Take a glance at this actual scan of the letter. Looks remarkably like an invoice, doesn’t it? Downright official. It even has a logo that resembles an American flag, so it must be legit.

Only one small problem. I own a total of nine domain names, all registered through my domain registrar of choice, PairNIC. This letter is from the Domain Renewal Group, a company with which I’ve never done business. This helpful bunch wants to come to my aid and make sure my precious domain name doesn’t expire, but if you look a little deeper what they really want is to switch my domain name registrar and harvest whatever they can from my wallet.

Back in the days when long-distance telephone providers routinely called during dinner and offered to “help” us by switching our long distance service to BillyBobTel, the phone companies called this practice “Slamming.” The tele-scammer tricked people into giving them permission to change their provider—and sometimes, they put the change through even without that permission. This underhanded practice led to legitimate telephone companies providing an option to disable changes in provider without your express permission. As people became more aware of that option the sucker pool dried up and the scam artists moved on to more lucrative schemes.

Domain Name Slamming is a gold mine for those with no moral or ethical anchors. The fine print—and not-so-fine print—of this letter is a marketing masterpiece. There is absolutely nothing illegal about DRG’s letter or the “service” they offer. The necessary disclaimers are there, out in the open, positioned where they are easily overlooked. The fine print you agree to when you sign the dotted line obligates you to pay their legal expenses if they are sued in connection with the services provided to you, and of course there’s the money-pumping “all fees are non-refundable” clause. Many registrars have “locks” on transfers that you must specifically clear before initiating a transfer, and DRG’s attempt to transfer will fail—but if that happens, they get to keep your money.

How to Protect Yourself

• READ CAREFULLY. Don’t let the slick invoice-like look fool you.
• If someone else pays your bills, educate them about this scam.
• Know your domain registrar, and deal only with that registrar.
• Beware benevolent strangers who offer to help you manage your domain for a fee.
• Contact your registrar and put a transfer lock on your domain to prevent unauthorized transfer.