If there ever was a reason to purchase domain privacy with your registration, my most recent domain buying experience is the perfect example.

In the less than 10 days since registering a new domain for a client, since I put my own contact information on it, I’ve received a barrage of email solicitations and even a phone call in the middle of the night.  I suspect that phone call was part of this because the caller ID was blocked.  A few days later, I get another blocked call.  This time I picked up and found myself speaking to a guy from India asking if I’d just registered a domain.

He hung up on me when I questioned his motives.

I use the term scam loosely because what they’re doing probably isn’t illegal.  But they are taking advantage of people who may not know better.  One such email came in labeled as a final notice that I must register my domain with the search engines or it will never be found. (For a fee of course).  I know that claim to be false, but someone new to having a website may not.

Another common scam I receive is by snail mail.  A notice informing me that my domain name is expiring and I should lock in my low low renewal price of $45 per year before it’s too late.  This is on a $11/year domain name.  The fine print explains what’s really going on, keeping it just this side of legal (in my opinion), but it’s deceptive and predatory.

If you’re new to domain registration and find yourself suddenly receiving warnings or notices telling you to send money for any reason, be very careful.  Unless that message is from your registrar where you bought the domain (who will obviously send legitimate renewal notices) , chances are they’re just trying to get you to buy a product you don’t need.  Often at over-inflated prices.

Need a domain?  Visit http://www.mariposadomains.com.  I would be happy to give you advice on the do’s and don’ts of domain registration.  Contact me for more information.