Domain Name re-Registration Scam
Discussion
A couple of years ago I ran a few threads here about a telephone scam being operated by an organisation calling itself Domain Registrar Services. Nominet subsequently won an injunction against the company, with the end result that the individuals behind the scam were banned from trading in domain names - or anything similar.
Someone else, however, clearly likes the name and the scam, but this time they're targeting 'customers' through the post. I received three letters this morning from a company trading as Domain Registry Services. Be warned, this is another bogus scam being tried on by some unscrupulous guys in Cambridge, and this is how it works . . .
You have a domain name that is due to expire. They write to you on a very official looking letter telling you that, unless you pay them £60, you will lose your domain. That £60 will cover the re-registration for a further two years, although, according to them, you can pay £140 for 5 years of £270 for 10 years. That's the giveaway. It is not possible to register a name for more than two years, so not only are they trying to rip you off hugely (£60 when registration should cost as little as £2 per year) but they also want you to part with up to £260 for a service they cannot offer.
Nominet is aware of the situation, and is investigating the fraud, as are the local police and Trading Standards. Nominet does not, at the moment, believe that the same people are behind this scam as were behind the last one, but there are so many similarities that it has to be a possibility. "If you have any doubts about the validity of an invoice, please contact your existing registration agent who will be able to advise you," is what Nominet UK has said.
In the meantime, if you have received such a letter, you should, at the very least, ignore it. Better still, report it to Nominet and/or the local Trading Standards office. Domain Registry Services is operating out of Office 6 at 154 Church End, Cambridge, CB1 3LD, so the TS office to contact is Cambridge on 0845 3030 666. They will be expecting your call!!
Someone else, however, clearly likes the name and the scam, but this time they're targeting 'customers' through the post. I received three letters this morning from a company trading as Domain Registry Services. Be warned, this is another bogus scam being tried on by some unscrupulous guys in Cambridge, and this is how it works . . .
You have a domain name that is due to expire. They write to you on a very official looking letter telling you that, unless you pay them £60, you will lose your domain. That £60 will cover the re-registration for a further two years, although, according to them, you can pay £140 for 5 years of £270 for 10 years. That's the giveaway. It is not possible to register a name for more than two years, so not only are they trying to rip you off hugely (£60 when registration should cost as little as £2 per year) but they also want you to part with up to £260 for a service they cannot offer.
Nominet is aware of the situation, and is investigating the fraud, as are the local police and Trading Standards. Nominet does not, at the moment, believe that the same people are behind this scam as were behind the last one, but there are so many similarities that it has to be a possibility. "If you have any doubts about the validity of an invoice, please contact your existing registration agent who will be able to advise you," is what Nominet UK has said.
In the meantime, if you have received such a letter, you should, at the very least, ignore it. Better still, report it to Nominet and/or the local Trading Standards office. Domain Registry Services is operating out of Office 6 at 154 Church End, Cambridge, CB1 3LD, so the TS office to contact is Cambridge on 0845 3030 666. They will be expecting your call!!
Whilst its a scam, there are a few inaccuracies in your post.
10 year domains are possible on non .uk tlds, 2 yrs is the limit on .uk domains, however some companies will oversell this, and simply 'renew it as it falls due', so long as this is a legitimate company, then there no 'REAL' worry here.
You quote £2 a yr, but this is 20% under Nominets own COST price, let alone any profit that any domain registrars put on top, with .coms coming in at double-triple that.
All the same, be careful out there, find a Domain Registrar you trust, and be safe!
10 year domains are possible on non .uk tlds, 2 yrs is the limit on .uk domains, however some companies will oversell this, and simply 'renew it as it falls due', so long as this is a legitimate company, then there no 'REAL' worry here.
You quote £2 a yr, but this is 20% under Nominets own COST price, let alone any profit that any domain registrars put on top, with .coms coming in at double-triple that.
All the same, be careful out there, find a Domain Registrar you trust, and be safe!
Thumper said:
I thought my post was long enough without going into more detail, but you are right, of course. This scam only relates to UK domains (hence the interest by Nominet) but the prices I quoted are the prices I pay: £1.99 per year for typical .co.uk domains, and £8.99 for .coms etc.
£1.99 per year is below cost ;O
Nominet charge £2.50 a yr cost price
I want some domains at £1.99 a yr pls
pm me with details
I just got one of these letters for my brother in laws web site. The thing is, the domain expires in 2005 and it's only the hosting that expires next month. Thanks to PH, I have avoided being scammed. I have informed my hosting people and will call Domain Registry Services tomorrow and see what they have to say - I will play ignorant regarding any knowledge of this scam. More to follow 
chrisgr31 said:
Hmmmm so how come my reputable registrant charges me £25 for renewal? I suppose this depends on the extras they offer.
Depends on how many years they giving for that, with my comapny www.Register1.net
£20 gets you 2 years of .com (almost 6 of .uk), Free DNS Management, Free unbannered Web Forwarding (with customer MetaTags and Favicon), Free Unlimited Alias eMail forwarding and the most powerful control panel I have ever seen (Ability to mass change all contact details (owner/billing/technical) and even create Nameserver GLUE Records!)
But thats just me... you will find cheaper, you will find more expensive, its all about whom you feel comfy using
Been away for a few days, so missed a couple of posts here. I've heard back from Nominet on this one, who confirm that the scammers are under investigation, not only by them, but also by Cambridgeshire police. The local Tradings Standards office tells me they've been inundated by calls - so hopefully will respond accordingly.
As regards costs of registration, I've been using 1&1 recently (www.1and1.co.uk), and they're still offering .co.uk domains at £1.99 per year, .coms and similar at £8.99. Anyone wanting a .info domain gets that for free.
As regards costs of registration, I've been using 1&1 recently (www.1and1.co.uk), and they're still offering .co.uk domains at £1.99 per year, .coms and similar at £8.99. Anyone wanting a .info domain gets that for free.
I was approached by a scamming domain name company - there scam was as follows:
Girl rings and asks for the System Admin (me) of a clients site. She says yourdomain.com is up for renewal and so is yourdomain.co.uk, .biz. and .everything else (about 6 in total). Then she says that the reason she is phoning is another of her clients is about to buy them for themselves. She is proposing that it would infringe the good of our business, and would like us to buy them from her at a better price
Cheeky bitch.
I grabs another admin, put her on sperakerphone and ask her to explain all the details.. I am also writing on a piece of paper to my colleague, to go and buy them online now from our ISP www.virtualisp.co.uk
A few minutes later he returns to me, with a big thumbs up - we have bought them via credit card, and so I ask her to go ahead with the transaction
"For some reason, these aren't available any more", says the girl, now with a notible drop in confidence.
"Thats because I bought them while you was wittering on, and at a quarter of the price you offered them to me for... Thanks for the reminder love" Click
Girl rings and asks for the System Admin (me) of a clients site. She says yourdomain.com is up for renewal and so is yourdomain.co.uk, .biz. and .everything else (about 6 in total). Then she says that the reason she is phoning is another of her clients is about to buy them for themselves. She is proposing that it would infringe the good of our business, and would like us to buy them from her at a better price
Cheeky bitch. I grabs another admin, put her on sperakerphone and ask her to explain all the details.. I am also writing on a piece of paper to my colleague, to go and buy them online now from our ISP www.virtualisp.co.uk
A few minutes later he returns to me, with a big thumbs up - we have bought them via credit card, and so I ask her to go ahead with the transaction
"For some reason, these aren't available any more", says the girl, now with a notible drop in confidence.
"Thats because I bought them while you was wittering on, and at a quarter of the price you offered them to me for... Thanks for the reminder love" Click
How long ago was this? It sounds very like the scam that Domain Registrar (as opposed to Registry) Services was running two years ago. They were successfully put out of business by Nominet, but if your experience was more recent than this can I suggest you let Nominet know? I can let you have the details of the right person to contact if you send me a PM.
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