These scams operate in several deceptive ways. The scammer sends you a reminder notice, by email or snail mail, that’s deliberately worded to look and sound official. It implies that your domain name has expired or is about to expire, and advises you to renew urgently to avoid losing your domain name. It includes a link to renew your domain name — or, just as often, the domain name listed is a variation of your existing name, like this:

• Your actual domain name:  mydomainname.com
• The fake domain name:  my-domain-name.com

When you “renew”, the scammer registers the fake domain name, usually at an outrageously-high price (at least 5-10 times what most registrars charge), leaving your real domain name unaffected. Then, when renewal notices arrive from your REAL registrar to renew your REAL domain name, you either ignore them (because you’ve already paid — or so you think) or you get into an argument.

The scammers typically pose as Domain Registrars, but they’re not. They just register your domain name (or perhaps even renew your real domain name) through a genuine registrar, at a low price, and pocket the difference.

It’s not illegal to provide a service like this. What’s illegal is misrepresenting themselves as a registrar, and extorting money through false pretenses.

How to protect yourself from being scammed

Whenever you register a domain name, keep a complete record in a convenient, safe place. It should show…

• The domain name and extension (.com, .net, .info, etc)
• The name of the Registrar, including contact details and web site link.
• The date you registered the domain name and the registration period (1 year, 2 years, etc,)
• The amount you paid to register the domain name.
• Any other relevant information connected to the domain name registration.

Whenever you receive a notice to renew, check it carefully against this record. Then visit your original Registrar’s web site and check the domain name records for yourself to confirm pending expiry date, fee for renewal, etc.

If the renewal notice is legitimate, and all information is consistent with your original record, go ahead and renew through the original Registrar’s web site, NOT through a link in the renewal notice!

If the renewal notice is a FAKE, carry out these simple steps:

• Visit your original Registrar’s web site and do a Whois lookup. (Find the “Whois” link and enter the scammer’s own domain name into the search field. Make a copy of the result.)
• Send a copy of the scam email (fake renewal notice) and the whois result to
  — your original Registrar,
  — your ISP,
  — the domain space administrator for your domain extension (could be for a country — eg: in Australia, the .au domain space is administered by AuDA.org.au, which authorizes Registrars who register domains using the .au extension).

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER RENEW A DOMAIN NAME WITHOUT CHECKING CAREFULLY THAT THE RENEWAL NOTICE IS 100% GENUINE!

Search the “Domain Registration Scams” category for examples and names of domain name renewal and registration scammers.