Fake Domain Registry of America Domain Transfer "Order"

This one is not so much a scam, as it is a reverse way to get you to order something. I experienced this over the phone once when I was a secretary. Someone calls you and makes it seem like you need to fax them an invoice for a product you need to order. It was from a toner company - copier "companies" are notorious for making things up. As are domain registry companies. And trademark companies for that matter, but that is for another blog post.

This blog post is to expose the ever persistent Domain Registry of America. Their tactic is to email you about your domain registry. This means, if you buy www.mywebsite.com, it is registered somewhere. Legit registrars are Dotster, GoDaddy (although they are annoying), Network Solutions, etc. There are tons of registrars out there, but those are some of the better known ones. You always have the right to "transfer" your domain for whatever reason. Sometimes your original domain registrar company will fine you, sometimes not. But, it's a common thing to transfer your domain. Sometimes you just want to consolidate all of your domains under one registry roof.

Domain Registry of America, I think, also sends these notices out by snail mail. If you have registered your domain and included your address, then anyone can easily pick up your address from the WhoIs database and contact you. They want your business. Instead of asking you to transfer your domain to them, which would be the polite thing, they "thank" you for requesting a transfer. A request that you of course never made.

Here's a typical email from Domain Registry of America to trick my friend at a company I used to work for. This is about the 20th time my friend has received this email.

NOTE: I deleted names and actual domains to protect the innocent.

To NAME,

Thank you for choosing to transfer and renew yourwebsite.org with the
Domain Registry of America. Upon testing your current administrative email
address yourname@yourwebsite.org we have not been able to contact you to
complete your transfer and renewal with Domain Registry of America. This may
be because yourname@yourwebsite.org is no longer in use, or misspelled. Your
current administrative email address must be valid in order to complete the
transfer and renewal process.

If these changes have yet to be made, please follow the directions below, to
have the administrative email address corrected. Failure to do so will
prevent you from being able to transfer and renew your domain name with
Domain Registry of America. Call your current registrar and have these
changes made to your administrative email address.

Your current registrar is DOTSTER, INC..

1) Introduce yourself as the person responsible for the domain name
yourwebsite.org

2) Ask them to change your Administrative Contact email address to the one
you are now using. (You may be asked to present them with personal
information, so that they may confirm your identity as the owner) (Here is where Domain Registry of America basically guides you in requesting a domain transfer to them - a thought that never occurred to you until they told you to do it.)

Please note that, unfortunately, Domain Registry of America cannot make
these changes on your behalf. (No sh#* Sherlock) Only the owner of the domain name is
authorized to make these changes.

Up to this date your changes have yet to be reflected in the WHOIS database.
If this is your first notice please follow the directions above, otherwise
this is to serve as a reminder.

As a convenience, we have supplied your current registrars phone number
below. (Yeah, because they want to steal from your registrar your business, who in this case is Dotster)

Domain: yourwebsite.org
Current Registrar: DOTSTER, INC.
Registrar Phone Number: 360-397-8707 (Phone) or 360-253-2210 (Fax)


Thank you,

Renewals & Transfers Department
-Domain Registry of America
Toll free 1-866-434-0212 or for International Callers, dial +1(905)479-2533

Please have your Domain Registry of America order number (#1475377) ready
when calling

So. This is an attempt to steal your business by letting you do all of the work. That's why it's not really a scam, it's a manipulation. It's a manipulation of someone who is not super savvy with domain registrars, who doesn't want to be super savvy with domain registrars, who shouldn't be super savvy with domain registrars. It's a manipulation of someone who trusts a website professional to tell them what to do. So this website professional, and you can call me Scam Awareness Bloggerette, is telling you to delete this email. If you can, press the Junk button on it so that maybe it will be reported to your email company, and your Outlook or gmail or whatever your email program is will block other emails from coming from Domain Registry of America.