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Domain Registry of America scam

brandon's picture

I recently received a deceptive notice from Domain Registry of America (see image to the left). The "notice," which looks more like a bill than a notice, gives the impression that a domain I own is about to expire and must be renewed. Domain Registry of America's notice informed me that, "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web." OK. That's very thoughtful, but my domain doesn't expire until November. Why is Domain Registry of America only giving me until July 23 to reply? Well, mostly because it's a scam.

The scam is nothing new. In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission slapped the Canada-based Domain Registry of America (DROA) on its wrists for:

  • misleading consumers into thinking that they are renewing their registrations with their current registrar when, instead, they are transferring their registrations to DROA's registrar, eNom.
  • failing to disclose a $4.50 processing fee for any transfer requests that are not completed, even when the failure occurs without any fault of the consumers.
  • failing to issue promised refunds in a timely manner, in violation of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), sometimes delaying refunds for months.

On top of Domain Registry of America's deceptive practices, its domain prices are outrageous (sometimes 2 to 3 times higher than the industry norm). If you receive a notice from Domain Registry of America, DO NOT SEND MONEY. It is a scam.

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Dedra Holden

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Help get back at DROA

Now I’ve given them back some of their shit. I have had the customer relations manager Eric Voisard evoisard [at] droa [dot] com on a series of emails suggesting I want to register a domain dancefever.ws

I have created a lot of work for him and now I told him I sent them money via Western Union (which I obviously have not) This is what they wrote to me last “We do not normally accept payment in this fashion, we will have to send someone to pick it up later today or maybe even tomorrow”. Whoever they send is going to look like a fool at the Western Union office with my phony code to pick up the money!

I suggest more people do the same. Use evoisard [at] droa [dot] com or sales [at] droa [dot] com

After a 100 or so phony mails suggesting interest in services they will never be able to tell if an email request is real or not.

Domain Renewal Group - Another Scam Same Address

Domain Registry of America is at it again by doing business as the Domain Renewal Group. What a bunch of scam artists. It's exactly the same company, same addresses, same everything. So apparently their disgusting reputation was becoming better known so they decided like any other defunct immoral business to dba another name. These companies obviously have and same letter with a slight change in the icon. Same small print on the back that lures a business into false pretence and scams them out of money. The address to send the checks is the same too.

Domain Renewal Group = Domain Registry of America

BEWARE!!! This is a SCAM

Approved

Loan scam is one of the major fraudulent doings of most fraudsters. This is done through taking advantage of greed and poor people. In the Pacific Northwest, payday loan lenders are now under the fire from class action suites. A payday loan lending chain, has just reached a settlement to the tune of over $2 million to customers who had defaulted on their loan payments. The lawsuit contended that the lender used improper collection techniques in order to collect on delinquent debts. Granted, intimidation is unacceptable, but so is not paying off your obligations. If I get a payday loan, I pay it back like I said I would.

Same Domain Scam in U.S. Mail

This same company has tried to scam me several times over the past couple years via email and U.S. mail ("snail mail"). The latter would definitely constitute mail fraud except Domain Registry of America very carefully worded their letter so that it will be viewed by authorities in the U.S. as just an opportunistic attempt to get your business and not an actual attempt to defraud you. Scaring a potential customer is not a crime in the United States.

This is what happens when your domain registry is public instead of private. These con artists find your domain expiration information in the "Who's Who" registry (or some such darn thing). You can make your registry private by paying your legitimate domain registration service extra money to do that.

So, Domain Registry of America is about as crooked as they come but they'll never see a fine or do jail time. Not in America, anyway, where it has always been "buyer beware".

File a lawsuit

This is grounds for a lawsuit. So why don't you all sue them? They have to show up to court or it is an automatic win for you. Stop complaining, get a lawyer, and sue their asses. If you're not going to do that, then stop complaining.

I hope they fry

Scams like the one droa are running are just shameful - doesn't advertising like that count as fraud? Well, at any rate, their website is still up. It definitely shouldn't be. I hope that enough people are reporting these vultures to the BBB and the FTC to get something done - hopefully a jail sentence for the people that run these kind of scams, and I don't care if they claim if it's just a marketing strategy. That isn't marketing, that is lying - that's fraud. Look, if I tell you about a website that sells payday loans like personalmoneystore, then I just told you about a service or a product - that's what marketing is. If I tell someone that they owe for one already - when they DON'T - and then get them to take one, that's fraud. Anyone who does that deserves an 8x8 room with the barred view.

Many scams are over the

Many scams are over the Internet. We must be very careful in dealing with any of these especially if it is about money and properties. Consumers have a duty to do research on the products or services that they are interested in getting, and payday loans are no exception. Not every payday loan is created equal, and the more a person knows about the lenders they would consider going to, the better. A consumer should seek the best terms and services when they are considering getting payday loans. That said, the payday loan customer has a right to information, as lenders all have to comply with the Truth in Lending Act – so you know that payday loans should be always honest. Read more at the Money Blog about payday loans.

Domain Registry of America also ripped me off...

When I figured out what had happened, I called and canceled and also emailed. No refund. Weeks go by, more calls more emails still no refund. Today I filed a regulation E complaint at my bank. Suggest that is the first thing one should do. Lesson is to more carefully read my "bills". I would never do business with this firm, and had I taken an extra minute or two to check it out, I would not be in this situation.

scammed and arrested

I WANT MY STORY HEARD AND SHARED. !!!!!! I AM SURE THAT YOU ALL WILL THINK THAT I AM STUPID, BUT HERE'S MY STORY!! AND IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN GET ME SOME PUBLICITY I NEED IT BAD!!!!!

THIS ALL BEGAN DURING THE RECENT HURRICANES TO OUR AREA HERE IN LOUISIANA. MY HUSBAND BECAME LAID OFF OF WORK. SO TO MAKE ENDS MEET I WENT ONLINE TO GET A JOB UNTIL WE COULD FIND OTHER WORK HERE. I WROTE IN TO MANY PLACES, AND RECEIVED A FEW REPLIES. ONE THAT I RECIEVED WAS TO BECOME A DEBT COLLECTION AGENT. THE COMPANY NEEDED SOMEONE TO PLACE CALLS AND GET PEOPLE TO PAY THEIR BACK PAYMENTS TO THE COMPANY.( YOU KNOW THOSE PHONE CALLS THAT YOU GET WHEN YOU ARE BEHIND ON YOUR BILLS. ) I DID THIS FOR ABOUT 4 WEEKS, I EAS TO GET A COMMISSION ON EACH ONE THAT I GOT TO PAY. I WORKED DAY IN AND DAY OUT. MY COMMISSION WAS TO BE 126,000.00 FROM ACCOUNTS PAID THAT I HAD CONTACTED. I RECEIVED MY FIRST CHECK. OFFICIAL BANK CHECK DROWN ON BB&T BANK THE AMOUT WAS LESS THAN WHAT I WAS TO RECEIVE, IT WAS FOR 98,500.00 SO I FIGURED THAT MAY HAVE BEEN WHAT I EARNED AFTER TAXES. I TAKE IT TO THE BANK. ME AND MY HUSBAND OPEN AN ACCOUNT AT FIRST AMERICAN BANK IN VALCHERIE LOUISIANA. WE DEPOSIT THE MONEY!!!! WE NEVER RECEIVED A DIME FROM THE BANK.

AT FIRST BB&T CONFIRMED THE CHECK, BUT THEN I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE BANK STATED THAT THEY BELIEVED THE CHECK WAS COUNTERFIET!!!! THEY WOULD LET ME KNOW IF IT WENT THROUGH OR NOT. THE NEXT THING I KNOW, ME AND MY HUSBAND WERE ARRESTED FOR BANK FRAUD AND MONENTARY INSTRUMENT ABUSE. WE ARE TO ARRAIGNED FEBARUARY 3, 2008. IN SAINT JAMES PARISH IN LOUISIANA. MY NAME IS SHAUNDALE SCOTT CONSTANT AND MY HUSBAND IS DAVID JOSEPH CONSTANT SR. WE ARE GOOD PEOPLE, WE DID NOTHING WRONG!!! WE NEED TO GET OUR STORY HEARD... WE NEED TO GET HELP... WE HAVE NO MONEY LEFT AFTER BOND, AND STILL NO WORK, WE CAN NOT AFFORD AN ATTORNEY, AND WE HAVE 3 BOYS. WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS..... CAN SOME ONE HELP ME WHAT ARE WE TO DO?????????

SIGNED,

SCAMMED AND ARRESTED!

It gets worse...

My sister fell for this back in 2003 before they were required to stop misrepresenting themselves. She ‘renewed’ for two years and I didn’t even realize that this company had her site until 2006. We tried to transfer it away from them at that time and then again in 2007. In 2008 we thought we finally had it taken care of, but our other hosting company and made a mistake, so we were back to square one.

I’ve spent hours trying to get one of their managers, Eric, to allow me to transfer. Turns out the hosting company and Brandon Gray International (aka Namejuice dot com) all lead back to the same people. It's such a complete and utter scam. Before I realized how debase these people really were, I thought I could reason with them. I pointed out to Eric that he was violating ICANN policy, but he said his company policy required me to wait 120 days for my credit card to clear — what total BS!!!!. He didn’t care that he was violating ICANN policy.

He then offered to let me transfer it for $200 dollars. Since, he refused to allow me to transfer because of his ‘company policy,’ I asked him to show me where it stated he could charge me for the transfer. He had the audacity to put me on hold and go in and change his policy before getting back on the phone and telling me where to find it. Since I was already familiar with the company’s business practices, I had already opened all the policy pages in tabs in my browser, so of course my copy didn’t have the one liner saying he could charge me!!! I can not believe this guy could be so blatant and stupid. I’ve already submitted a complaint to ICANN. And after repeatedly seeing this company’s complete and utter lack of ethics, I will do whatever I can to help see them pay for their crimes.

If anyone has a copy of the letter they send out, please get it posted on the web where I can find it, or send it in here so it can be forwarded to me. I’m particularly looking for one of their earlier ones that only state in small print that this is a transfer. I'm trying to find the one they originally sent us back in 2003. I appreciate any help.

My hope is to get my sister’s domain out of these crook’s hands and try to stop them from causing anyone else this pain.

I confirme

I agree with the solution Corwin, if everyone did the same thing, this type of scam no more!

I have been receiving

I have been receiving letters from them as well, I have already asked them to remove me from the list and to never contact me again. Guess what? A couple months later, I get another one for another domain name I own. I warned them last time that if they do contact me again, I would contact ICANN as well as the BBB. After searching on Google a bit, I decided to also file a complaint with the FTC, which I did a few minutes ago. So they now have a complaint from me with ICANN (which they are accredited under Namejuice.com/BRANDON GRAY INTERNET SERVICES), BBB, and FTC.

I see that in 2003 the FTC took action against them while DRoA was reselling for eNom. I came across your blog while searching Google for more information about these scammers. I love the recording. It is amusing how when backed in to a corner they behave like the rats they are. They hide. Count me as one !@#$!@#% off consumer!

______________________________
Submited by : Descargar Libros

Gotten these letters for years at a USPO.Box

They told me at the post office if I got another such letter to try to give it to them as use of the Mail in a
fraudulent or intently misleading way could be a Federal Offense wihch would probably shut them down so thry that too! Let the Post Office konw why it is being given to them and get the workers name to follow uo with them and how you could track the issue as it goes to the Federal Government. They have had more than one "business" name BTW. What I did try to do onw time is I called information Operator in Chicago area and by online search and their address on the offer traced it to a building that has other businessed in it also. Something about their location and business name and NOT being able to REACH them THERE! told me this was truly as best as I could find out a SCAM. The idea of mailing back junk in their business envelope though not the best thing to do... sounds even better. What someone should do:
They hsould work with a big bank and set up a termporary checking account and have special ink/coding hidden in the paper and send out an alert to the Checking Accounts of major banks and if they could program in the new Check Readers to flag it if is cashed. The police or federal governmebnt could have a worker ready to go and give them their MNirand Rights and handcuff them. But they are evwen smarter than that I think.... At least every check they would get they would be hesitant to cash it? :-)

A sad sad state of

A sad sad state of situation. I just hope that such a scam wont be repeated but you never know.

New twist on these scammers

I am a website designer that takes care of domain name registrations for my clients. Domain Registry of America attempted to transfer one of my client's domains to their registrar service. Their email makes it look like my client requested the transfer when in fact he hadn't. They also provide a link you can click on but if you click on the link it will automatically authorize the transfer and unlock the domain. The link goes to droa.com

This latest Domain Registry of American scam started for me on October 2, 2008.

Watch out for this one folks.

You can't win!

It's shocking, but I when I got one of these letters I noticed that, even at £20 Sterling a year, these con artists are still 25% cheaper than the guys who are legitimately holding our domain. Grrr! :o(

Useful Article

I’m in Australia and have received letters from them with Aussie, US and Canadian addresses over the past 4-5 years. I’m always thrilled [not] to get their new invoices [like today] for a client domain and wish there was something we could all do to ban these miserable gits.
I wrote a blog post just today and then googled them and found your site. All the info above is great - at least we can expose them in some small way.

May have gotten out of it!

The person who handles invoices for a group I deal with accidentally sent them $50. I found out about it, called them up, said it was an error and we wanted not to use their service. The person, Jessica, that I spoke with said they would issue a refund and it would arrive in a few weeks. Hopefully that will not be a scam, too!
These people have a good scam going!

Domain Registry of America - This is a Scam!

Why is "Domain Registry of America" still able to operate?
"BRANDON GRAY INTERNET SERVICES INC. dba Namejuice.com has received a
request from Domain Registry of America on 3/25/2008 12:32:19 PM for us
to become the new registrar of record."

protection against Domain Registry of America scam

A solution with DRA is to send back their envelope for payment filled with journal paper but without affixing any postage stamp and without your personal address. If they want to know the content of the envelope, they must pay for the tax. And we can hope they will receive thousands of unfranked mails.

so glad I saw this

I was totally taken by suprise by this letter, the SAME one that you all got. Now I know not to send them money. Such a scam!

Renewal of my domain name

When I saw this letter it kind of puzzled me, I had to wonder why I was getting this. I don't want people to loss there businesses because of this, kind of scam.
I am very upset with people like this .

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