As many of us in the domain name industry have suspected, there are simply more and more dodgy dealings happening in the .au space. Here is another one which is rapidly getting a high profile.
Thank you to a friend of mine from Melbourne who alerted me to a report which was featured on “A Current Affair” a week ago. It is entitled “Fake Fashion”. Check the video out – it runs for just under 4 minutes.
Observations
- The domain / website is Isires.com.au
- The operator is alledgedly using the ACN details of a Queensland company as eligibility for the domain name – it appears illegally. When contacted, the Directors of the company said they had absolutely no knowledge of this website. They have apparently reported this to the Police.
- The registrant contact name is “Cody Parer” – they do not feature as an officeholder or shareholder on the ASIC company search. No real record of him online – however if you search “Cody Parer – isires”, there is a reference to this business on Scamwatch.
- The Registrar is Public Domain Registry Pty Ltd.
- Even Tom Godfey from Choice describes the operation as a “dodgy online scam”.
- The domain isiresisascam.com is an interesting read.
- The WhoIs – see screenshot below – is a giveaway. Check the email address.
- The Way Back Machine shows that on March 14 this year, Isires.com.au was a site about greyhounds! See screenshot below.
- auDA has been informed – yet despite all this compelling evidence, the site is still up and running! What does it take to get it suspended in order to protect consumers?
Current WhoIs Record
This Was The Previous Website
Come on auDA – please take action today!
Ned O’Meara – 6th October 2016
Disclaimer
Wow, this is not good. I wonder why the couple haven’t complained to auDA yet.
@Nikki – auDA is now aware of the issue. Hopefully we will see some action today. Can you please share this story on your social media to get the awareness happening?
Another similar story tomorrow or Saturday.
There is no use complaining to auDA. I am currently writing an article about this exact subject. I won’t comment here because it will be too big for this comments section. auDA have been told again and again about this problem, yet they do nothing. Article soon.
@Robert – I think you will see more action starting to happen soon. I was speaking with Erhan Karabardak yesterday, and he has promised to get cases like this looked into as a matter of urgency.
In fact, he is is moderating the “Consumer Protection and the auDA connection (workshop)” at the auIGF next week. Vanessa is also on the panel! (They didn’t invite me this year – persona non grata obviously!).