Another unscrupulous attempt to trick website owners into
giving up their information came across my desk today. It made me think it would be good to share a little more information with others and caution about taking quick actions.
Because many domain registrations have
information that can be accessed publicly, devious scammers use that
information to send legitimate-looking invoices or renewal notices to domain
owners. These invoices or notices usually have very fine print somewhere that
hints at their sneaky motives but they use language that is particularly
confusing. Many times they talk about "registration", "renewal" or "expiration notice" and the due dates are often within a few days of when you receive it. They are designed to catch your attention, take you off-guard and make you think some part of your website domain or hosting registration is about to become inactive if you don't act immediately.
If you ever get an e-mail, invoice or some type of notification that
requires action & payment, look it over carefully. Be aware of who your
domain registrar is and the company that you have your hosting account with.
Also being aware of your renewal dates for each of these accounts is helpful. If
something doesn’t seem quite right, trust those instincts and keep
investigating. If you don’t feel
confident you understand what you are being asked to pay for, contact your registrar, hosting company or a website development professional to help you sort out the details. Your diligence will pay off!
