Domain Notice Scam


Yet another scam is making it’s way around, this one is targeting domain name owners…

Today I received a domain notice in the postal mail marked “URGENT- OPEN IMMEDIATELY” with a return address of Processing Center, PO Box 4668 #82011, New York, NY 10163-4668.  This letter was NOT from the company that I registered any domain names with although it implies just that.  This is a scam and I want to warn anyone else out there that may be fooled by it.  If you own your own website name, or “Domain Name”, you may get this or a similar notice sent to you also.

Upon reading the notice letter, it resembles a typical invoice with options to pay for placement in major search engines based on a 2, 3, or 4 year term.  More specifically, the letter asks for bewteen $119 and $199 to be mailed in to them via check in order to avoid “cancellation” that would make it “difficult for your customers to locate you on the web”.  The letter also states that “You must complete your domain name search engine registration to guarantee your listing on the web”.   This is not true, this is nothing more than a marketing attempt that preys on peoples fear.

Nowhere on the letter does it mention their company name, logo, or a place where the name is actually registered.  It simply requests that checks are made payable to “Domain Registration”.

Attached to this post is a scanned copy of the actual letter I received if you want to take a closer look.

DomainNoticeScam.pdf

Do not send these people money for any reason!  If you have already sent in money to this company (or a similar scam company), I suggest you contact the BBB right away.

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September 5th, 2008
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Domain Name Search Engine Registration Mail Scam » Aknosis.com
Posted on:
January 28, 2009 at 1:02 am

[...] http://www.rjponzio.com/2008/09/05/domain-notice-scam/ (the pdf link here is identical to the one I saw) [...]

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Web Design Glasgow
Posted on:
May 17, 2009 at 3:52 am

Hi,
I tend to adhere to a strict policy regarding web site associated email.
My site sends visitors emails from a set address with the actual senders email embedded in the mail text. If an email arrives at the web sites email address it is processed manually automaticlly if it is from the web site or the hosting service; other wise it is treated with a degree of suspicion. A fairly good practise that anyone can use to reduce opening spam and scams.

regards
George

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Web Design UK
Posted on:
June 14, 2009 at 11:09 am

Hi,

I stick by the golden rule; if I don’t recognize and mailtype: snail mail, email, etc I ignore it. I have specific emails for various functions that way I have better control.

regards
George

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Jon
Posted on:
July 13, 2009 at 1:52 am

nice post. interesting reading

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
John Clark
Posted on:
July 3, 2010 at 1:08 am

there are so many scams running on the internete so watch out`*`

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Fridge Freezers 
Posted on:
October 13, 2010 at 6:09 pm

internet scams are very rampant and there are also lots of newbie internet users who are getting scammed-.:

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Chase Peterson
Posted on:
December 22, 2010 at 5:59 pm

i hate scams wheter it is offline scam or online scams, there are lots of it these days ~*’