Mar 3, 2016

Warning! Domain SCAM - "Fake" Domain Renewal Notices Arriving in Mail

Although this type of "domain jacking" scam has been active for years, we've seen a significant increase recently of our clients contacting us about what appears to be a ''domain name registration renewal notice'' arriving via USPS mail.

Although the mailing does include words/phrases such as: "when you switch", "transfer", "not a bill", etc. - it's very reasonable to conclude that many people getting this in the mail will assume it's an invoice and simply pay it...completely unaware that they just GAVE UP CONTROL & MANAGEMENT of their domain name AND will have to pay fees much higher than the industry standard rate (currently $15-25 per domain per year) for annual domain registration renewals.

We had a client of ours fall for this evil trick a few years back. In addition to paying the very expensive renewal fee up front, in order to get their domain transferred back to their control & management, they had to pay a $300 "ransom" to do so!

Below is the most recent example from iDNS (Internet Domain Name Services) of this type of devious scam, forwarded to us by a client who received it in the mail.  Note the "must renew" and "failure to do so" and similar scare tactic wording they use.
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As stated above, this type of scam isn't new. Back in 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority issued an Adjudication on a company called Domain Registry of America.  The ASA noted the mailing was headed "Domain Name Expiration Notice" and closely resembled a bill, including a credit card payment slip, and considered recipients were likely to infer that their domain name had been transferred to DRA and a renewal payment was now required.   

If you own a website domain, and you get anything like what you see above via email or snail mail, please READ THE FINE PRINT carefully to ensure it's legitimate.

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Cole WebMarketing is a Charlotte, NC based website design/development and internet marketing consulting firm.  For more information, please visit ColeWebMarketing.com and then call us at 704-456-WEB1 (9321).



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