They almost got me.
A week ago, we filed a new trademark application.
Yesterday morning, we got an email.
Looked official.
Said a few items were missing from the application.
Said we needed to send info to the USPTO.
All day, I was thinking about that email.
Telling myself, get the info together.
Don’t want to mess up the process.
Don’t want our application rejected.
Last night, I looked at the email again.
Something felt off.
Email address? Looked funny.
Didn’t have the right domain.
No links. No instructions.
Just the USPTO logo. That’s it.
So I went straight to USPTO.gov.
Logged in. Checked the application.
Nothing missing. No errors.
Everything looked fine.
Then I found the real email from USPTO when I first applied.
It said—watch out for scams.
Said all emails would come from USPTO.gov.
That email I got yesterday morning?
Didn’t have that domain.
Scam.
Took it a step further.
Used WHO.IS to check the sender’s domain.
Domain was created yesterday.
Classic scam move.
They almost got me.
But not in this attempt.
If I had been rushing yesterday morning…
If I had replied with info…
I would’ve given them sensitive details about me and our business.
Worse—I would’ve shown them I’m willing to communicate.
They could’ve kept emailing us.
Asking for more.
And I might’ve sent it.
So—watch those email addresses.
Check the content.
Don’t rush.
This content was originally posted on Medium