domain-name cold-callers could stump up the third parties allegedly keen on buying the URLs.

One silicon.com reader said that he had been subject to such phone calls and when he attempted to question the supposed registrar "they very quickly clam up and hang up".

The OFT advises anyone in doubt to give their ISP, the local Trading Standards or their normal domain-name registrar a call to check if the offer is genuine.

John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said in a statement: "Businesses should be wary of cold-callers putting pressure on them to buy domain names in haste. We have warned a number of domain-name registration agents about their selling practices and will continue to crack down on any misleading claims."