Domain-Name-Scams.org

Types of domain name scams:
	Domain Registry of America (DroA) Scam
	National Domain Name registry (NDNR) Scam
	Scammers claiming to be Paypal
	Third party registration scams
	Fake-id scams
Domain vulnerability
	Cross-domain vulnerability
	"Do not call" scams
	Understanding domain names
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Beware of domain name scams

Unfortunately many domain-scams exist. Some involve your company name in the form of yourcompany.com, etc or variants. Others will try and tempt you into pre-registering a domain. These scam-merchants will prey on 3 key points...

1) Panic
2) Lack of knowledge about the internet
3) Protecting your company image / presence

It is extremely important that you do not purchase a domain-name or pay any money to these companies. You will not get any support, backup or after-sales service. You may also find it impossible to "do" anything with the domain-name (such as transfer the domain elsewhere) after purchase, without additional costs being levied.

These companies are constantly changing their names and operations, so be aware of any cold-callers - see an examples of tactics that are used on our menu on your left.

Examples of how domain name scams work

Sometimes they take the form of cold-calling (this is probably a pool of "temps" going through the Yellow Pages / Business Directory etc etc). The story given is "Someone has enquired about a similar domain name to yours, we have (a duty / decided to / to check) with you to see if you wish to purchase the domain instead". This will involve a fairly substantial sum to "jump in" and "register first". When pushed, they may tell you that the domain is "yourcompany.com or yourcompany.com.us" etc.

If you ask who is trying to register the domain, they will either say it is just "someone over the web" or "they have filled in an enquiry form on our website" or "we cannot give specific details due to the Data Protection Act.

Another method involves tricking you out of your private information so they can register domains to send spam in your name such as:

eBay <advertise@ebay.com> with the subject ' Win a great gift from ebay! ' The gift is a Mercedes and the text reads in part:
'Congratulations!
eBay OFFERS THIS MONTH A GREAT GIFT FOR MEMBERS All you need to do is to Click Here login in your account and enter this number 252xxxxxxx in the key box. Thank you for choosing eBay '

In this attempt to get your eBay ID and Password. It is cleverly done and looks just like eBay's stuff. Make sure that you directly to sites like eBay if you are interested in purchasing something.