Bogus Domain Name Renewal Solicitations
BEWARE! An increasing number of our clients have been receiving potentially misleading renewal notices for their domain names.
New Tech Web typically renews your domain name(s) for you. As the administrative contact for your domain name, New Tech Web is notified when your domain name needs to be renewed and will take care of it. There is nothing you need to do.
Read on for more information about the bogus solicitations…
A number of domain name registrar companies are mailing, faxing, or e-mailing information to entice customers into transferring domain names away from their current registrars.
These companies are utilizing the Whois database to gain access to names, street addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, expiration dates and other pertinent domain information. Solicitations are often confusing or misleading. Some of the tactics include:
- Indicating that domain name ownership is in jeopardy or that someone else is trying to capture your domain name in some way
- Promising to save you money by your renewing or transferring your domain name immediately and to mail back payment immediately (perhaps in an enclosed envelope)
- Appearing as an official government or industry association document with tones of urgency and/or with extranneous data trying to confuse the reader
In most cases you are asked to act quickly or before some arbitrary deadline giving you little time to make an informed, well-researched decision. Often the person receiving the solicitation – the accounts payable administrator, for example – is not aware of status, management, control or other issues involving domain names.
What Should You Guard Against?
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Read ALL the details and research these companies carefully before acting hastily
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Are they ICANN accredited?
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How long have they been in business?
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Will they provide recognizable reference accounts that you can check?
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Do they have phone support staff, back-up systems, security, and service level standards?
Be aware of the potential pitfalls of domain name transfers:
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Inadvertent domain name deletions
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Loss of services like email or address forwarding due to DNS changes
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Name-hijacking
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Increased costs after the initial "special offer"
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Loss of domain name control or ownership, don't sign away your name
Don't be lured into paying too much or paying at all for services that you don't understand and probably do not need.
What to do?
When you receive the letter, fax, or e-mail even though it looks urgent or official, do not pull out your credit card or reply in any way.
- First, contact your webmaster and ask if he/she is handling your domain name registration renewals for you.
- Second, notify the offending company to remove you from their mailing list.
- Third, you can also file a complaint with ICANN (the closest thing there is to a "governing body" for the internet). The link to file a complaint about a registrar with ICANN is: http://www.internic.net/cgi/registrars/problem-report.cgi
If you have additional questions or need help with your domain name registrations, contact New Tech Web today!
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