Master of Your Domains - Check Before You Renew

Alert to all Business Communications Management clients, suppliers and colleagues - beware of any correspondence, either by letter or e-mail regarding your domain name registration.

This week one of our clients clients paid $249 for a .com domain name in the mistaken belief they were renewing their .com.au domain name.

According to the Federal Government Scam Watch web site, the rip-off goes like this:

You receive a letter that looks like an invoice for the registration or renewal of a domain name.

The domain name listed in the invoice is very similar to your actual domain name, but may have a different ending. For example, it may end in .net.au instead of .com.au or the .au at the end may be missing.

The domain name may be correct, but the letter is not from the company that you previously used to register your domain name.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is well aware of companies that use this scam.

It has successfully prosecuted one company over the scam a few years back, and IT professionals on the Whirlpool Forum are aware of another company that is running the same scheme today.

1. We recommend that our clients keep their hosting and domain name renewal information in the same place as their insurance renewal information.

2. Double check anything that looks like a renewal or an invoice to ensure that it is with your current provider and not someone looking to poach your business and charging you an inflated fee to do it.

3. If you're not sure who looks after your domain and hosting renewal, then give Business Communications Management a call and we can find out for you.

4. If you are not currently hosted or have your domain with us, ask us for a price before you renew. You might just be surprised how much you can save.