If you have received a Cease and Desist (C&D) letter, it usually means that you have violated someone else’s intellectual property rights. However, this may not necessarily be the case if you are doing business in Croatia.
Business owners in Croatia have received fraudulent emails disguised as C&D letters, falsely notifying recipients that they have infringed the copyright of Croatian Radio-Television by posting certain content on Facebook. These emails are malware sent by criminals impersonating Croatian attorneys to make the messages appear legitimate.
You can recognize these malware emails by the following characteristics:
- The copyrighted work is not specified—only a vague reference to video or audio is made.
- The email is not sent from a legitimate email address.
- Recipients are invited to respond to an email address that resembles a legitimate one but with slight differences.
- The telephone contact number provided is not legitimate.
You can verify legitimate email addresses and contact information for attorneys on the Croatian Bar Association website: https://www.hok-cba.hr/imenik/,
and for patent and trademark representatives on the website of the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia: https://www.dziv.hr/hr/zastupanje/zastupnici-upisani-u-registar/zastupnici-za-zigove/.
An example of such a scam email can be found on the CERT.hr website:
https://www.cert.hr/upozorenje-napadaci-se-predstavljaju-kao-odvjetnicka-drustva-i-sire-zlonamjerne-datoteke/#.
Most importantly, you can be confident that email is a scam if you are certain, you have not infringed on anyone’s intellectual property rights!
This text is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as legal advice. Should you require any additional information, feel free to contact us.
By Dina Slunjski, Of Counsel, ZMP
