I received a letter over the weekend giving me an option to renew a domain name by mail. At first glance it looked to be a scam because I have received so called “invoices” like this before. After researching the invoice it was authentic. Because this one was legitimate does not mean they all are. Unfortunately, there are scammers out there that work very hard to steal our money. If you have several domains like I do, this can be quite confusing at times.
What to do when you receive an invoice?
First confirm you own the domain name. Some of the invoices I’ve received were for domains I did not even own. I keep an excel spreadsheet of all the domains I own, where they are registered and so forth. If you do not keep track in a particular way check the whois information. I personally use whois.domaintools.com.
After confirming you own the domain name, verify where it was registered to match the letter. Not just the company name but the website address, physical address and phone number if possible.
If the whois information is not matching up or something doesn’t seem right contact icann.org. All domain register companies have to hold an accreditation from icann to be authentic.
If, after your due dilliegance, everything is accurate you are left with one decision, renew or drop. Of course if the renewal fee is outrageous you have the option of transferring to another registrar. Don’t forget these invoices can come through email as well, keep a watchful eye open.
Point is, be careful. Domaing can be fun and lucrative, just protect yourself.
I’ll second that. I have gotten about 4 of these “renewal” or “transfer and save” scam letters in the mail in the last year, need to be careful these days. I personally don’t think registrars should use snail mail, makes me wonder why they would waste a stamp when they have my email lol
Patrick,
Do you have a screenshot of how you set up your domain portfolio/list in Excel (with blocked out names of course!). Perhaps an article suggestion – setting out software options or ways to keep track of your domain portfolio and how to use each one. Thanks!
Great idea for an article. I will work on that for this week and share what information I track on my spreadsheet.
Excellent! That’s something I’ve been starting to struggle with recently, so it will be well-timed and welcomed.
I got a letter like this a while back for a name and they wated like $60 to renew it. I bet even though we laugh about a $60 renewal they get many people who do not know that they do not have to pay them.
Helpful post,
Brian
TeenDomainer
Who on earth renews their domains via mail? Perhaps if you own only one domain this MIGHT make sense, but why not simply go on-line to your registrar and renew? Shocked if people really renew their domains in the year 2009 via mail. lol.
These are most likely scams. Most big registrars these days send emails and messages. Hardly any send “invoices”. I get these most weeks and they are for domains i have not owned for over a year. They trick you in to thinking you are renewing at your current registrar but all you are doing is sending them money to transfer the domain to them for a crazy fee.
I seem to get those emails on a daily basis
What I do is I renew my domains directly through the registrar’s website. Whether the emails are legitimate or not, everything can be done through your account. This assures your safety. Make sure to clear all cookies if you do click on of these links in a scam email because it could store cookies on your registrar’s site and store your login information. My biggest suggestion – DELTE REGISTRAR/PAYPAL EMAILS! REMEMBER, EVERYTHING CAN BE DONE THROUGH YOUR ACCOUNT, OR OVER THE PHONE!