Domain Slamming Alert

Caution, if you receive a domain name renewal notice by U.S. mail or e-mail, be careful! There is a chance the invoice is a misleading mailing.

Some of our clients have received "official-looking" domain renewal invoices from a variety of different companies. These invoices may not be your official renewal notice. There are many companies registering domain names and some have engaged in questionable business practices aimed at getting you to renew your domain through them, and not with your primary registry.

How The Scam Works

1. You receive a domain expiry notice in the mail. This bogus invoice lists your domain name(s) with an amount to be paid and a reply by date.
2. You or someone in your organization respond to the notice and send a payment by check or credit card.
3. No confirmation request email is sent to you to authorize the transfer.
4. A transfer request is submitted to the registry and the transfer process begins.

When you choose to transfer your domain name from one registrar to another, it is the responsibility of the gaining registrar, the company you are transferring to, to get the authorization of the domain owner before processing the transfer.

Normally, this confirmation is done by sending an email to the administrative contact listed in the current 'Whois' record for the domain.

Once you've sent a payment, your domain could be transferred without further confirmation or knowledge from you.

Once this happens, the only way to get your domain back with your current registrar is to transfer it back, and pay for an additional year's renewal.

What These "Renewal Scams" Could Mean To You

If you renew your domain(s) by responding to one of these phony renewal notices, the following can happen:

1. Cost you more money (renewal and transfer fees).
2. Make it difficult to modify domain registration information.
3. Could cause loss of domain name rights and/or activity of web site hosting.

Who Is Running These "Scams"?

Companies known to be sending out domain expiry notices for domains that were never registered with them include:
Domain Registry of America / Domain Registry of Canada, VeriSign and Register.com

What We Are Doing?

At the 90-day, 60-day and 30-day points prior to your domain renewal, a notice is sent to our office and copied to you. Someone in our office will confirm with you that you wish to have your domain renewed and then we'll take care of the rest.

If you receive any invoice or notice that you are unsure of, or if the notice did not come from Heavrin-Brown Consultants, please don't hesitate to call the office at 734.274.5208 or send an e-mail inquiry to info@heavrinbrown.com. We want to keep you informed, so you can make the correct decisions for your domain name registration.

What You Should Do?

If you've already sent a payment, we suggest you contact your bank or credit card company regarding your options of having payment stopped or reversed.

Stop The Transfer
Contact your registration service provider, or our office, and find out what the status of the domain is. Your registrar should be able to reject the transfer if it has not already been done. Please note: Once you've cancelled the current transfer, it will likely be submitted again. You will need to take further steps to ensure the transfer does not succeed.

Lock The Domain
If your domain has not been transferred, ask your registry to lock the domain. This will prevent further requests to transfer from working.

Get Your Money Refunded
If you have paid by check, write to the company that you sent payment to demand a refund. If you paid by credit card and are unable to get a response regarding a refund, you can contact the issuing bank for your credit card to dispute the charge.

If you would like us to check the status of your domain, please send an e-mail to info@heavrinbrown.com or call 734.274.5208 (during business hours). We'll be able to check the status of your domain and advise you.

Filing a Complaint Online

File a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation.

Reporting mail fraud
It's against the law to send mail that looks like an invoice and not have it marked clearly as a solicitation. If you would like to file a complaint with the USPS online, you can do so by following this link.

Filing a complaint with the FTC
You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade commission at FTC online complaint form.