Is another company trying to register your domain?

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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 @grahamcluley.com
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Have you received an email about an “urgent registration notice” for your company, claiming that someone else is about to grab your domain name unless you take action?

It seems spams about the need for your firm to register alternative domain names on the web are becoming more and more common.

Just the other day, Antony in our international sales team forwarded me the following email which he had received out of the blue:

Register your domain spam email

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The email claims that another company is attempting to register an alternative version of the domain name that your firm uses. For instance, if I were the recipient, the email may say that XYZ Corporation is attempting to register sophos.com.hk.

“Crumbs!” you might exclaim, “Thank heavens this kind hearted domain registration company warned me of this risk. I must purchase the domain myself as soon as possible to prevent any shenanigans.”

But think twice. You’ll notice that the out-of-the-blue email has warned you that time is limited, and they need you to make a decision quickly or you risk losing the domain forever.

Hmm.. seems to me like this whole thing might be a pretence designed to get me to give this domain registration firm some money before a third-party grabs it.

Personally, I wouldn’t give the firm that has just spammed me any money. If I really wanted the domain name, and believed it was important to me, then I would purchase it through another online broker.

Make sure you’re not encouraging spammers and scammers by being a soft target for manipulation.


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "The AI Fix" and "Smashing Security" podcasts. Follow him on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, or drop him an email.

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