Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2002/02/14/weird_escort_temp_service_cybersquats/

Weird escort/temp service ‘cybersquats’ UK estate agents

Famous Sexetaries

By Drew Cullen

Posted in On-Prem, 14th February 2002 16:12 GMT

Here's a blast from the past: a cybersquatter is leveraging off the names of other companies to generate online traffic for its own service.

At least that's what we think temptations@work is trying to do.

Temptations@work is a "brand new form of global staffing agency... a mix of traditional Secretarial & I.T temping agency with Escorts, Hosts, Translators creating our famous "SEXETARIES"

"Staff supplied include: MAIDS/CLEANERS/COOKS/CHAUFFERS/HOSTS/ESCORTS/TRANSLATORS/DINNERDATES/WEB DESIGNERS/SENIOR SECRETARIES/JUNIOR PROJECT MANAGERS."

Bizarrely, temptations@work is piggybacking off British estate agents ,of all organisations - and not well-known ones at that.

We have identified three "squattees" so far, courtesy of Stuart Grove, of Brainstorm Systems, a design outfit that specialises in building web sites for property sector clients. But where there's three, there could well be more.

These are Helas Wolf, Swan Lettings and Temples.co.uk. And we have included links to their real web sites, just in case you are interested in buying and selling property in the Leatherhead, Weybridge, London, East Anglia areas (and Cork).

Here are the stunt URLS, all pointing to Temptations@Work
Helas-wolf.com
Swanlettings.com
Templesproperty.com.

A quick whois: reveals the same registrar in all three cases, a certain Telmex Management Services, based in the British Virgin Isles, and which is also the domain name registrar for Temptations@Work.

Updated 17.15pm: shortly after posting this story, we received an email from David Rousseau who says he is general counsel for Telmex. Here is what he says

For the avoidance of doubt, your posting contains a number of inaccuracies and incorrect assumptions, namely:

[1] Telmex Management Services (BVI) , Inc purchases, creates, develops and maintains in excess of 45,000 dot.com domains on behalf of it's 11,500+
clients based world-wide.

[2] All of the domains you have highlighted in your posting are the exclusive property of Telmex's clients.

[3] None of the said domains have attempted to pass off as any other business/ entity

[4] Temptations@Work is one such client.

[5] All domains under development, or awaiting development point at random to any website in the Telmex portfolio.

[6] Therefore T@W benefit momentarily as do many other Telmex clients from additional URL's pointing towards their own particular web activity, which
we bear no responsibility for directly.

Consider yourself on notice.

Regards
David Rousseau

And who is Temptations@Work? There's no information on the site and the code contains only the following message.

"This content brought to you by directNIC domain redirection" CONTENT="directNIC domains for $15 a year. Free redirection!"

However, Temptations@work is registered as an agency on the Computer Contractor Web site.

The London-based business gives an address at 34 Borough High Street in London, and a contact name - Serena Bebe - and a mobile phone number. Which is attached to an answer phone. We've left a message, but we're not holding our breath. ®