Text of the latest spoof follows:
—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Warning Code: ID67565434.
From: Webmail Upgrade Team © 2010
Date: Tue, October 12, 2010 12:46 am
To:
————————————————————————–
Dear user account

We are updating our database and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused webmail account and create more space for new accounts. To ensure that you do not experience service interruption during this period, you must provide the details below:

Check your account BELOW
1. E-mail :……………………………
2. User :………………………………
2. Password :……………………………..
3. Confirm password :………………………….

You will receive a confirmation of a new alphanumeric password that is valid only during this period, and may be changed by this process. We regret any inconvenience this may cost you.

Please reply to this message so we can give you best services online with our new and improved webmail functionality and improvements.

Webmail © 2010 Team Upgrade Warning Code: ID67565434.

We had a recent upsetting case of a well-established owner, with a business name like somebusiness.com, finding to her dismay that one of her competitors had registered a .au domain of the same name – somebusiness.com.au.  Understandably she felt that her competitor, a much smaller business with lower quality standards, was trying to trade off her good name.  At the time she’d set her website up, we remember suggesting she consider registered the .com.au domain, and now she’s in a difficult position, with little chance of recourse.

“Domain pirates” as they are called, regularly register domains that might be wanted by existing companies or businesses, and put them up for sale at exorbitant prices.  More troubling is the disturbing practice of some companies in the US, where they register known domains as they expire, in the knowledge that they’ll be able to hold any business owner to ransom.  Sometimes a domain owner is successful in negotiating a purchase to get their domain back, but they often have to outlay sums like US$500 or $1500 to be successful.  Unfortunately, domain ownership is difficult to challenge, once a domain is registered, and unless you are a multi-national with hordes of lawyers willing to monster unaware domain registrants, there’s actually little that can be done.  (If you do try to negotiate a price down, don’t sound too interested or desperate, and don’t let on that you’re committed to that name!)

So, if you have a domain name, we recommend you register the .com or .com.au counterpart – this is known as “Protective domain registration”.  For instance, if your business had the domain somedomain.com.au, try to get the name somedomain.com registered if it is available.  Domain name checks should form part of your due practice as a business owner starting up a business.  As you look for a viable name for your business, also look on the web to see if you can register a domain with that name.  Try to keep the name reasonably short, and reconsider if a close competitor has a very similar name registered as some of your customers may end up going there instead!

If you have a larger (or internet-based) business, you may also consider registering the other domain variants such as somebusiness.net, .org, .biz and .info, although they are still less commonly used than the ubiquitous .com domain ending.  The very large companies will also register companysucks.com and —-company.com (where —- is common and unprintable).

We don’t recommend you go overboard with this, but bear in mind how you’ll feel in 5 years time when you’ve forgotten to do this and your competitor comes in at the last minute, grabs a domain similar to yours, and starts stealing your customers.

We don’t think you’d be happy!

Read more:   SCAM warning, Choosing the right domain name

Surprisingly, the same concept holds true for your White Dog Green Frog passwords. You are provided with different logins for different areas. This is not to confuse you or make your life difficult for our own personal amusement, but because well, they are different. Not only that but if one area is compromised, you aren’t affecting the other areas and more importantly the other accounts on the server.

So to break it down, here are a few of the main login details for White Dog services that you may have:

Billing System -  Here you will find information such as:

• Invoices
• Credit card details
• Contact info (phone #, email address, etc)
• Login details for your cPanel account
• Products/services renewal dates
• Listing of your Support Tickets
• Domain management
  • Contact details for Whois
  • Nameserver details
  • EPP/auth code

We try and make it easy for you too. If you don’t recall your password,  you can always reset it.

cPanel (eg: www.yourdomainname.com.au/cpanel). This is the control panel/dashboard of your hosting account and as such you will be able to perform various useful functions such as:

• Manage your email account(s)
  • Create new email address(es)
  • Reset your email password
  • Modify your email account quota
  • Create email forwarders
  • Create mailing list
  • Change MX records for domain(s)
• Create/restore backup of your website
• Park/add-on domains
• View disk space & bandwidth usage
• Website statistics
• Install software with Fantastico
• and many more

Email credentials for Outlook  setup:

• Your username is your FULL email address (that is, your entire email address. Not just your name, but the bit before and after the @ symbol)
• Email password that you set up in your cPanel. If you don’t remember your password, login to cPanel and reset it

While on the subject of passwords, it would behoove you to have a reasonably strong/secure.  Words that you would find in a dictionary would not make a good password because it’s easily guessable. Not guessable in the sense that I’m going to try words that I think you might use, but guessable in the sense that hacking programs can scan your account until it either can’t break your password (“Ste8v_in!” – secure) or is able to figure out your password (“buttercup” – not secure). It’s like using a common office paperclip as the key to open your Lexus car door.  If you really want to use the name of your pet, try adding a number and a punctuation mark as well as mixing the case to the password for an added level of security.

For example:

skippy – bad
Ski$5ppy – better

smokey – bad
Smo6keY! – better

Incidentally, two of the most common causes of hacked accounts are 1) weak password and/or 2) a keylogger virus (which is a software program on your computer remembers your passwords by tracking the key strokes that you make on your keyboard).

Read another article on the WDGF blog on password security here.

Domain Renewal Group (DRG)  is an outright scam. I say again – Domain Renewal Group is an outright S-C-A-M! DRG (should be renamed to Dodgy Renewal Group) also trades as Domain Registry of America (DROA) which is an organization that has had its own fair share of scamming issues. How DRG/DROA are still in “business” perplexes me, though if you change your name often enough, you are able to be a bit elusive! They trick you into thinking that your domain is up for renewal when 1) they don’t even manage the domain and 2) attempt to get you to pay them money for nothing essentially. If you receive a letter from them, toss it in the bin ASAP!

Because I find it all very amusing, I decided to read through their Terms and Conditions. Here’s a doozy that caused my colleague and I to get a good laugh and 10 minute rant:

Any domain names transferred over to Domain Renewal Group during their registration period must have no more than 2 years left until expiry in order to qualify. (example: if today is January 2007 your domain name cannot expiry any later than January 2009). Any domain names that have over 2 years left on their registration period may be subject to a $15.00 per year additional fee at Domain Renewal Group’s discretion. (example: if today is January 2007 and your domain name expires in 2010, Domain Renewal Group may charge an additional $15.00 on top of your renewal fee).

What does that mean you ask? Basically if any of you decide (or get tricked) to transfer your domain to them, if it has more than 2 years, then DRG/DROA will charge you $15/year.  WHAT?!?! The reason why they would do this is they won’t make any  money on your domain until it’s up for renewal so they’re charging a $15 “just because” fee. Hilarious really. It’s like ‘if you have a dot (.) in your domain, then you will pay us money’. Unreal.

But wait, there’s more. Under their privacy statement:

Yes, we do share information but only as described below…..

Advertisers: We will share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers…

Partners: We partner with other parties to provide specific services. When the user signs up for these services, we will share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to provide these services.

AND! If you decide to host with them:

License of Your website content Domain Renewal Group grants to You, and You accept from Domain Renewal Group, a non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty free license to copy, display, use and transmit on and via the Internet Your website content in connection with Domain Renewal Group’s performance or enforcement of this Agreement.

In short, this means they own your website but will let you use it (they grant you license to the content). Dodgy doesn’t even begin to describe them. Consider yourself warned!

Enough of DRG/DROA, they might think that we’re picking on them. While some of these letters use scare tactics to get you to essentially switch registrars others, such as Domain Name Group, use the lure of a free iPod to get your money. Not a scam, smart really. I mean, who wouldn’t want a free iPod? But alas, let’s do a bit of light analysis:

• iPod (~$80 for a 2GB iPod)
• 2 year domain registration
• Free email and web forwarding  (note: this is not hosting, but rather pointing your newly purchased domain to another hosting/email company).

They charge $245 to register, transfer, or renew. It also doesn’t matter what type of domain, it’s $245!

So to register a .com.au – $245; To register a .com, you guessed it! $245.

To give you an idea of the fee disparity, WDGF charges $40 (2yrs) for a .com and $49.95 (2yrs) for a .com.au. Domain Name Group are not technically scamming (as it does say that it’s an “invitation to register”) so much as they are guilty of charging an obscene amount of money but, hey, at least you get a free iPod!

The moral of this blog post is for you to make you aware of the type of scams that are out there and for you to thoroughly read through the letters that you are sent. The bad guys don’t care about ethics, and they’re out there ready to prey on your naivety. The onus is on you to arm yourself with knowledge and a spoonful of common sense doesn’t hurt either.

As with your business name, a good domain name for your company is really important, as it can communicate a lot about your company in a few words – ethos, what you do or sell, or your mission, so be prepared to spend a lot of time thinking about it.

Normally, Australian businesses will use a .com.au domain.  To register a .com.au domain, you have to have an ABN (Australian Business Number) registered, and these are available online with fairly short or no delays before you get the number.  The good news is that once you have the ABN registered, the domain name does not have to be an exact match for your business name – it can be related to any service or product you provide.   (Don’t register names to annoy other businesses, as you could find yourself in receipt of legal letters from companies with deep legal pockets, and you can be forced to give up the domain name if the other company existed before you registered the domain).  While it is possible to register a .org.au domain without an ABN, if absolutely necessary, it’s required for .com.au and there’s no way around it.

Most .com domains are already taken – and that does mean almost anything catchy that you can think of!  However, the story is much better in the .com.au domain space, with many good domain names still available (due to the ABN requirement policy).

Whichever namespace you choose, you may want to consider protectively registering secondary domains matching your business name so that others cannot hold it for ransom – eg: if you choose fredwatsontennis.com.au you might also register fredwatsontennis.com just to make sure – once someone else has registered your domain, it’s very rare to get it back!  The secondary domains should be redirected back to the main domain so they still work and don’t cause problems with your Google ranking.

Some quick ideas for domain name choices:

• the name of your business, or an abbreviation of the name of your business – eg williamsgardening.com.au
• if desperate, add the word “online” after your business name and see if that’s free – eg williamsonline.com.au
• a funny name not related to anything to do with your business – eg whitedoggreenfrog.com, yahoo.com, google.com

To find domain names, go back to our main site and enter a domain name in the finder on the right of the main page  (or click here) to see which names are free.  Once you choose a name for your business, and a domain name (do them both at the same time), you should register your domain name to make sure it is reserved as there’s no guarantee it will still be available in even a few days.  We strongly recommend you use your domain name in your email addresses to reinforce it with your customers.

If a domain name is already taken, you can find details with www.domainwhitepages.com or www.domaintools.com – both will give volumes of useful information on the domain registration and often, on the person who registered the domain.

When you register the domain, make sure you use a reputable provider.  In the past, some providers have gone broke or been subject to legal action which has made it very hard to change details of domains (although they do keep working).  The cheaper providers often have very poor and unhelpful support channels, so the few dollars you save with a cheap provider may end up costing you much more when you go to manage the domain later; it’s worth considering just how important your domain name will become to you as your business becomes more successful – a few days problems with your registrar can cause a lot of pain!

If you’d like to register domains with White Dog Green Frog, or ask questions about it, call us on 1300 760 850 or click here for an online system.

Here are some of the advantages that having email under your own domain brings:

1.  Better Spam control

Despite having many email addresses, I get well under 10 spams a week from our many email addresses combined.  If you are suffering from Spam overload, talk to us; our experienced team has a variety of solutions and our default email system has most of them included!

We have solved spam problems for many companies through a variety of solutions, some of which are surprisingly simple.  As just one quick example, there are times when a change of email solves spam problems completely, other times simply not publishing your main email address on your website where the baddies can “harvest” it and add it to their lists is enough.

2.  Convey a professional appearance

Having your own domain conveys a sense of professionalism and seriousness about your business right off the bat.  Wouldn’t you prefer to do business with a company that is committed to itself?  Remember first impressions can be very important in business, and an email address mentioning hotmail, yahoo or bigpond conveys a definite impression of being a one person company. (Note that this doesn’t apply as much to gmail which is often used by professionals even in large companies)

While none of us want to project a false impression that our companies are much larger than they are, projecting the impression that you are smaller than you are is just as false and doesn’t serve you or your customers well.

3.  Be independent from your ISP

Internet offerings change all the time and sometimes your old ISP will not be available in a new area after you move.  As the NBN (National Broadband Network) rolls out it’s likely that there will be a lot more turmoil in internet companies and many will simply not make it through the transition.  Sometimes a company that used to be great value can struggle to provide good customer service as time goes on, and sometimes their network can age and start giving problems.  With your own domain, you’re completely independent of your ISP; of course, you’ll use your internet connection to read your email but you won’t be tied to them any more.

4.  You can control where your email goes much better

Of course, once you have your own domain you can have multiple easy-to-remember addresses under it, such as “sales” and :”support”.  However there are other options built into our standard email system – the ability to have an email go to one address but end up in several staff mailboxes, or redirect to an external email service such as gmail for future searchability and storage, or be sent into a “trouble ticket” management system; and there are many other options.  Talk to our friendly staff; we’re happy to offer 15 minutes of expert consultancy at no charge during February and March this year.

How many people are ‘stopped’ about getting a website because it’s too expensive … too hard … don’t have the time to think about it … not that important?? Consider how many opportunities you have lost in the past week by not having a web presence.

While it can be a little daunting it’s actually a very straight forward process. – A web address or domain name ( $20 – $50); some space on a reliable server with solid backend systems admin so it’s available to your customers all the time (from $130/yr); and coherent and engaging content on the site (priceless!).

So how to come up with that! – We always ask our customers which sites they like to visit and why. Try asking yours what questions they like to have answered before they call or come in.

Perhaps the most important aspect of your website is simplicity and beauty! Like a great work of art, the imagery must reach the ‘good-feeling-place’ of the visitor. People base their buying decisions on their feelings and especially a sense that your product or service will have them feel better than they currently do.

It’s also important to realise that your website is also like your shop front. Just as you’d never want your customers to visit a tatty old shop front with rubbish all over the pavement outside, a website that has a clean fresh feel about it is more likely to have your customers take a step or two further to investigate. A bad vibe will have them out of there in a click!  We all know about selling the benefits of our services; a good trick here is to use the common questions your customers ask as the guide to what to put on your site.

If you want people to buy your product/service, your website must pitch to them and give them an opportunity to buy right there and then! Have a buy now option or set an appointment option. Not everyone wants to talk to you first. Increasingly online visitors are seeking information to inform their buying decision and if they’re looking they’re probably already giving buying signals. Question is, is your product/service the one for them right then? Have you given them all the information they want? If not they’ll simply search the next site. Don’t be afraid to tell them how much things cost. If you want them to buy on something other than price show them the value. In the instances where there are a range of options at least give a ballpark. If they’re not in your league, neither of you want to waste each other’s time. A clear and engaging website can save a lot of dud leads.

If writing is not really your strength, engage the services of a copywriter. Most web developers can connect you to a skilled one. They can help tease out the key points and present your business in much the same way as a good photographer knows how to put you and the light together to get the best shot.

Think how much you would like a salesperson that works for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week?  That’s your website and they start from $1500! (That’s the first week’s salary of your sales rep!).

In sum, your website doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. You can have a great looking website which is of exceptional value in qualifying your leads and a silent salesperson for you when you get clear about what to say and what ‘look’ is in keeping with who you are. If you or your friends or relatives need an upgrade or you or they have a new venture happening call us, we’ll talk you through it and deliver some great options. Call us on 1300 760 850 or click the Buy Now button on our website!

Wendy works as our office manager and is also a mother and former public servant

Now, unless your target market is extending to China and a need for Chinese presence is important, you can safely ignore these emails. If you have registered your domain with us, we will be the only company contacting you. We, too, have received this very email and want to keep our customers informed that this rather obscure marketing by instilling fear is a hoax.

Do not be fooled by these email attempts to lure you into purchasing something that you do not want/need!