Don't Fall for This Domain Listings Scam
Domain Service Cancellation Notice
You may have received an email like this one.
It's very official looking and the subject line is Final Reminder: Domain service cancellation notice. But it's a domain listings scam.
Here's what it looks like (though there are variations).
It's clearly headed "Final Reminder: Domain Service Cancellation Notice" and, as you can see by the amount of stuff I've blurred out, it's very, very personalized.
You'd be forgiven for thinking your domain name and the services associated with it were about to be canceled, wouldn't you?
Cancel Their Offer, Not Your Domain
Yet the only thing about to be canceled is their offer to submit your domain name to the search engines (which they mistakenly identify as search websites) for $86.
There's another variation headed Expiration Notice and the subject in the email is domainname.com Final Notice (where domainname.com is one of my actual domain names, of course).
Again, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a bill for the renewal of your domain name, wouldn't you? And for $86 (choke, gasp).
It's not, but they bury what they are really saying in so much "officialese" that many people don't pick it up and pay the $86, thinking that they are renewing their domain name.
"expiration notice of your domain registration for domainname.com search engine optimization submission"
They are talking about the expiration of their offer, not of your domain name!
"We do not register or renew domain names"
That's pretty clear (but buried).
"If you fail to complete your domain name registration domainname.com search engine optimization service by the expiration date, (it) may (result in) the dismissal of this search engine optimization domain name notification notice."
In other words, if you don't pay the $86, they'll cancel the offer. That's all it means!
"Failure to complete your seo domain name registration domainname.com search engine optimization service process may make it difficult for customers to find you on the web."
This is just a scare tactic. There is no clear statement of what they are actually offering, so it's reasonable to assume that it's just search engine submission. Totally unnecessary, as the search engines will index your site anyway and if you want it to happen faster, there are free tools for that, such as Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
The rest of it consists of statements that they are completely legal and comply with the Can-Spam Act of 2003. Basically, they are pointing out that if you misinterpreted their email, it's your fault.
So strictly speaking, it avoids the definition of a domains listing scam but there's no doubt the intention is to be misleading.
How Can You Avoid This Domain Listings Scam?
It's largely a matter of awareness.
Register your domains with a reputable service and understand that your renewal notice, when it comes, will be from them.
Use Whois protection to hide your personal information and ensure that you don't get these sorts of spammy emails.
They send out so many of these that people must fall for them. Please don't be one of those people who fall for any of these domain listing scams.
Recent Comments
44
I seem to remember that somewhere in the fine print at the bottom of the email it states that it's not an invoice. Sorry, I can't be absolutely certain because I always delete them as soon as they arrive.
thanks for this information because im planning of getting a new domain once i get some money
Thanks for the warning, Phil, we have had many of these notices over the years.
Colette and Philip
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Thanks for posting.
I got caught with that one last year.
They are very clever.
We certainly need to be on our toes and aware of their ever changing tactics.
Sylvia