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DomainRenewalOnline.org IS A SCAM
By Paul | December 4, 2009
Domains are tricky! Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of purchasing and maintaining many domains. I’m writing today to discuss a few of the scams I’ve run across over the years as well as the newest scam on the block: ” DomainRenewalOnline.org”.
Almost every business these days has a domain name, however the problem is that very few of them really understands the domain process or even understands the difference between their domain/hosting/email. If you are among those folks that really don’t understand, I would highly encourage you to visit Wikipedia and read a little about domains here.
Everyday, I get snail mail asking if I want to renew my .ch, .tw, .au domain. I don’t own any domains in that contain those ccTLD’s (country code top-level domains). They are scams attempting to get me to buy domains that I don’t need and don’t want. The wording on the letters that I get is very vague and unless you read really closely, most people might think it has to do with their .Com, .Net or other valid address. The truth is it’s a scam. I’ve been getting letters like this for years now, and I’m sure that many people have fallen victim to those companies, which is why they continue to push the envelope of how far they can go.
I was really surprised today when I received an email from “support@onlinereminder.biz” reminding me to renew one of my many domains. All of my domains are paid via credit card they will not accidentally expire EVER(remember: I have literally hundreds of domains. I’m not gonna forget about something as simple as keeping a current credit card on file). So out of curiosity, I clicked through the email to a group called DomainRenewalOnline.org. They wanted $79.95 to “renew my domain”. In the email they do state that “You may also contact your current domain provider in order to perform the extension.” <This is the second to last sentence in the email, and it is buried inside an unformatted block of text(almost like a terms and conditions statement). They state they are performing a service to business to keep their domains from expiring. That is 100% False, they are not renewing your domain for you they are transferring it to a different registrar(where you might still have to pay more money to “renew the domain”). They are trying to take advantage of people who don’t understand how domains work.
The internet really is the wild west when it comes to domains/hosting/email. If you are a business owner who has received one of these emails, please contact your Domain provider to renew your domain. If you don’t know who your domain provider is, find out! Its important that you keep track of your assets like cars, laptops, and cell phones, your domain is no different. Your domain is an asset to your company, don’t let yourself fall victim to one of these scams. If you are a Higher Images customer, please feel free to contact your sales rep if you would like additional information about your domain and what you can do to protect it.
And again I will re-iterate: “DomainRenewalOnline.org IS A SCAM”
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