The Gioconda Law Group, which specializes in anti-counterfeiting and brand protection cases, is alleging that Arthur Wesley Kenzie registered the domain name GiocondoLaw.com to capture visitors who misspelled the firm’s website URL, a practice known as typosquatting. The suit also charges Kenzie with fabricated email accounts designed to intercept emails addressed to the firm’s lawyers and staff, according to a report by 24 Hour Vancouver.
Kenzie has yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit and allegations, noted the report.
Earlier this year, Kenzie was accused of a similar scam targeted at US defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Kenzie was ordered by a dispute resolution panel to turn over two domain names similar to the company’s domain name after the panel found that he asked the company to pay him money or he would expose the firm's online vulnerabilities, according to the report.
“Clearly I did create an exploit for this vulnerability, but that in itself does not cause me to be some malevolent black hat”, the report quoted Kenzie as saying.
The New York-based lawsuit also claims Kenzie is similarly harvesting emails intended for recipients at other corporations, including McDonald’s, MasterCard, NewsCorp, and McAfee.