Over 50,000 DOT UK domain owners SCAMMED. Criminals charged almost 1 Million Pounds

mholt · 01-03-2006, 07:02 PM

SOURCE: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/leg...9245442,00.htm

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Two Australians who sent out bogus letters urging domain owners to pay a fee have been fined nearly a million pounds

Two scam artists who duped victims with bogus demands for domain name registration have been fined AU$2.3m (£980,000) by an Australian court.

Brad Norrish and Chesley Rafferty copied personal information from the Whois listings of Nominet, the dot-uk domain registrar. They then contacted around 50,000 domain owners and told them they must pay a fee or risk losing their domain.

The pair were found guilty of "flagrant" disregard for Nominet's copyright and ordered to pay AU$1.3m in damages to the registrar, after it was forced to close down its Whois database. They were also hit with AU$1m in costs.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet, said the company takes "protection of our intellectual property and copyright ownership very seriously".

Cowley said in a statement the need to protect its customers is also paramount and praised the international co-operation which had secured the conviction.

He said: "By fighting, and winning, this case we are very clearly showing that scamming is a serious industry issue which will not be tolerated."
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Thought this was interesting. Hope none of you smart people fell for it

tekz999 · 01-03-2006, 10:35 PM

EXCELLENT! 2 idiots down, 998 to go.

mholt · 01-04-2006, 12:52 PM

Heh, more like 998 thousand

barefoottech · 01-04-2006, 01:22 PM

Brad Norrish & Chesley Rafferty has been doing this for years , they got busted for doing the same thing to .com.au & co.nz owners without registrar Status
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/industry-news/153962-over-50-000-dot-uk-domain.html

For example back in 2003
http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-19062003/

Do a Search on Google for Domain Names Australia or Domain Names NZ
for further info on these Scammers
or check out the Auda List of Judgements

http://www.auda.org.au/news/dna

btw anyone wishing to send him some Fan Mail
Email Chesleyau@yahoo.com.au was his email as recently as October 2005

rumman · 01-04-2006, 01:45 PM

I hate people like them, they don't realize that they are taking away all the fun out of domain names. Also, I hope they are not only fined, but imprisoned for some time, so they really know what kind of a thing they have done.

Cheapquality · 01-04-2006, 02:59 PM

why this only happens with dot uk

Peter · 01-04-2006, 03:24 PM

Cheapquality if you read the post 2 posts above yours you will see that is not the case.

Monster Enterprises · 01-07-2006, 02:26 PM

I got a letter for my firedepartment.co.uk, to "log in" bs. Told the boys to grow up, you have to pay for mine.

wot · 01-07-2006, 04:49 PM

A pair in the UK were recently jailed for a similar scam - good!

01-03-2006, 07:02 PM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
mholt DNOA Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 5,040	Over 50,000 DOT UK domain owners SCAMMED. Criminals charged almost 1 Million Pounds SOURCE: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/leg...9245442,00.htm -------------------------------------------------------- Two Australians who sent out bogus letters urging domain owners to pay a fee have been fined nearly a million pounds Two scam artists who duped victims with bogus demands for domain name registration have been fined AU$2.3m (£980,000) by an Australian court. Brad Norrish and Chesley Rafferty copied personal information from the Whois listings of Nominet, the dot-uk domain registrar. They then contacted around 50,000 domain owners and told them they must pay a fee or risk losing their domain. The pair were found guilty of "flagrant" disregard for Nominet's copyright and ordered to pay AU$1.3m in damages to the registrar, after it was forced to close down its Whois database. They were also hit with AU$1m in costs. Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet, said the company takes "protection of our intellectual property and copyright ownership very seriously". Cowley said in a statement the need to protect its customers is also paramount and praised the international co-operation which had secured the conviction. He said: "By fighting, and winning, this case we are very clearly showing that scamming is a serious industry issue which will not be tolerated." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thought this was interesting. Hope none of you smart people fell for it

01-03-2006, 10:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
tekz999 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 3,876	EXCELLENT! 2 idiots down, 998 to go. __________________ $60 Three Premium Letters + Numbers + Keywords .BIZ/.US lah.biz+ 10+ Years Domains! PanelRoom.com+ $60

01-04-2006, 01:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
barefoottech The MINISITE King Join Date: May 2005 Location: QTHR Posts: 4,594	Brad Norrish & Chesley Rafferty has been doing this for years , they got busted for doing the same thing to .com.au & co.nz owners without registrar Status ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/industry-news/153962-over-50-000-dot-uk-domain.html For example back in 2003 http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-19062003/ Do a Search on Google for Domain Names Australia or Domain Names NZ for further info on these Scammers or check out the Auda List of Judgements http://www.auda.org.au/news/dna btw anyone wishing to send him some Fan Mail Email Chesleyau@yahoo.com.au was his email as recently as October 2005 __________________ Studio51 Sites! Often Copied Always Amazing Never Bettered. Last edited by barefoottech; 01-06-2006 at 11:53 AM.

01-04-2006, 01:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
rumman New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 7	I hate people like them, they don't realize that they are taking away all the fun out of domain names. Also, I hope they are not only fined, but imprisoned for some time, so they really know what kind of a thing they have done. __________________ "I am the Noble Warrior" http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...2563/MYSIG.jpg

01-04-2006, 03:24 PM	#7 (permalink)
Peter NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 5,074	Cheapquality if you read the post 2 posts above yours you will see that is not the case. __________________ Manage your portfolio using my new Domain Portfolio Management script. Securing Your Domain Name From Theft

01-04-2006, 12:52 PM	THREAD STARTER #3 (permalink)
mholt DNOA Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 5,040	Heh, more like 998 thousand

01-04-2006, 02:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
Cheapquality Account Suspended Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: World Posts: 2,241	why this only happens with dot uk

01-07-2006, 02:26 PM	#8 (permalink)
Monster Enterprises New Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: California USA Posts: 18	I got a letter for my firedepartment.co.uk, to "log in" bs. Told the boys to grow up, you have to pay for mine.

01-07-2006, 04:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
wot NamePros Expert Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Golden Triangle Posts: 5,854	A pair in the UK were recently jailed for a similar scam - good! __________________ MonikerBlog.com

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