Don’t be fooled. Domain Registry of America is scamming you
I don't know any other way to put this. Domain Registry of America is scamming people into transferring their domains to them.
It works like this. You open your mailbox one day to discover an official looking envelope that looks like this:
When you open the envelope you find an even more official letter that looks something like this:
The contents of the letter make you believe that a domain you own (in my case something like NOOBIE.COM) is about to expire and that you should settle up with Domain Registry of America immediately or risk losing the domain.
Only one problem. You didn't register your domain with Domain Registry of America. In fact, you probably registered it with some bulk domain seller like GoDaddy, which has you own auto-renew so you never have to worry about losing your domain.
Worse yet, Domain Registry of America wants you to pay upwards of $30/year for the same domain you paid less than $10 for with GoDaddy.
Jelly-of-the-month
And by paying the $30 you are essentially agreeing to transfer your domain from your current registrar to Domain Registry of America. This is the domain equivalent of those checks you get for $50 that, when deposited, automatically sign you up for a jelly-of-the-month club.
So if you own a domain and get this type of letter from Domain Registry of America, stop and think where you originally registered your domain. If it isn't from these scammers, then throw it away.
1 comment for this blog post so far...
November 09, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Indiana Chevy Dealers
Patric,
I have been looking into domains the last couple days for a possible home based business my wife is looking into. Really intriguing stuff so this hits home for me. So many options and so much misinformation out there, and I have half a clue what Im doing. Companies are getting really smart with their mailers. I got one the other day that appeared to be on yellow legal paper. It had hand written type and everything. Other than the obvious spam nature of the content (we will buy your house for cash) you wouldn’t have been wrong in thinking it was real. The best was whoever did it used a scanner and made their hand writing into the font. The only way I knew it was fake was to turn the paper over and notice that my name and address where the only words that bled through the paper, the rest was typed. Make sure and dont respond or pay anyone doing these things, although Im impressed with their forward thinking.
Chris Theisen
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