ISP Renewal Internet Services
Domain name renewal scams seem to be becoming as common as mosquitos in the north woods.
On November 5th, 2008 I received the following email:
Information
You recieve a reminder from us when you have a domain name that is about to expire. Domain Renewal monitors domain names and renews your domain names through your existing Internet service provider. If you choose to prelong your domain name please use the link above. You can also ask your existing domain provider to renew your domain for you. If you order us to renew your domain name, we will not make any changes in the whois information or change internet service provider. The only changes will be a new expire date. You can see the total fee for your renewal by clicking on the link. You can contact our customer center if you have any questions regarding your domain. The customercenter can be reached at + 44 20 33 55 49 51.
The domain name they wrote to me about was actually a name registered for one of my clients, not the "mydomainname.com" (the above was edited to protect my client's identity.)
What "ISP Renewal" is trying to do is get you to pay $75 to renew your domain name, even though they did not register it for you, or have anything to do with your domain name at any time. When you dig into their website, they state they act as a "third party" and that the only thing that changes is your new expiration date... but the only way that would work would be if they took your $75, and then paid us the $12.13 your renewal would actually cost. (Pocketing the difference, of course, and assuming they even actually send the $12.13 for the renewal.)
This is like me calling you up and telling you that if you pay me $500, I'll pay your cable bill so that you don't get your cable shut off. Since I'm not your cable company, you should be skeptical of any such offer.
If you or someone you know ever gets taken in by a scam like this, you may want to consider reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
