Webmasters Don't Get Scammed

Recently I received a letter in the mail to register my domain. No, not this one. This is a free sub-domain. I got it from one of my sites that I own the domain. The letter was from Domain Registry of America and it appeared to be an invoice for my domain renewal.

DROA is A Scam

These deceptive letters appear as an official-looking invoice for the renewal of your domain name that are intended to actually trick you, into actually transferring your domain names away from your provider (ex: GoDaddy) to Domain Registry of America. It seems to be legitimate because it has the "of America" in the title. At first I almost considered it, until I looked at the price. It was nearly 3 times what I pay for at GoDaddy. Haha forget that. I don't need my domain that bad. I figured it was time to just sell it and be rid of it. Then I decided to look over the invoice one more time. A couple of things alerted me to it as a scam.

1. Renew before August 31. I knew my domain was good for a year. I bought it in December.
2. The price. I bought my Godaddy domain for roughly $7. They wanted to charge $30.

Domain Registry of America is a legitimate company. They have help lines, their website, and various other means of contacting them. Although they are legitimate, it does not mean their practices are. After a bit of research, I found that I am not the only one they have tried to get to renew my service with them. I typed in Domain Registry of America and in the suggestions I saw various uses of scam. My assumptions were correct. Whew, luckily I didn't fall for this.

What To Do?

If you fail for the scam, or just got the letter, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission (in the US) or the Ministry of Consumer Affairs' Scam Watch (NZ). Hopefully you should be able to get this matter resolved quickly.