If you’ve ever registered a domain name chances are you’ve received a ‘renewal’ notice from the Domain Registry of America. You’ll recognise their renewal notices straight away as they have the Stars and Stripes in the corner to show you how legit they are.
Makes you want to salute doesn’t it?
The trouble is I never registered with these guys, and my betting is neither have you. This ‘renewal’ letter isn’t a renewal at all, it’s a scam. They send out these scam letters en mass to domain registrants hoping they’ll fall for the scam and actually transfer the domains to the DROA. That’s the thing you see, it’s a notice of transfer!
If you fill this in you’ll be giving them control of your domain name and the license to charge you what they like. Because the letter actually says on it that it’s not a renewal it manages to get around little legal issues, but rest assured it is a 100% scam.
When I worked at Meridian Design I had countless clients phone up asking why they’d received expiry notices for their domain names when we were supposed to be handling it. It’s because of these jokers.
If you’ve received one of these things, sling it. Do not fill the form out and reply to it.
I just received one for the domain name mrdaz.com, the dozy cheeky arsed bastards. Not everyone is as stupid to sign over their domains to some scam merchant just because they put a US flag on the letter.
If you do a Google search on the Domain Registry of America you’ll find more information on their underhand, thieving practises.
Darren Jamieson, aka MrDaz, is the Technical Director and co-founder of Engage Web and has been working online in a career spanning two decades. His first website was built in 1998 and is still live today.
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