Domain Listing Services – Free Advice So You Don’t Fall For One of The Oldest Internet Scams

If you're a business owner, website manager, or even a developer, this scam alert is for you. Usually known as the “Domain Listing Services” scam One of our clients fell for it before. we could intervene. This scam is related to your domain name, it's usually known as the domain listing scam.

It can be easy to fall for this because it doesn't happen during any specific time and if the scammers have done a good job of branding themselves, the scam looks and feels like a real business transaction.

Domain Listing Services Scam. How does this scam work?

Summary: A company will send you a domain listing renewal service invoice. They claim that your domain listing is about to expire and if you don't pay for it, you will lose all sorts of benefits and features related to that domain.

The problem is that you likely didn't sign up for this service and would not pay for it if you were informed. When in doubt, feel free to give us a call and we can help you determine if it's a scam.

The way they get your money is like this. Domain registration information is public by default so anybody can look up a domain and find out when the domain expires and who is the contact for the domain using a tool like whois.com

Deceptive companies will use the public information found in the WHOIS records along with any other public information they can get from social media, or directly from your actual website to send you a notice in the mail which uses FOMO (fear of missing out). They hope you or your accounting department will just pay the bill to avoid any disruption to the business.

The notice will state that you will lose directory listing services, domain listing directory services, or something to that effect. The price ranges from $99 up to several hundred dollars, and it's just low enough that most companies just pay it because it seems like it is just part of doing business.

To keep things in perspective, domain registration renewal fees range from $10-$20 per year depending on who is your vendor.

Why Does the Domain Listing Services This Scam Still Work?

The problem with the scam is that the invoice is priced low enough that it is easy for the accounting department to just pay for it. In addition to this, the company sending the bill may actually have a directory listing service, so this will relieve the concerns for some business owners that look up the company to check if the directory even exists.

The scam works, because it really isn't a scam. The company offers a service, and they are trying to get you as a customer by sending you a bill. Their business model is just unscrupulous and preys on unsuspecting business owners. Tessa Watkins took a deep dive into it, you can check out her findings here. In addition to a questionable way to acquire paying customers, the service itself is questionable from an SEO point of view; it can be argued that listing your website in these type of “directories” could hurt your rankings.

Telltale signs it is likely a scam.

While the following isn't an exhaustive list, keep an eye out for these things when you get a letter about domain listing services:

• The letter is unsolicited.
• The letter may come to your personal residence.
• The letter may be addressed to someone that is no longer in your organization, or to nobody specifically.
• It comes from a company you don't recognize, but sounds like you should.
• The invoice needs to be paid by check and sent to a P.O. Box.
• The company is out of state.

What Should You Do if You Receive This Letter?

Our direct advice is: DO NOT pay for unsolicited “domain listing services.” If you own a domain with a public registration, you will likely receive at least one of these in the mail every year, or every couple of years. They're hoping that you just pay for this “service.”

Do NOT pay for this without consulting your web person, IT manager, or developer, feel free to give us a call or send us an email if you're in doubt.