How to Keep Safe from an Internet Domain Name Services Scam

domain name services scam

As a business owner, few things are more valuable to you than your brand. So, what does that mean for your domain name? It means you’ve got to protect your domain name like your business depended on it.

Your domain name is a critical part of the company’s brand because it identifies, promotes and organizes your company through every digital medium. Unfortunately, scammers realize this, so they prey on business people by offering them new domain names that mirror their current ones. Alternatively, they could require them to pay up to renew their existing domain names.

The great news? You can protect yourself against these destructive internet domain name services scams. Here’s a rundown on a few common domain scams to watch out for — and how you can avoid becoming dot-conned.

Let’s get started!

Domain Slamming

Domain slamming, the longest-running internet domain name services scam, is where you get an invoice in the mail or by email, along with the message that it’s time to renew your company’s domain name registration.

These types of notices typically include statements that are urgent. For instance, they may proclaim that you’re running out of time for your domain renewal. And they may spell out the bad things that will happen to you if you don’t renew now.

The problem with these notices is that they can seem believable at first glance, as they’re usually issued by organizations that sound official. If you fall prey to domain slamming, you may end up going through the domain name registration process with a totally different company. And to make matters worse, the price you pay will be a lot higher than the amount you’d pay with an honest domain registrar.

Chinese Domain Name Scam

This is a more recent type of scam targeting domain name holders. Chinese scammers will essentially try to trick you into coughing up heavy fees with the goal of protecting your brand online.

This is how this type of scam works: A Chinese domain registrar will email you saying that another business is trying to register several domain names containing your trademark information or name. The message will be urgent. And you’ll be encouraged to register similar domain names to safeguard your brand.

You may also read in the message that the Chinese registrar has temporarily blocked the competitive domain registration efforts, but you need to take action now to stop these efforts.

The Chinese registrar’s goal is to make you so afraid of losing your brand identity that you’ll buy several domain names. They come out on top because they gain your business multiple times over. In addition, they usually charge a lot more than a reputable registrar would.

Website Listing Services

This is yet another common type of scam targeting domain name holders in 2019. With this scam, you might receive an invoice and a request for payment for online listing services.

In the message, the scammer may emphasize that with their help, you can get your domain name listed for a year on websites that receive a lot of traffic.

The truth is, though, that these listing services are expensive yet useless, and they may cause you to lose your business’s domain name. As a result, your website might go down for a length of time. This, of course, can have a negative financial impact on your company.

How to Keep Safe From an Internet Domain Name Services Scam

To avoid being dot-conned, it’s critical that you know when your business’s domain names are set to expire. You also need to know which business is actually your registrar.

If you happen to have multiple registrars and several domain names, try to transfer them to one registrar. This will make the process of monitoring and paying for them easier.

Also, list three employees as your company’s tech contact, registrant contact, and admin contact. This will ensure that all of them get official reminders when it’s time to renew your company’s domain name. If all three don’t get the same notice, it’s most likely a scam.

In addition, renew your business’s domain name only through the registrar you originally purchased it from. Avoid using intermediaries.

Another wise move when it comes to your domain name? Renew it ahead of time and for as long of a period as possible. This will keep you from receiving those annoying registration renewal messages.

Prevention is the Best Protection

There are a few other steps you can take to avoid falling victim to today’s internet domain name service scams.

First, use your registrar’s domain locking feature. This feature is optional, but you should take advantage of it because it keeps your business’s domain name from being registered elsewhere without your company’s express permission.

Also, don’t share sensitive or personal information with any individuals or companies that seem suspicious.

You should also remind your workers to watch out for scams and make sure that they are all trained on the correct email and internet protocol. For instance, instruct them never to click on an open attachment or link from a suspicious or unknown source.

Finally, be sure to announce to your team the latest online scams, providing accurate warnings and descriptions. And encourage your workers to share with the company any scams they encounter.

How We Can Help

In addition to providing advice on how to avoid an internet domain name services scam, we offer top-of-the-line website creation and domain name registering services.

Specifically, we can build a stunning site for you that will enable you to attract customers. In addition, we can help you to find an excellent domain name to begin building your business’s brand.

Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help your company to stand out for all of the right reasons in 2019.

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