My experience with scam emails

It’s been five years since I created the blog you’re reading now.

I’m providing my email address on this site - I hoped it would serve as an opportunity to contact people who liked (or didn’t like ;-)) the posts I write here. Unfortunately, I have received only a few such messages from real readers in four years. Scam-type messages, on the other hand, I receive several a month. In this post, I would like to share some of these emails. Most of us are likely aware of the dangers and malicious intent behind these messages. Let this post serve as a small guide to the world of scam emails and other warning sign.

Expiring domain

The content of these messages relates to your allegedly soon expiring domain. Below is one of them.

No. of Domain(s) under your account expiring in the next 2 days: 1

On expiry, the Domain(s) will be deactivated and subsequently deleted. So please review the Domain(s) below and renew, to ensure normal functioning.

List of expiring / expired Domain(s) under your account:

Domain name: geodev.me
Transaction Date: 03/20/2025 05:28:41 am
Transaction Amount: 12,69 EUR
We encourage you to contact your bank or credit card company for more information.

Under the message there is a button that directs you to a payment page where you can pay the domain for another year… Of course, don’t click any links or buttons in this type of message. I checked where the link from this message leads and here’s what I got (not full and accurate for safety reasons):

https://28ea78989dgd9f8gdfg.living-prcs.de/jjzkl19023

Very suspicious URL. It does not point to the provider where I have my domain registered. In addition to the link, there are several other red flags:

incorrect expiration date of my domain
random price
date of receipt of the message - 2 days before the alleged expiration date

The standard for properly functioning providers of such services is a series of emails reminding me of a domain expiring soon. I usually receive the first such message 60 or 90 days before expiration. Subsequent similar messages come weekly.

China domain name scam

This is a variation of the previous scam. In this case, however, it is not about an expired domain. Here is a message I received a few months ago:

Dear CEO,
We are the domain name registration service company in China. We received an application from Hongpai Ltd on December 17, 2024. They want to request "geodev" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names (geodev.cn, geodev.com.cn, geodev.net.cn, geodev.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
 
Best regards
Steve Liu
General Manager

Domain Registry

Essentially, the scammer aims to convince you that someone is attempting to register a domain name using your company’s name, but specifically in China. They will mention domains like yourcompany.cn, yourcompany.net.cn, and yourcompany.com.cn, which are all domain extensions exclusive to China.

The concern they try to instill is that a third party might be exploiting your company’s name illegally to profit in a country where you have limited actions.

If I wrote “Steve Liu” back I would probably receive links with payment for the domains listed. The trick is to convince you to do it as soon as possible because another company will do it faster by which you will lose your domain or there will be a naming conflict that will hurt your business.

SEO services

These types of messages I get most often. Most of the time, these messages advertise SEO services that the sender claims to provide. Usually as a introduction he presents you made up statistics about your website. You will find out that your site is very slow, does not meet modern requirements of web development. Sometimes they suggest you that sales process on your site is poorly optimized. First of all - I don’t have a sales module on my site… And what does a badly optimized process mean? This is what the author himself probably doesn’t know, because he has never visited my site. They almost always have very generic domain name, like aiwebproservice.com, superwebservice.com or optimizeyourbusiness.com. I always check who’s behind these “companies” but guess what - they don’t exist. No website, not linkedin profile. The person in the signature often has a very generic name, like John Cook or Thomas Smith.

Here is an example, I received this message a few days ago.

Hello Geodev.Me,  
  
I have analyzed your website design though Google Website Design Checklist to follow and the results was average.  
  
To create a website that?s visually appealing and functional, you?ll need to prioritize navigation and branding elements that contribute to a great user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).  
  
Plan your site layout (and make it responsive)  
  
Let?s discuss and plan a demo for your site first at very low cost and we will complete your website upgrade section by section with your real time feedback.

Regards,

Simon **|** Sales Consultant

Random services you don’t need

This one is similar to the previous one. I get quite a lot of emails from so-called companies that offers me digital services like dedicated mobile apps, shopify platforms or even CRM solutions. Some of these emails come from legitimate companies. Most of the time I check the domain or name of the company. A few times I replied on such emails asking if they know what kind of solutions they could provide for a tiny blog page like mine. Surprisingly - this does not discourage such “salesmen. I continue to be invited to short business meetings about the amazing opportunities and potential profits I can gain through their services. An example of aggressive marketing.

Here’s the last example in this article.

Hi Dear,

I hope you're doing well!

We specialize in **Web Development**, **App Development**, and **Custom CRM Solutions**, delivering tailored results that truly align with your business needs. Unlike others, we focus on creating **unique, client-specific solutions**—a difference that has earned the trust of leading brands like **CEAT, Flipkart, Indigo, and Toyota**.

Are you facing any **technical issues** or planning a project that needs expert attention?

Let’s connect for a **15-minute call** to discuss how we can address your challenges and bring value to your business.

I’m looking forward to your warm response.

Best regards,  
Samuel Mackie  
Business Consultant

Conclusion

Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in now. A lot of traffic in the Internet is generated by bots or crawlers which only goal is to gather email or other data they can point to. Similar operations will continue to exist as long as even a small fraction of these junk ad messages take their toll in the form of clicks or accidental payments.