These types of scams have been around for years. Letters show up in your physical mailbox and they either warn you to “Renew your domain now” at a ridiculous price or to “Add your domain to our business listing” also at a ridiculous price.
These letters ARE a solicitations disguised as bills if you don’t fully read and interpret the details carefully. In the image below, you’ll see “THIS IS A SOLICITATION” in uppercase letters… which probably helps them from being sued or prevented from doing business by the FTC.
Business Directory Listings
First of all “Business Directories” like the one pictured do NOT help you in search results – it’s a complete waste of money and can do more harm than good.
I actually went to domainnetworks site and picked a listing they supposedly had “City Theatre Company” in Pittsburgh PA. I searched FAR and WIDE using Google and other search engines to see if domainnetworks came up anywhere on the web with that listing – it didn’t. Since “City Theatre Company” is a legitimate company, it does show up in search engines just not as a listing on domainnetworks. I’ve no doubt they’ve filled their website with legit companies… but they were added to simply fool you into thinking other companies have signed up and paid them almost $300.
Domain Renewals
I’ve also gotten letters in the past from “Domain Name Services” which, according to them, is a courtesy to let you know that it’s time to renew your domain name… and if you act now you’ll only be charged $89+ for the first year. (Since domain names only cost approximately $20/year, this is silly.)
These letters are formatted to look like an invoice or bill. They are worded carefully to imply your domain name is registered through their company and it’s time to renew your domain name. The invoice has legitimate information on it like your domain name and the actual expire date of your domain.
The thing is, they are not the domain registrar company that you used to register your domain name. In fact, they are not an accredited registrar at all. You can look up these sites on ICANNs website which approves ALL Domain Registrars.
Your domain name is already registered at an online registrar either in an account that you own and/or for which you have direct access.
So how did they get your personal information?
When you register a domain name, you have to provide your name, address, phone and email address. This information is publicly available, similar to the white pages phone book. Companies like Domain Name Services and Domain Networks can easily acquire lists of domain names to then mail these invoices in bulk to domain owners, hoping they don’t understand how domain registration works and you just pay it.
So how do I prevent this?
Just throw out any solicitations you receive in the mail about adding your website to an online directory and see below about “WHOIS protection”.
Domain renewals: Know WHERE your domain name is registered! These types of solicitations depend on people not knowing where their domain name was registered. Be informed! Always go directly to the company you registered with to verify domain expiration dates. Your domain registrar will only contact you via email and never through the postal mail.
Also, many legitimate domain name registrars now offer “WHOIS protection” which hides your contact information from public searches. (Also known as “domain privacy” or “domain protection”.) This helps prevent scams like domain slamming, website listing services, and company name scam. Some companies charge extra for that but other’s offer it for free. So if the scammers can’t see who the domain name belongs to you’ll never receive any solicitations in the mail! Wouldn’t THAT be nice!