Domain Renewal Scams: How to Keep from Being Victimized

If your website’s domain (aka, web address, dotCOM, or URL), is coming up for renewal, you’ll begin receiving email reminders from your domain registrar about three months in advance of your domain’s expiration.

Pay attention to these notices, because if you fail to renew your domain, it will go back on the market and somebody else can rent it and begin using it.

Domain Renewal Scams: How to Keep from Being Victimized | BloggingBistro.com

True horror story

This happened recently to someone I know, who sold his business (including his website and domain name). Apparently, the new owner neglected to renew the domain. It expired and someone purchased it and started their own website using what had been his business’s URL.

The URL was a good one because it was the exact name of the business. But because the new owner didn’t renew the domain, his business is now “homeless” on the web. He’ll have to either:

re-name his business
attempt to buy back the URL from the new owner
buy a new domain for his website

Be on the lookout for phony renewal notices

Here’s where things get confusing. In addition to the “time to renew” notices you’ll receive from your registrar, you’ll also receive renewal notices from a variety of other domain registrars.

These scammy registrars word their messages sneakily; if you aren’t paying close attention, you’ll assume that the notice is coming from YOUR registrar.

How scammers find and target you

When you purchase a domain, your personal information (name, email, mailing address and phone number) is stored in the Whois database, a public directory of domains and their owners.

In order to shield your personal information, you must purchase privacy protection from your registrar. (This add-on should cost less than $10 per year).

Most of us don’t bother to buy privacy protection, which means we set ourselves up for scammers, telemarketers, and other unsavory types to bombard us with sales pitches.

Several of our website clients have fallen prey to the “domain renewal sales pitch.”

How the scam plays out

The Subject line of the email will say something panic-inducing like:

Domain Alert for [your domain]: This is Your Final Reminder of Domain Listing

The official-looking email will include your domain’s full listing from the Whois directory and some warning text.

Below is a direct copy/paste from the email one of our clients received this week:

As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration.

This letter is to inform you that it’s time to send in your registration and save.

Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this proposal making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.

In the “fine print” near the end of the message, they inserted inflated fees for renewing the domain:

1 year for $75
2 years for $119
5 years for $199

Of course, they asked for a credit card number and urged our client to renew RIGHT NOW, BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT!!!

Chances are, these domain renewal fees are MUCH higher than what you’re currently paying. At Blogging Bistro, we register our domains with GoDaddy, and renewals typically cost $15 per year, per domain. Not $75.

How to avoid getting scammed

When our client received the deceptive email, she immediately forwarded it to me, saying, “I don’t know what to do with this. Can you help?”

Because we built and host her website, I know who her domain registrar is, and it certainly is NOT the company that sent her the renewal notice. I confirmed her domain renewal dates and fees with her current registrar and advised our client to delete notices from other registrars.

Unfortunately, another client fell prey to this scam. The minute they got the notice, they panicked and paid the exorbitant renewal fee to the wrong registrar.

When they realized their mistake, our client called me to discuss options. Thankfully, they were able to get a refund and they renewed their domain with their real registrar.

If someone helps you manage your website, they’re your first line of defense.

Your webmaster hopefully maintains records about who your registrar is and who you host your website with. They’ll help you discern whether a renewal message is coming from a legitimate source.

Regardless of whether you work with a webmaster, you need to store a hard copy of the following information:

Name and web address of current registrar
Username and password to log in to your registrar account
List of all domains you own and when each domain expires
Whether you have activated the “auto-renew” feature in your registrar account (Auto renew means you put a credit card on file and when your domain renewal date approaches, your registrar automatically charges your card and renews your domain for another year).
Any add-ons you have purchased for each domain (such as Whois privacy).

If you can’t remember who your domain registrar is, go to the Whois database and search for your domain. The listing (if public), will display the name of your registrar. You can then contact your registrar to gain access to your account.

The best lies contain an element of truth

Like most scams, these offers mix a little bit of the truth with a lot of lies.

They’re being truthful in informing you that your domain is up for renewal.

But they’re being untruthful by intimating that they are your current registrar, and by trying to trick you into migrating to their service.

Bottom line: READ THE FINE PRINT. (Which is usually in the bottom line of the email. Literally.)

Never click links in emails that you even remotely suspect may be a scam.

Keep accurate records of who your registrar is, so you can send spammy renewal messages directly to your “junk” folder.

Planning a website?

If a new website is in your future, the Blogging Bistro team would love to help. We specialize in creating custom, mobile-friendly WordPress websites. Learn more about our website creation process.

To request an estimate, contact Laura and we’ll get rolling. We have an opening in our production calendar right now!

Need to know how much to budget for your next website?

Laura’s online training program, “Your Website Budget Blueprint,” will open for Fall registration in September. If you’re in the beginning stages of planning a website, this self-guided video course is perfect for helping you…