Devon businesses with websites are being targeted by a scam that demands money to protect domain names, according to award-winning Exeter-based internet and website services company Optix Solutions.

Using both telephone and email to contact businesses, the scammers state that someone has applied to register a closely related domain name and offer to secure it for the victim for an immediate payment.

For instance, a business called Jones Ltd may have registered their website as www.jonesltd.co.uk. The caller will maintain that they have an interested party seeking to register www.jonesltd.com or www.jonesltd.net etc… sometimes even maintaining their client is on the other line. They then try to persuade the target to register these domains with them immediately for a fee to avoid losing the uniqueness of their web brand or search engine rankings.

Optix decided to issue the warning after con-merchants tried to target the company and a number of their clients, the latest in an email entitled ‘Safeguard intellectual property notice – internet Trademark’, originating from China.

“Obviously we are wise to this, but that hasn’t stopped us from receiving 20 or so calls from English sounding operations. This is the first time we have been targeted by email from abroad, so we thought it was time people were made aware of this,” says Optix director Alastair Banks.

“People are concerned to preserve their brand identity on the internet and obviously registering the same name with different endings is one way to do that.

“These people do their homework and sound plausible and professional. The caller tries to panic the target and as they ask for relatively small amounts of money, usually around £50 per domain name, people are taken in. Even so, with a number of domain names it adds up.

“However, if you stop to think about it, why are they bothering to contact you? There is nothing to stop them registering that related domain name for their so-called client. It is available and completely legal, so why not just go ahead and register it?”

Banks recommends that anyone concerned to protect their brand and unique website presence should contact their website designer or builder and take their advice, but on no account to pay money out over the telephone or the internet beforehand.

Optix themselves charge between £30 and £50 to register a domain name for two years.

“This sort of practice is damaging to all reputable internet service companies and we want people to be on their guard against this increasingly popular scam.”

At Optix Solutions we believe that video is a highly versatile and effective but hitherto under-exploited marketing tool for business websites.

With advances in digital videography, incorporating good quality video is relatively inexpensive and offers a range of benefits that other media tools can not match when it comes to holding the visitor’s attention and persuading them to explore your site further.

In a matter of a few seconds, video can give the customer a personalised insight into the driving forces behind your business, its products and staff, and, properly positioned within the site framework, gives an impression of polish and professionalism.

Good strong visuals are invaluable in bringing a brand to life. The explosion in social networking sites such as YouTube means that videos are increasingly shared between users, can be used as podcasts and on designated channels. Social networking sites are also rapidly expanding into user-generated product reviews.

Our recent work with leading Public Relations & Corporate Video Production specialists KOR Communications, one of our video production partners, on the new Frobishers Juices website, illustrates just how effectively professional video production and website design can come together to promote a business and increase sales. Just have a look at http://www.frobishersjuices.co.uk

Optix Solutions are proud of their association with a number of charitable organisations, the latest of which is the transatlantic Africa Foundation.

The Africa Foundation is dedicated to conserving the continent’s vast and diverse wildernesses through funding and initiating projects that support the socio-economic development of rural communities based within or close to these areas. The emphasis is on empowering these communities to support themselves by sustainable means.

While there are obvious differences between the website requirements of a charity and a business, there are also many similarities. As with a business, key is the ability to deliver essential messages to both existing audiences and potential supporters, including the organisation’s philosophy and information on current projects, initiatives and performance.

Optix’s site development brief was to not only freshen up the look and enhance the functionality of the organisation’s existing website, but also involved designing a Content Management system that could deal with a large quantity of important and thought-provoking up-to-the-minute information in such a way that it could be easily be managed by the client and navigated by the visitor.

A second challenge was to enable the foundation to talk to two distinct audiences simultaneously. The Africa Foundation operates in both the UK and the US, so Optix created a system structure that allows the charity’s trustees and staff to update latest news and information on events specific to visitors to the site on both sides of the Atlantic.

Strong images of Africa and the Foundation’s projects and activities are essential to the impact of the site, and Optix have incorporated an editable photo gallery that allows the client to upload fresh high-quality photographs and move and replace existing ones quickly and easily.

Susannah Friend, Director of Fundraising for Africa Foundation says: “I have worked with Optix on many website development projects over the past four years, most recently on the Africa Foundation website.

“As a charity, Africa Foundation has to combine the best possible quality of work with exceptional value for money. Everyone that I come into contact with at Optix is professional, courteous and understands exactly what I need.

“They have the ability to deliver high quality work to tight deadlines. I can honestly say I have never been disappointed by the work they produce.”

http://www.africafoundation.org