Domain Renewal Scam
Have you received a letter in the mail recently reminding you to renew your domain name? Does it look like an official invoice? Be careful. We remind you that Internet scams don’t always just arrive in your email inbox, some unscrupulous companies are now additionally resorting to spamming your postal address.
Right now, a couple of these companies are targeting New Zealand businesses - mailing out Domain Name Expiration Notices to domain name holders (postal addresses are easily obtainable via a domain’s whois information). There are several companies we have noted as sending scam letters: 'Domain Renewal Group of America', 'Domain Renewal Group' and 'NZ Domain Registration Ltd'. If you have one of these letters please discard it immediately.
A quick glance at one of these notices would easily fool you into thinking it was a genuine invoice and a reminder to renew your domain name – i.e. to write out a cheque and put it in the envelope they considerately provide for return mail.
Be warned, these “notices” are an attempt to trick you into re-registering your domain name - with a different company to your present domain registry, and for fees well in excess of what you are currently paying.
UPDATE: August 27, 2010 - We have just received another set of letters from 'Domain Renewal Group' so they are at it again. If you have one of these letters please discard it immediately.