It all looks genuine and official, very slick.
I wonder how many folk fall for it.
Domain Name Renewal scam (?)
7 Responses to “Domain Name Renewal scam (?)”
Have your say - submit a comment
THE SMALL(ish) PRINT... (updated 23/07/2016)
By submitting a comment to this blog you grant me permission to reproduce its content and to reproduce the submitted name/URL in attribution. I will leave your content in its intended place and in its unedited form unless one or more of the following apply:
If you ask me to modify, move or delete your content, I’ll consider making the requested change(s) so long as there’s no significant alteration of the context of the content or of any debate associated with it;
If you change your email address or URL, I’ll update these details in older comments so that I'm not displaying dead links;
If I decide to change the theme or layout of this blog, thus affecting the placement and/or visibility of comments, I’ll make whatever changes I see fit for the smooth running of this blog;
If any comment contains insulting profanity or other content which I deem to be causing or likely to cause trouble, I’ll edit or delete as I see fit for the smooth running of this blog. I’ll try to remember to display the reason(s) for whatever editing I do, so that folk aren’t left hanging wondering what happened and why. If you can at least try to "disguise" your swearing, it would be much appreciated.
Other things to consider:
Comments must contain at least 3 characters;
You can use some code in comments, feel free to give it a shot and see what works;
If adding pics, the recommended maximum dimension is 600px.;
Comments containing many links will be held for moderation;
I reserve the right to amend this policy in line with proven applicable current legislation;
Free Speech: you may well have the right to it, but you've no right to compel me to a) listen to it, or b) publish it!
As you say - very slick. But not illegal, just an expensive rip-off. I get several of these for various .com and .co.uk domains. I currently pay under £10 for .com so the charges are way too high.
I haven't received one yet but they seem to be well known, a search turns up plenty of warnings about them.
At least it's not an outright scam (well I believe it isn't), it seems to be a legitimate business but they are using unethical means to get you to switch your custom to them for much higher prices.
Yes, the prices are high and there are plenty of warnings on the web. There are also plenty of instances of folk being taken in by this - it's not always the "webmaster" that pays the bills so these things often get processed in good faith by non-IT personnel, and some people who should know better make a habit of just clearing their "bills" without checking to see if they're legit.
Unethical companies like DRG don't need to catch out many unwary punters to turn a profit and if they take the dosh and don't actually transfer the registration then the unwary punter will still get a kosher bill from his/her true Registrar a few months later.
Looking on the bright side, this is the first ever time I've received a letter addressed to "BG!". It made the postman chuckle 😆
As others have said, not a scam and entirely legit, they are just getting the renewal in first. Once renewed, your usual registrar shouldn't bill you as the domain will be marked as renewed.
Just my 2 penn'orth!
Andy
Well, my 1 penn'orth (the Govt. took my other penny) is that they may well be legit but I still think it's a scam - there are plenty of tales of folk who took up the offer but whose domain registrations weren't transferred so they did get second bills.
Let's face it... it may well be worded to say that it's not a bill but it is set up to look like one to the inexperienced eye - there's even a tear-off payment strip where they provide a row of boxes for a credit/debit card number and a blank line for a signature. More like a bill than like an ad, I'd say. There's a UK mail address on the envelope but a US phone number on the letter... hmm...
The small-print (and there is a hell of a lot of it, it's an incredibly small font) on the reverse of the main letter starts with the statement "Domain Renewal Group IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR ENDORSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES". That doesn't fill me with confidence. Mind you, I'm a Brit who still doesn't understand who put Uncle Sam in charge of the Internet.
The cracker is a bit further down the page... "LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: YOU AGREE THAT WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY (1) SUSPENSION OR LOSS OF THE SERVICE(S), INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION SERVICES, (2) USE OF THE SERVICE(S), INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION SERVICES... (7) THE PROCESSING OF AN APPLICATION FOR A DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION..." and so on. So, we're to pay for them to perform a service that they're not liable to perform? In fact, if you read all the small-print, they don't seem to want to be liable for anything except taking the money.
I'll give it a miss. The compost-heap needs more shredded paper.
FWIW, I've just been digging through some old spam emails and I'm now of the opinion that DRG's prices may in fact be a bit low... last year an unnamed company emailing me from lunadeweyATsellstonesDOTcom wanted $75 for one year's registration! Oh, and they got the expiry date wrong... by a loooong way.
For the record, my current host charges me $10 a year for registration but they offset that by giving me a $10 coupon every year so I get an invoice for $0.
Oooh!
Somebody's spat out their dummy/pacifier/soother - all of today's spam so far seems to be from a domain renewal company.
Speaks volumes, that does.