int main() - Domain Name Registration Scalping & Fraud
Many owners or potential owners of domains names are attacked from multiple directions by unscupolus companies. Some purchase domain names just to hold them until someone needs it then charge an exhorbant rate, like scalping. Others attempt to hijack your registration through phony renewal notices.
BuyDomains.com
Another group of folks who campout on domain names waiting for a legitimate user to want it. Prices are outrageous of course. We had to acquire a name from these clowns on behalf of one of our clients. The purchase process was dodgy and after the Account Signup in which we selected to not receive newsletters or mass mailings they sent them anyways. More incompetence followed with failed unsubscribe requests. Contact domains@buydomains.com, brokerage@buydomains.com, plamson@buydomains.com or msullivan@buydomains.com if you're having problems with these guys.
domainrenewal-online.com
Watchout for these jokers. They send emails to the email contact in the WHOIS information for a domain when it's close to expiration. The email links to their site where you will be charged a whopping $80 USD per year for the domain. Your registration will transfer to them and moving back to your original registrant will be difficult. Avoid doing any business with this company. The logos of Cisco, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft are here too however, our contacts within those companies legal departments are aware of this fraud too.
Liberty Names
These clowns run an operation that sends you a renewal notice and request that you renew your registration for about $25 USD per year. They send this notice for any expiring domain regardless of where it's actually registered. If you reply to their notice and send money they will transfer your registration from your current registrar to them. Now you are stuck, to transfer back to a legitmate registrar will cost a few dollars and Liberty Names does not make the transfer process smooth. Do not reply to their phony bill at all!
Registration Technologies
A very lame registrant. Their web site is full of bugs and difficult to use. There is no available support either by email or by telephone. They do not make the information to transfer from their system easily accessible.
Example: A domain was purchased from Seeq for $1000 USD, they update records and transfer the registration to Registration Technologies. The client is given a login to Registration Tech. Then an attempt was made to transfer this domain to the preferred registrant. Registration Technologies policy is that the domain will be released for transfer in five days after the request is made. Six days after the transfer request was initiated RT had still not released the name. Calls to their support line and email support requests (their preferred method) were unanswered.
SEDO
These clowns buy up domain name and wait for someone to want them. Then charge a $50 USD pricing estimate fee to give you a report that states the domain is worth, $10,000 USD or some other redicolous amount. There is nothing to be done here, they have it and you want it.
Seeq
Similar story to SEDO; a domain name hoarding company
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Document History
- 28 Aug 2007 - Added domainrenewal-online.com
- 06 Nov 2006 - Updated for Registraton Technologies.
- 14 Apr 2006 - Created.