I've just been made aware of a scam where a caller is using auDA's name in an attempt to put the frighteners on people.

A friend of mine (X) received a call this morning from an anonymous male caller. The person said that they were from auDA, and just wanted to give X a "confidential" heads up that auDA had received complaints on 5 domains, and that he would be receiving standard letters from his Registrar advising him of potential Policy Delete. The caller suggested he avoid an audit and try and "get rid of the domains" asap.

My friend was gobsmacked and called me. I said it sounded suss.

About 30 minutes later, he phoned me again to say he had received another call. This time the person "identified" himself as "Gary Smith" at auDA and basically repeated the message. He urged X to act urgently. If he had any queries, he could contact auDA at info@auDA.org.au.

I phoned auDA and enquired if there was a "Gary Smith" working there. Negative. So it was total bullshit.

No doubt X would start receiving "offers" on these domains, and because he was panicky, he would sell them for less than they were worth.

Fortunately, the caller wasn't too smart. They phoned X's business number which is a 1300 number. Even though they tried to block their number, Optus records the origin of every call. So X has the number.

X phoned the number and had a "chat". The guy said he was a "security consultant" working for some people that wished to acquire certain domain names. Apparently his clients had TM's on these names (which also sounds total bullshit). The guy then had the audacity to offer X a lowball for two of the names.

X told him to make a "sexual departure", and said if he ever called again he would report him to the Police.

So be aware. The impostor had done enough background checking on his target to have sufficient information to make himself appear believable. Classic scam.
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auDA should be made aware of this, if they already haven't been. From my experience auDA will only contact people in writing not by telephone.

Good thing you and your friend are on the ball! I can see how this would work on some.

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Correct.

Regardless of whether your best mate works there, auDA have to observe "due process" (and they do).

But the caller was trying to play the sympathy card - "sorry you've been targeted etc; just wanted to give you a heads up before it becomes official" - that sort of crap.

And if you've had a couple of challenges in the past, the last thing you want is more trouble - so you might be inclined to take the easy road. That's what con men prey on.
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Pathetic scum, astounding some people will stoop so low out of greed and jealousy.

Thanks for getting the word out.

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+1!

Letting this bloke get away with it, without at least giving a bloody good fright, just shows him it's worth the risk!

Someone needs to make an example of him to prevent it happening in the future and setting a precedent for how it can be quickly dealt with.

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It would be nice if you posted up the scammers phone number so others can be informed: http://whocalled.us/

It's not up to me to do that.

Needless to say, the matter has been reported. Unfortunately though, the calls weren't recorded, so not much can really happen.

But the purpose of posting this incident here was to make others aware of the situation. Forewarned is forearmed.
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Not good soo many scammers and scum people out in the market.

The worst thing is non savvy or new domainers may be caught out with this scam.

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