I get these letters around the same time every year. If you own a domain name you’ve probably gotten these letters too. Letters from domain name companies that remind you that it’s time to renew your domain name…that it’s important to renew today or else you’ll lose your domain name forever. The trouble is that these letters usually aren’t from your domain registrar.
So what’s going on? What these “companies” do is they mail out official looking letters to people who own domain names and all of the letters contain some language about how your domain name is expiring and you need to renew your domain immediately. At best, they’re trying to trick you into switching your domain to a different registrar and usually at a much higher fee. For example, one of these companies would have me paying $30 per year per domain name! I only pay about $9 per year from my domain registrar.
At worst, they’re trying to sell you some type of non-existant service that has nothing to do with renewing your domain name at all. In this instance, the letter will talk about domain name registration, but if you look at the fine print, you’ll see that the “service” you’re signing up for is for “search engine optimization”, getting listed in a web directory, or something along those lines. So if you pay them money, you still haven’t renewed your domain name and you’re out the fee you paid the scammer.
So how do you avoid this scam? Here’s a few tips:
- Keep track of all your records- You should print out and keep any records that pertains to your domain name and your domain name registrar. A lot of people get confused because they don’t keep this information. Plus, know when your domain name is up for renewal and put a reminder for yourself on your calendar.
- Keep your contact information at your registrar up-to-date- In many cases, your registrar will email you when your domain name is up for renewal. Be sure that your contact information at your registrar is up to date so you won’t miss these reminders.
- Opt for automatic renewal- If you’re afraid that you might forget to renew your domain name, opt to have your registrar renew your domain name automatically. When it’s time for your domain name to be renewed, your domain registrar will bill the credit card they have on file for that particular domain name. Also if you know that you’re going to keep your domain name for a while, you can register it for more than a year at a time.
- Read the fine print- If you get one of these letters and you’re not sure if it’s from read the fine print very carefully. If the letter refers to “transferring and renewing” or “transferring your domain name” that means that they’re not your registrar. Throw these letters in the garbage.
- When in doubt, look up your Whois record- If you don’t know who your registrar is, look it up by finding your Whois record. Whois records are like property deeds for domain names. They have information on who owns a domain, what hosting company it resides on, and what domain company it is registered at. If the company name on the letter doesn’t match the registrar name on the Whois record…toss the letter. To check your Whois information go to: http://www.whois.sc/
This information is free and readily available.
