August 24th, 2011
It must be that time of year again. Domain name renewal scams are coming in by regular mail and by email. Please contact your web host if you are uncertain about a letter or email that you received regarding your domain name renewal. The subject line may be titled “Attention: Domain Registration” and it’s nicely formatted to throw you off.
May 26th, 2009
We received a phone call recently from one of our customers about a domain name renewal solicitation they received. It looked legitimate until you read the cleverly hidden small print.
These “domain name renewals” are notifications that may be sent to you by U.S. Mail, fax or perhaps by email. These mailings are unsolicited and from unscrupulous domain registrars that are attempting to trick unwary domain owners into transferring their domain name to their services. They begin their letter announcing that your domain name is about to expire and you need to renew. These companies typically mark up the cost of the domain significantly beyond the market rate of domain names. As soon as you send a check or credit card payment, your domain name registration transfers to this company and you will pay additional costs. One recent mailing we received was from “Liberty Names of America” which has been given an F rating by the Better Business Bureau.
Please be wary of any notification you receive from someone who is not your current domain name registar. If you are not sure, contact your website host.
April 2nd, 2009
There are quite literally thousands of web hosting companies on the Internet. Of course there are the few that manage to percolate to the top of the morass. The big companies such as GoDaddy, Network Solutions, DreamHost and others are usually the brands that come to mind when a business is considering a web hosting provider. There is also a plethora of fly-by-night web hosting companies that are either resellers for bigger companies or believe they can make a quick buck by hosting cheap and promising the impossible.
Read more…