A small minority of our customers have inadvertently visited a website operated by an ‘Intersys Limited’ based in Karachi, Pakistan. The South Asia entity has a website that features in UK web search results and, until recently, posted a UK address on its website.
Until very recently, it also had an inaccurate Google Business Profile with a UK address, which we believed breached Google’s terms of use.
Our lawyers are currently dealing with this unfortunate situation and enforcing our registered Trademark of the name. However, since it has occasionally confused prospective and existing customers, we want to help ensure you always reach us, the real UK-based Intersys Limited.
We also want to tell you a little more about this story, which is an informative one for all of us who are in the business of protecting our organisations against confusion online.
TL;DR
Know this:
✅ Our website address is https://intersys.co.uk
✅ Our City of London Google Business Profile address is 29 – 30 Leadenhall Market, London EC3V 1LR
✅ Our LinkedIn account is ‘Intersys Ltd’ with no additional punctuation: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intersys-uk
✅ Intersys has a head office address as per our website Contact page at: 1 Bourne Court, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD
✅ Our logo versions are :
You can use these facts to verify that you’re visiting or communicating with us. However, we believe you’ll quickly discern the difference between the genuinely UK-based Intersys Limited and any other. There’s more on the signs to look out for further below.
How did ‘Intersys Limited, Pakistan’ come about?
In late December 2023, we noticed Pakistan users spending a lot of time on our website. Soon after, we spotted another ‘Intersys Limited’ website online, a Google Business Profile and a LinkedIn profile. Certain elements of the website appeared to be extremely similar to our own. This raised concerns that they might be infringing our Trademark.
Our investigations into the source of this new website pointed to a business address in Karachi, Pakistan, and an organisation that had just changed its name to Intersys from Abtach, perhaps to disassociate itself from allegations of serious fraud involving the Abtach name. Furthermore, this ‘new Intersys’ seemed to have opened an office in London.
Further investigations revealed that Abtach Ltd had rebranded as Intersys Ltd and, as they shared the same address, we worked out it must be them who we believed were also now pretending to be us, the real Intersys, in the UK.
From the available sources online, it appears that in 2021, a company called Abtach Ltd was the subject of one of the biggest anti-fraud crackdowns in the history of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
According to a report in World Trademark Review, Abtach Ltd was the ‘operator of numerous controversial low-cost filing agencies including Trademark Terminal’. This company was ‘linked to unusual activity on thousands of US trademark applications’ and had ‘spent thousands of dollars on Google Ads’. A related entity had ‘allegedly defrauded one victim out of nearly $150,000’.
The business claimed to be based in the United States, but appeared to be located in Pakistan. In Pakistan, as reported by World Trademark Review, Abtach has been accused of ‘bribing a representative of the Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency, which had been investigating the firm for alleged money laundering’.
Quoting the USPTO, the World Trademark Review reported that Abtach executives were engaging in ‘an egregious scheme to deceive and defraud applicants for federal trademark registrations by improperly altering official USPTO correspondence, overcharging application filing fees, misappropriating the USPTO’s trademarks, and impersonating the USPTO’.
Following the USPTO action, Google blocked ads from Trademark Terminal operator Abtach Ltd.
Furthermore, USPTO claims many other agencies – frequently logo and website agencies – are owned by Abtach Ltd.
The World Trademark Review has also highlighted links between individuals involved with Abtach and ‘the biggest money laundering case in the history of Pakistan’.
It now appears businesses such as UK-based Intersys Limited – which has traded under this name for over 25 years – is in Abtach’s sights.
What is Intersys doing about this issue?
Following several requests from our lawyers, ‘Intersys Limited’ in Pakistan removed the London address from its website.
We also note that their London Millbank Tower Google Business Profile now says that the office is permanently closed.
Our lawyers are working to ensure customers seeking the services of our business do indeed reach us, and do not inadvertently land on websites or engage in communications with an entity based in Pakistan.
What can I do to ensure I engage with the UK-based Intersys?
Please do revisit the facts at the top of this page, which will help you verify the genuine, UK-based Intersys.
However, now you know this story, it’s currently relatively easy to spot the genuine UK Intersys from any entity based in Pakistan. As well as the information above, things that will help you quickly spot you’ve landed on the non-UK website include:
Unusual or semi-nonsensical grammatical formulations. For instance, ‘With the extensive expertise, our consultants offer innovative solutions to achieve the business goals.’
Little or no visibility of a leadership team on the website.
Perplexing Google Reviews, such as this from a gentleman purporting to be one ‘Easton Fleming’: ‘I adore their ream’s [sic] creative member. Do very grateful and wonderful. I am really content and joyful.’
Says Matthew Geyman, Intersys CEO,
‘I deeply regret the arrival of any third party that could deceive or confuse our customers, and we are actively and forcibly pursuing this case through legal channels. However, some due diligence should quickly help you confirm whether you are visiting our company’s channels or an imitator’s. Perhaps this incident will be a lesson for us all to take care, double-check our sources and remain safe online. In other words, we should practice a foundational rule of cyber security – zero trust – in all of our interactions online.’
Intersys Limited has served organisations of all sizes for over 25 years with cyber security and managed IT. Contact us for a professional, personable and genuinely helpful approach to security and IT.
Note that some of the details in this article relating to Abtach’s presence online may change after its owners read this post. Fortunately, internet archive projects and other resources will ensure the information will remain verifiable.