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Domain
slamming (definition from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Unsolicited international mail sent from the Domain Registry of America,
which some may consider to be an attempt at domain slamming. Domain
slamming is a form of scam in which an ISP or domain name registrar attempts
to trick customers of different companies into switching from their own
ISP/registrar to the scamming ISP/registrar, under the pretense that the
customer is simply renewing their subscription to their old ISP/registrar.
This may also be considered spamming when the scam is in the form of a
letter or e-mail.
Domain Registry of America Warning - An example of slamming is from
Domain Registry of America. Clients get these all the time.
Basically, it is from a Canadian based company (see
Internic Alpha list) called NameJuice (See
Internic WhoIs) that has business mailing addresses in New York (USA),
London (England), and Melbourne (Australia). They send an invoice looking
form to domain owners. Please take a moment to review the scanned copy of
a letter received from Domain Registry of America (DROA):
Front /
Back.
Many of the users registering domains have received these letters and in at
least a few instances, the recipients were duped into thinking that this was the
"official" renewal notice for their domain.
If your domain is registered with another service other than DROA, and you
receive this letter - please disregard and discard the letter. DROA has
been using this deceptive tactic for several years now, causing many people to
inadvertently transfer their domain to the DROA service, sometimes having to pay
a higher annual fee per domain for the transfer.
Take a moment to read the letter carefully. You will see that the notice
is an offer to switch registrars and not an official renewal notice.
Further investigation of the fine print on
the back of the document
reveals that by transferring your domain to DROA, you are also allowing them to
use the contact information they collect from you as they see fit to use by
themselves and their "partners" for "targeted marketing".
Marketing to your contact information can also occur after you have ended your
agreement with DROA.
When it concerns something as important as your domain name, please read
carefully anything that is mailed or emailed to you.
FTC Consumer Bulletin
On December 23, 2003 the Federal Trade Commission requested that a federal
district court enjoin Domain Registry of America, Inc., from making
misrepresentations in the marketing of its domain name registration services and
require it to pay redress to consumers. See "Court Bars Canadian
Company from Misleading Consumers in Marketing of Internet Domain Name Services.
Stipulated Order Requires Payment of Consumer Redress, Prohibits Future
Deceptive Conduct" where more information about the complaint can be found
on the FTC website at
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/12/domainreg.htm
What You Can Do
You are advised to file a mail fraud complaint with the United States Postal
Inspection Service at
http://www.usps.com/ and decline any and all registrar transfer
notices you may receive.
In addition to the Postal Service, the FTC works for the consumer to prevent
fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to
provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a
complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call
toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at
http://www.ftc.gov.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, and other fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and
criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide.
Note: On December 23, 2003, A court order was issued by the United States
District Court on behalf of the FTC prohibiting Domain Registry of America from
engaging in similar conduct in the future, and is subject to stringent
monitoring by the Commission to ensure its compliance with the court order. It
is very important that you contact the FTC to notify them about the ongoing
activity in violation of the court order.
Many Names, Same Scam
Please note that Domain Registry of America also operates under the following
names and most likely many more.
Domain Registry of Canada
Domain Registry of Europe
Domain Registry of Australia
Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. dba Namejuice.com
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