Domain Registration Scams

Today I received a letter from Domain Registry of America. I had forgotten about them because I hadn’t heard from them in so long, but their “notice” gave me a good reminder to post a little article about them so that others aren’t taken in by the Domain Registry of America scam. The “notice,” which looks more like a bill than a notice, gives the impression that a domain I own is about to expire and must be renewed.

On their notice which arrives by the USPS, Domain Registry of America informed me that, “Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web.” My domain doesn’t expire until December and here it is, only July. Why is Domain Registry of America only giving me until August 30th to reply? Well, mostly because it’s a scam that they hope reaches noobs that don’t have a clue and don’t read.

The fact is that your own domain registrar will inform you by email that your domain will expire. Those warnings will begin to appear about 60 days before your domain expires. DROA jumps ahead of them with a letter, hoping you will renew with DROA. Not only will you pay more, but you now have forced your original registrar to tranfer ownership to DROA – and good luck trying to get it transferred back when you wise to the ripoff.

The scam is nothing new. In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission slapped the Canada-based Domain Registry of America (DROA) on its wrists for:

* misleading consumers into thinking that they are renewing their registrations with their current registrar when, instead, they are transferring their registrations to DROA’s registrar, eNom.
* failing to disclose a $4.50 processing fee for any transfer requests that are not completed, even when the failure occurs without any fault of the consumers.
* failing to issue promised refunds in a timely manner, in violation of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), sometimes delaying refunds for months.

Now, DROA does state that their notice is not a bill (though it certainly looks like one) and they have the last line of their blurb to read, “…it is rather an easy means of payment should you decide to switch your domain name registration to the Domain Registry of America.

On top of Domain Registry of America’s deceptive practices, its domain prices are outrageous (sometimes 2 to 3 times higher than the industry norm).

If you receive a notice from Domain Registry of America, DO NOT SEND MONEY. It is a scam.