January 17, 2008
A Lesson in Reading Carefully
I have been a victim of my own carelessness. Domain Registry of America sent out the above notice with the bold heading of Domain Name Expiration Notice. The letter with its tear-off at the bottom to send back resembled the return with check message that is common to all bills. Looking only at these two items and ignoring the smaller writing about transfer and renewal, I sent in a check for fifty dollars which they assured me was a bargain price for two years.
When my hosting service e-mailed me that I had been scammed into changing domain registers for more money per year and a hefty dollar amount to move from my current registrar, I was appalled. Fortunately, a lock was in place on all customer”s domain accounts because this had happened previously to another unsuspecting customer. As a result of this lock, the change did not go through. Thank heavens for good thinking and protective ways on the part of my hosting service.
As I stated I should have read the notice more carefully. As you can see, it looks like a bill in its familiar form. Cleverly, it has my Domain name and date of expiration. I believe it was designed to deceive the average person and I expect the scam works more than it doesn’t After all, I knew I had a Domain Name that would expire soon and that I would be expected to pay. When this sham came in, I wanted to pay it, like all my bills, promptly.
I called the company and told them I had misread the Expiration Notice and that I did not want to change domain registrars. They quickly assured me a refund check would arrive in four to six weeks. This seemed to make the notice less of a sham, however, a friend pointed out that what they are doing is against the law. She went on to say that there is a strong similarity to those old Publisher Clearing House or Readers Digest contests that stated “You’ve Just Won $1,000,000 Dollars!”, when you actually won nothing. You just got to spend your money for subscriptions for the chance to win. I believe, they were prosecuted for deceptive advertising and had to change their tactics. Domain Registry of America, in my opinion, is doing the same thing in a different manner.
This has shaken me greatly. I know of shams and schemes on the Internet and now I know what it feels to be the victim of one. Companies like this prey on the misinformed and we are all misinformed at times. What Domain Registry of America didn’t bother to include was that their price for two years was 40% more than what I am presently paying. They also failed to tell me that my currant registrar will charge me for the transfer and the maximum they can charge is $500 dollars.
I have learned an important lesson about reading carefully and I feel it is important to pass that information on to others by way of my blog. We all need to be aware of opportunists of this variety.
For further information on this comapny see the links below.
Court Bars Canadian Company from Misleading Consumers in Marketing of Internet Domain Name Services
Domain Registry of America” scam
Who will stop Domain Registry of America?
Registry of America Scam There’s an audio link on this one.
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Thanks for mentioning this, Maria. I don’t have a domain anymore - but you will undoubted ly help someone who does.
January 17, 2008 @ 7:49 pmBut they look so legitimate don’t they? I used to get faxes to renew on our business domain name too. Sorry you got taken in, but glad it was corrected. Interesting to see if/when you get your money back.
I have the privacy option on my domains now so I don’t have to deal with scammers like that.
January 18, 2008 @ 10:15 amWith baby boomers heading into their golden years en masse and the government seemingly powerless to stop scams like this, you know it’s only going to get worse. I read about similar scams in my AARP magazine all the time.
January 18, 2008 @ 12:41 pmHi Maria,seems they just never quit doesn’t it?
January 19, 2008 @ 4:57 amAre you going to send me that $1000 you owe me. Have you lost my address.
January 19, 2008 @ 5:36 amI don’t have a domain. I tried to claim our house but wife wouldn’t let me call it my domain. Now what?
Thank you for the alert Maria. At least if the situation comes up I’ll have some idea of what to do.
January 19, 2008 @ 10:05 amI have also received this from this same company. At first, I thought perhaps it WAS the company I’d been dealing with for my domain both for my blog and my author website….but after I checked my files, I saw nope….wrong company. I admit….in a rush, I almost did send a check off to them. But I took the extra time to check things out and glad I did.
January 20, 2008 @ 1:08 pmIt is so easy to get confused by all the scams that go on Maria. They ALL make me nervous…and honestly, I run a lot of them by my kids if I’m not absolutely sure. It’s a sad state of affairs when we all start to get more of these kind of things than ‘real’ mail. Glad it was taken care of Maria.
January 21, 2008 @ 1:32 pmThank you everyone and Cliff, you betcha! Your check is in the mail.
Hopefully, I have learned a good lesson, but I am not through yet. I plan to contact BBB and the FTC. These companies deserve (need) to be stopped.
Anyone want to make bets on whether they will refund my 50 dollars.
January 21, 2008 @ 5:12 pm