Australia’s domain name administration body AuDA has shut down more than 1000 Web sites, after claiming that overseas criminals had been establishing a network of bogus sites.
The sites were aimed to scam consumers and steal credit card details, AuDA said. Most were based in China, though some were sourced in other Asian countries, eastern Europe and North America.
Uncovered just two weeks ago, they were taken down on Friday. All used the names of genuine Australian businesses and bore the .au designation, which usually which requires the owner to have an official Australian registration.
It appears the sites had been established by criminals who illegally acquired ACN and ABN details, then used them to set up the sites, AuDA said.
