As a courtesy to our valuable customers, WDBC publishes from time to time
a series of consumer alerts related to the domain name registration industry.
These reports are based on information we receive from our customers, industry
reports, and the Better Business Bureau, of which we are a member.
We ask
that customers carefully review these alerts and any solicitations they received
via email, direct mail, and over the phone regarding their domain names. For
further information about domain name security and tips on protecting yourself
from domain registration slamming, visit our Domain
Lockdown page. To report
suspicious messages related to your domain name registration, please contact
us by sending an email to: domains (AT) wdbc (DOT) com.
WARNING: Scam - Domain Registry of America
We have discovered that a company called, "Domain Registry of
Canada" or "Domain
Registry of America" (www.droa.com), has been e-mailing and sending out direct mail to our customers with deceptive
messages about domain transfers. They obtained our customers' contact information
through the publicly accessible WHOIS database and are sending renewal notices
through regular mail in an envelope and on stationary intentionally designed
to appear to be an official government notice. The goal of these communications
are to trick our customers into transferring their domain names away from wdbc.com. They
falsely claim to be a response to a transfer request made by our customers
or as a notice of domain name expiration.
If you feel, as we do, that the Domain Registry of America has acted deceptively,
you can make your feelings known by writing to the Federal
Trade Commission, your local Consumer Protection Office and/or the Better
Business Bureau.
Further information about FTC action against this company:
WARNING: .BIZ Domain Renewal/Domain Renewals
Several registrants and Registrars of .BIZ domain names have
notified NeuLevel, the ICANN Authorized .BIZ Registry Operator, that a company
doing business variously as “Domain Renewal” or “Domain
Renewals” (www.domain-renewal.biz, www.domainrenewals.biz) has been sending out unauthorized and unsolicited
correspondence regarding renewal of .BIZ domain names. These notices
have been regarding names that are not due for renewal for at least a
year and have been delivered to some registrants of .BIZ domain names that are listed in the Registry's
Whois database.
At this time, we are not aware of any WDBC customers being affected, however
we believe that these types of unsolicited notices may involve questionable
trade practices, and therefore, we feel obligated to bring these notices to your attention. The .BIZ Registry is currently investigating this situation.
Please note that only your sponsoring registrar or its authorized
reseller where the domain name was registered can renew your .BIZ domain
name. WDBC is an authorized Dotster domain name reseller. To find out who is your sponsoring registrar, please go to http://www.whois.biz, enter your domain name and look for the SPONSORING REGISTRAR field.
WARNING: Scam - Domain Support Group/iSupportNet
It has come to our attention that yet another scam involving domain names
is being played on unsuspecting domain name owners. The scam involves a call
from a company calling itself the "Domain
Support Group" or "iSupportNet." The caller pretends that he has
information about your domain name registrations and tries to trick you into
giving him your credit card information or registering more domain names with them.
Please do not be fooled by this scam! WDBC does not call its customers
and ask them to give credit card information over the phone. If you receive a telephone
call from "Domain Support Group," simply hang up without giving them any information.
For more references about this scam, visit these links:
Warning - Phony Invoices Target Domain Name Holders
The Better Business Bureau has created an excellent article warning businesses
about phony domain name registration invoices. Web Design by Cookie (WDBC)
is a member of the Better Business Bureau, Connecticut anda Dotster domain name dotReseller. The article suggests
five tips to avoid paying for a service you do not want:
- Educate bookkeepers, accounting staff, and web site managers to beware of "domain registration" solicitations designed as invoices;
- Only accept domain renewal notices from the company with whom you have registered your domain name;
- To check when you need to renew your domain name, contact your existing domain
registrar;
- If you doubt the legitimacy of any invoice, check your records to confirm claims of previous business dealings with the company or seller; and
- Establish effective internal controls for the payment of invoices.
To read the entire article by the BBB, visit: http://www.bbb.org/alerts/article.asp?ID=194.
Please note, WDBC only sends email invoices for domain registrations
and notices are sent from our email address, domains (AT) wdbc (DOT) com,
we do not mail invoices for domain name registrations unless a customer specifically requests
it. For further information on the renewal process at WDBC, visit our secure
renewals page.
