Domain Transfer Scam

By
Angie Herrera

Every now and again we'll get an email or a phone call from a domain / hosting customer asking us about a letter they've received from Liberty Names of America or Domain Registration of America. I've even gotten these a couple times for the various domains I own. To be honest, I thought it was a notice from a legitimate company just trying to get some business. With their transfer / registration rates 2-3 times what I pay (and what we charge for that matter), I have simply recycled the notices or told my clients to toss them and left it at that.

Last month, however, I read an entry on Dave Shea's Mezzoblue about the same thing (only his was from Domain Registry of Canada). Obviously he's brighter than I am as he concluded right away that it was a scam. And apparently they've been at it for a long time.

The notice he received clearly looks like an invoice. The ones I had gotten in the past also looked like an invoice though there were big letters that read, "THIS IS NOT AN INVOICE" (or something to that effect). The one I received last week doesn't look like an invoice as much, but it does look like a magazine subscription renewal. Either way, I can see how some people might fall for it.

Thankfully, clients whose domains are registered through us are bright enough to know when to question something like this. So, if you've gotten one of these, there's a 99.999% chance that you can safely ignore it. Most registrars renew by email. And, depending on your registrar and your settings, some will renew automatically for you anyway (we do).