Firms fall for domain name scam

Consumers and businesses could find themselves thousands of pounds out of pocket as unscrupulous firms encourage them to pay for bogus pre-registration deals to bag a 'hot' address from the next batch of web domain names.

Pre-registering will not guarantee that the vendor is allocated the address, explained Steve Procter, chief executive of UK domain registration company Easily.

Final proposals on pricing structures from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) are not expected until March 2001 at the earliest.

Despite this, according to the US Federal Trade Commission, dishonest domain registration companies are taking advantage of the anticipated 'gold rush' surrounding the next batch of internet domain names.

They are approaching individuals and companies over the internet and advising them to pay a deposit, usually non-refundable, to secure a much-wanted domain name.

These pre-registration deals for new suffixes, such as .biz, .pro and .name, have sprung up in the past few weeks since Icann announced seven Top Level Domain names. Sums for the bogus deals vary, according to Procter, whose company is alerting people to the dangers.

He said prices start at around £100 and rise rapidly for names that are likely to have commercial value. Those who have fallen for these pre-registration deals will have few if any legal rights, according to Procter.