Domain Renewal Scammers

Anyone can register a domain name these days, whereas years ago it was very limited. Now that this is the case, ICAN is having no luck controlling the fraudulent operations of companies like this [link is from Utility Consumers' Action Network - Non-Profit Consumer Advocates]. These crooks send out postal invoices to domain owners in the hope that they will simply pay the bill without looking at it carefully. You should read this page carefully to understand what is happening.

In short, it's hard to shut down these crooks, so caveat emptor. The way the scam works is, they will send a printe, official looking invoice addressed to the registered owner of the domain saying that if you don't renew it, you risk losing the name, etc. What is not apparent is that this from and invoice is a transfer order. If you pay the money and send it in, you will transfer the domain to crooks. The important thing to understand here is that this is extorsion on the part of those sending these out. They've been chased from country to country, but they persist because I assume a few people still get caught on this.

These domain scams are just a variation on other types of mailings sent mostly to small and medium sized businesses, where someone may read an invoice and pay it without giving it enough consideration.

The Internet is a great place for resources, but you must be willing to pay attention to the inherent dangers: identity theft, viruses, phishing scams (see identity theft again) and domain name scams like these.