I have been getting these letters for years—you know, the one that says your domain name is about to expire so renew now or risk being forever lost in cyberspace, blah, blah, blah. I’ll admint they almost got me the first time, but now anything with Domain Registry of America goes straight to the trash, or gets shredded into a thousand pieces, or gets burned—you get the picture.

I am used to it so I don’t give it much thought, but when I got one today I realized how many people I know get these these, too. And, being personalized, with a lot of your domain information on there, it is easy to think it is legit and pay up and be done with it.

Don’t.

Not only are they dubious at best, but they are one of the more expensive registrars. They mention being cheaper, but they base that on information that is way out of date—back when Network Solutions had a monopoly. In Web-time that is ancient history.

Even if they were the low-cost leader, I still wouldn’t think of transferring to them. If they use scam-like tactics to get your business, there is no telling what they will do once they have control of your domain and everything associated with it like your website and email.

If you want more information about this particular scam, Google for “Domain Registry of America Scam” and read until your heart’s content. If you want, check out the official word from the Federal Trade Commission.