We’re recently received a domain renewal notice for a domain registered with us. This suspicious renewal notice offers recipient 1-year domain renewal for $75 and “Lifetime” domain renewal for $499. The letter is wary due to the fact that the total of the maximum number of years for domain renewal is 10. Here is a snapshot of the letter:
It is our goal to help you prevent your domain name registration from being moved to another company by deception or misinformation. If you receive mail that appears to be an invoice, which is in fact a solicitation for business, you may be the target of a fraudulent or false invoicing scheme.
Which companies are making these solicitations?
There are a number of domain registration companies looking to grow their businesses by stealing business from other companies. While we welcome fair competition in the marketplace, some companies believe the best way to win business is to solicit existing domain name registrants from other companies. Wherever possible, these companies will target registrants and trick them into moving their domain registration business. Some companies recently reported to have been involved in this type of activity are:
Domain Registry of Canada (DROC)
Domain Registry of America (DROA)
Example of false invoices: https://member.doteasy.com/news/infopages/falseinvoice/
What should I do to avoid being tricked by the false invoices?
The best way to combat this is to simply contact us in regards to your domain renewal. Also, you may consider choosing Private Registration and Domain Locking when signing up a domain with us. With Doteasy’s Private Registration, we will replace your domain WHOIS record contact information with alternative contact information that we use specifically for this service. Private Registration can greatly reduce your chances of receiving spam mail and emails. As for Domain Locking, you have total control over the safety of your domain name. You can choose to lock your domain name to prevent unauthorized or accidental transfers, or you can unlock your domain name when you need to move it to another registrar. These two safety features can prevent your website from malicious domain transfers. For more info, please read these pages in regards to Doteasy’s Private Registration and Domain Locking.