Take Steps to Prevent Domain Name Renewal Scams |
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Written by Joe Rinehart, Internet Marketing & SEO Consultant
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Friday, 08 February 2008 |
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Ever since domains became deregulated there have been scams to mislead domain owners into moving their domain registrar!
Today, I received an email from
Dave Woroch the VP, Sales and Support for Tucows who makes recommendations for protecting domain owners against the domain scammers.I only disagree with him on the point of what is called "Domain Privacy"!
The reason is Google doesn't like Domain Privacy because it 's a common spam tactic to make it harder for people to find them to complain. There are also other arguements that don't have as much to do with Search Engine Optimization like there are many people that won't do business with companies that hide their contact info. I've always been a fan of making it as easy as possible to have people find you and that certainly includes allowing them to use "Whois" to find accurate current contact information.
I suppose if you don't care about electronic marketing, possibly for a personal domain, then by all means hide behind a cloaked domain!
In any regard, Dave does present some good information so I'm publishing it verbatium below:
Hi there -
We want to bring to your attention a domain name renewal scam that is currently making the rounds. This scam is not new, but Registrants continue to fall victim to this practice on a daily basis.
We recommend that you inform your customers of this practice so they are aware of how the scam works, and so that you can protect both your customers and yourself from losing domain registrations to these companies.
The scam works this way: unethical companies monitor the publicly accessible WHOIS database and obtain registrant contact information as well as domain expiry dates. Using the information, they mail domain Registrants an official looking document, months in advance of the renewal date, encouraging the Registrant to renew the name now to protect themselves from losing that domain name. When the Registrant renews the name by paying the invoice, the domain is not only renewed, but a Registrar transfer is initiated to the unscrupulous Registrar.
There are a number of ways to combat the practice:
* Enable WHOIS Privacy. This is the absolute best protection, stopping the scam dead in its tracks as there is no way for the scammer to contact the Registrant directly.
* Encourage domain locking. A locked domain can't be transferred, again, preventing the scam from working.
* Communicate with your customers. Let them know about this practice early in the domain life cycle (at least 90 or even 120 days before expiry). Ensure that your customers know who their Reseller and Registrar are, and spell out your communication policies surrounding renewals with them.
Thanks for your continued support of Tucows,
Sincerely,
Dave Woroch
VP, Sales and Support
Tucows
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Last Updated ( Friday, 08 February 2008 )
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