We have had a few clients bring these to our attention again, here is our overview of what they are,
The aim of domain renewal scams is to fool domain owners into changing from their existing domain provider to theirs by leading them to believe they are renewing with the current provider.
The renewal will be offered at a higher price and often there will be large redemption charges inthe small print. This is done via e-mail or letter. You will not only be paying an increased rate, but these people will have access to your card details.
The majority of these companies work from a PO Box address so you will not know who you are paying or where they are based.
A step towards protecting yourself is to find out from your current provider when your renewal is due and renew at the correct time. You must provide your personal details when you register a domain name in order to be the legal owner of the domain name. Normal online security precautions should be applied so you shouldn’t pay an invoice from someone claiming to be your website designer or to a new bank account without treble checking by emailing and phoning your website design company / hosting company which is normally us if you are a client of Delicious Webdesign.
When you get a website registered your information goes into the Whois directory, meaning anyone can potentially find your details and know when your website is due to be renewed There are ways to hide this information for a fee. However, hiding this information may work against you if you have an e-commerce site as people may deem it untrustworthy and in UK law you are required to have this information visble.
