Hello everyone. We play the hands of cards life gives us. And the worst hands can make us the best players.
I am from Uruguay and know bad English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "An true due email is off based too of the much skinhead started in most emergency numbers, razor scooter picture."

Waiting for a reply :p, Camden.

Hi, its nice to bring such scam into notice else many of them will lose hard earned money. I will definitely inform all of my friend to be careful of such scam. Thanks for sharing it.

The best way to combat this is to simply IGNORE all communications
regarding your domain name that do NOT come from your current
provider. Mediaworks has some
information regarding online business.

Some of our clients have received emails from Domain Registry of America 6 months before renewal date soliciting transfer fees from them. The clients thought they were renewing (not transferring) and fearing the loss of their domain, duly paid $37. As we are the administrators all communication should surely come through us which would avoid clients paying 6 months early. We have now been asked to unlock the domain name update the "whois" email address and provide transfer authorization code EPP KEY, which we haven't done as yet. I now fear that it might even be a scam and that our customers might even lose their domains that we have been marketing and advertising for years.

Obviously we will be warning other clients but would like your view before we communicate with them. Thanks Susie

I also received this letter and it caught my attention because I usually renew online and so took a closer look. Wow.... what a scam! Very professional looking too!!

My office received a Domain Name Registration Notice today. And there is phone number 1-888-206-5136 on the button of this notice. We called the number to make sure what is going on, but no one picked up our phone.

Then we checked with our domain name provider, and they advised us to ignore this fraud notice.

i can't believe this has been going on for so many years!

The gov't spends tons of money on new laws, new enforcement rules, and other new regulations but for some can't afford to shut down these types of scams. I sent them a bogus reply with way insufficient postage... hoping that they will have to pay to receive what is basically an empty envelope. Yes, the phone number makes it clear this is a fake. Obviously the address is good, so why doesn't a law enforcement agency take action?

May I suggest signing them up for some free junk mail? Bury them with junk mail.

Called the number on the bill and got a 'This is a bogus company, don't pay anything comming from this number' message..Looks like someone got thru.

I could tell this thing was a scam from the moment I saw the envelope. I researched it online to find out if there is some place I report it to.

By the way for anyone keeping score, I have a very small business (just myself) in Northern California. It's the same Domain Registration notice to be sent to Processing Center, 545 Eight Ave Suite 401 NY NY.

You know how the police have packets of ink that burst when opened, which they put into bags of stolen money and such? It sprays the perp with ink and you can readily spot him. Let's all start sending letters to these addresses with THAT in there! Then we can see who's walking around NY covered in ink, and pound 'em!

I own most domains for usalocations etc
and I have recieved the letter several times
each time it has been fed to the shreader...
SCAM Some Claims Are Marvellous (Moronic. etc)

We received one this week, 6/23/09. I thought it was weird that there was no unique business name or logo so I typed in the address at the bottom of the invoice that you are supposed to send your payment to and this site came up. Glad I did! I hope people are smart enough to catch this. It sickens me that scam artists are making money this way. Thanks everyone for posting!

yeah, this looks fishy. the company are registered with is not related to Domainusa. Look fraudulent to me. So, figured I would post to keep this site current since I'm sure others will be receiving the same notices.

Just got a new one in the mail. The format is different and looks more like an invoice. We are a company, not a Church and our accounting department processed it as an invoice. Thankfully I have to approve them and caught it. I will be filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

It took a bit to calm down my client after he got this letter, he thought he was loosing his online investment for his web site and search engine optimization. I assured him the letter was bogus and asked him if I could use it in an article on my site. He said sure, others should know about this garbage (edited). So I wrote up an article about it today for your enjoyment.... http://www.socalcreations.net/Articles/Online_SCAMs

William
SoCalCreations.net
PrePaidLegal.com/hub/williamburdine, because bad things happen to good people. Life happens and you shouldn't pay for someone else's ineptness or mistakes.

These guys are scum. got one today. -- lock your registrations now.

Next Step: They hire a collection agency to cold call your FnA department to berate your Finance people into giving them a CC#.

make sure you have your SH@**@ locked down.

Steve

Here's why they can't go to the ICANN:
No TLD can have only one character, ruling out .z
All ccTLDs must have two characters, ruling out .usa and .brit
All gTLDs must have three characters, ruling out .earth
No suggestive TLDs (such as .porn and .sex) are allowed.
No religious TLDs are allowed, ruling out .god, .christ, and .church

So that rules out everything dot-usa.com is selling.

It seems this was just a typical PHISHING SCAM mailing. We receive many similar emails claiming to be from paypal or bank official.

"phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT Administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,[1] and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Even when using server authentication, it may require tremendous skill to detect that the website is fake. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users,[2] and exploits the poor usability of current web security technologies.[3] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures."

(By dom)

That phone number indicated on that renewal scam is (888)205-8206...

They are now sending out renewal notices as "DOMAIN REGISTRATION'"

They ask you to make the check payable to 'Domain Registration' and the mailing address is:
Processing Center
545 Eight Avenue, suite 401
New York, NY 10016

They provide a phone number that always says - "The destination that you are trying to reach is not available at this time." and goes immediately to a dial tone or sometimes your call will be redirected to another marketing ploy.

Is there anything we can do to make this scam stop?!!

We just got the same bill and decided to do some research. Thank goodness I found this website, we were almost ready to pay for it.

Unfortunately, domain name registration scams will continue to plague the web community. I posted an article about this type of scam in December 2006. Nothing that I cam see has changed. The "officials" don't seem to have any impact on this type of scam. You are your only line of defense. If you are reading this post, you are at least questioning your "bill". That's a good start. Keep reading and be sure to question authority.

I am reposting the article I wrote in 2006, because, sad to say, I feel it is still valid.

"I am expressing my concern over scams that use data downloaded in bulk from various on-line databases, such as the WHOIS database maintained by ICANN. Unfortunately I have received little response from the various government agencies (FTC, Postal Inspectors, New York and Washington State Attorney General's Offices, including members of Congress, and ICANN) and public agencies that I wrote. In most instances I followed up my email in a week with a phone call and still not much response. This is not a small issue. The Washington State Attorney General's office basically said there is nothing they can do, since the company in question said I wasn't their customer. (No kidding!) The attorney General’s Office said people should read their mail more carefully (No kidding!). That it would be treading on the Constitutional rights of others if free access to “public” records were controlled.

In the last month my wife, my mother-in-law, my wife's place of business, and I have been approached by SCAMS. There was the bogus-bill from Listing Corp., the bogus-bill from National Companies Register Corp., the phishing post card from Annuity Service Center, and the bogus FAX scam from International Directories Corporation. It is an epidemic and someone, in addition to me, needs to work on it. I feel like I’m walking down the street in some third-world country where the merchants try to suck you in to their stores to buy over-priced, useless tourist baubles.

I am asking that you support measures that would require controls for access to the various “public” databases, such as WHOIS, and prevent the ability to accomplish “bulk” downloads of the database information. Here are a few of my thoughts on this subject.

What is a SCAM?

In the simplest terms it is an act where the perpetrator causes the victim to believe something is true when in fact it is not true in order to obtain monitory gain from the victim. This is accomplished through deceptive presentations of information, for example formatting a mailing or fax to appear to be a bill. There are many examples of the art of presenting a scam. Scams are implemented in person, over the phone, through the mail, by fax, and over the Internet. Their makeup is limited only by the imagination of the perpetrator. Some of the most repetitive scams attempt to deceive the victim into believing that they have already contracted for a product, like domain name registration, website position promotion, or being listed in a “business directory”. The victim is sent a fax or a mailing that looks like a legitimate bill or a “renewal” notice, but in fact is just an attempt to steal from the unsuspecting. Unfortunately, enough of these “bogus bills” are paid to make it worth the intricate web these hucksters weave. For less than a dollar they stand to receive a return of $35 or more, depending on the scam. The percentage of returns is low, but the rewards are, well in a word, free.

Where do they get addresses, phone numbers, and other information?

If you have a state business license or you are incorporated your information is most likely available as public information through a state website. If you have a registered domain name your information is available as public information through the WHOIS data bank (unless you have paid to have it hidden). If you ever went to a Home Show and registered for a free something-or-other drawing you were listed in a customer data bank which may have been sold. A web crawler or data-harvesting program may have collected your information. There are companies who collect and sell data on everyone they can get their hooks into. They might even know more about you than the Federal Government.

What do these SCAMS have in common?

Usually these scams have a number of traits in common.

The mailing or FAX is in the familiar format of a bill, with possibly an account number. It is really a solicitation for business or an overture to a scam. With the amount of information and decisions we are asked to analyze on a daily basis, we tend to operate on perceptions based on past experience. If the mailing is formatted like an invoice, it is perceived as a bill. Clever to print a solicitation that looks like a bill. Honest solicitations say something like, “Howdy, this is us. This is what we can do for you. If you like what we have, give us a call. We would like to do business with you. Have a nice day.”

In addition to the “bogus-bill, and “bogus-fax-bill” there is new ploy, the “living check”. It has a life of it’s own. It’s a check on the front, but turn it over and it’s really a contract that you sign when you endorse the “check”. What will they think of next! Maybe they could print the contract as a watermark or maybe a microdot.

There is always a looming deadline requiring the victim’s response. The perpetrator does not want the victim to think. Usually one or two weeks are allowed for response. Sometimes there is even the ploy of a late fee. Nice touch. Send them a check and now they have your bank account number, sweet. Pay by credit card and, well they have your… double sweet.

They offer a product that has dubious need (If they actually provide what was offered is another matter). Ever wonder why someone would want to be listed in a business directory that requires a password for the general public to view or be promoted by a company who’s fist listings when a Internet search is accomplished on their name are consumer complaints?

The mailing address for the “company” is a mailbox at a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA), not at a physical office. These CMRA addresses change as often as the company names. The address will often incorporate the term “suite”, for example: “suite 108” or “suite #108”.

NOTE: The # (pound sign) or “PMB” (private mailbox) in the address is required by the US Post Office when receiving mail at a CMRA. This is to ensure that people understand that the mail is not going to an address where there is a physical office for the addressed company. The perpetuation of the term “suite” in the address by the scammer is another attempt to deceive the victim.

A check of the walking distance between the CMRA’s used in New York City over the passed few years by one group of scammers shows that they are within a two miles of each other. Why do you suppose they need to move so often, but not go far? Maybe there’s a great pizza place in the neighborhood?

Generally there is no company phone number listed on the “bogus bill” or on the company website (if there is a website). This eliminates the victim’s ability to resolve any questions quickly.

If the company has a website some information regarding the owner of the domain name may be available. It can be obtained through running a WHOIS query on the domain name. The information is supposed to be accurate and up to date. However, the address most likely is a CMRA and the phone number will either be incomplete or be located in another country (for example: Unionville, Ontario, Canada) and will be unlisted. Most business want to be found and will not have unlisted numbers. They want to be located. Go figure.

The trail of money will often end up in an offshore bank, for example in the Bahamas, Grand Turk, or the Cayman Islands.

Is there any remedy?

The victims of these scams can file complaints with various agencies like the US Postal Inspection Service, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, various State Attorney Generals, and consumer protection agencies. This can seem like a dismal forest of unresponsive bureaucracy with little satisfaction. It can be like running on the beach at high tide, it is hard and your footprints are there only until the next wave washes them away. My experience is register your complaints, but don’t expect anything other than canned responses. So where is the remedy? Public exposure of the various scams and scammers would help. An informed public would quickly end the scams. However, there is another step that needs to be taken. The various databases that these scammers use need to have controlled access. The organizations and agencies that are entrusted with “public” data need to control how it is accessed. The companies that sell collected “public” data need to be held responsible for how the data is used.

What is the problem with controlling access to “public” data?

The public has a right to know who is behind a website. There will be no argument from me, if the public wants to find out the registrant information for a particular website. The information should be current, correct, and available. However, the information should not be available in bulk. The scammers and spammers don’t start out by finding the information one website at a time. It would take too long. It would be too much like real work.

All information should not and is not available to all members of the public. There are already various classifications of government information, such as “For Official Use Only”, “Confidential”, “Top Secret”, and “Business Sensitive”. This classification is done to regulate and control the people who are allowed access to the information. Not all people need to know all things. The key is “need to know”. In the instance of WHOIS data everyone has the right to know who is behind a particular website. It may be that a website is seditious, pornographic, racial or in other ways criminal or offensive in content. The public, law officials, and other government agency officials need a way to attach ownership to a particular website in order to file complaints or take legal action against the owner of the website. They have a “need to know” the registrant information for that site. It goes without saying that law and other government agencies have the right to access all of the information concerning any website or group of websites they choose to investigate. However, the public should not have access to the data for a website without knowing the domain name for the website. In other words - the way in which the data is obtained is the problem. The public should not be able to obtain registrant information through bulk downloads of a data bank whether it is the WHOIS database or some states list of corporations. If I have an interest in who is behind website XYZ.con, I can search the WHOIS database for the contact information (the data may or may not be complete or accurate). I should not be able to access registrant information for domain names without knowing what the domain name is. I should not be able to accomplish a “blind” data search and obtain a bulk mailing list. The data is not intended to provide “bulk” mailing lists for scams, phishing schemes, and spam. It is a violation of my privacy and the scammers do not have a need to know.

Today, more than ever, there is a fear of identity theft. There are many safeguards used to protect personal information. If you use on-line banking your bank requires a password. If you participate in an on-line auction, your account is password protected. Other databases such as state business license/incorporation data and WHOIS domain name data should be protected to prevent unauthorized use of the data. There is an on-going argument concerning what is public information and the publics “right” to know. In light of the numerous scams that originate via WHOIS data, my belief is that WHOIS data, for one, should be treated as personal privacy information. Access to the information should be on a need to know basis by authorized entities, like law enforcement agencies. An example of a controlled access data system that works for law enforcement is the FBI’s CODIS system. There is no “need to know” for the general public. Another example is the California State Drivers License database. Given a person’s drivers license number I can find out if that person has a valid license. The response from the system is a simple “yes” or “no”. I can not find out where they live or their phone number. An example of a database that is not as well controlled is one states data on state corporations. When the database is first approached it requires that the searcher in-put the name of a corporation. However if an “advanced” search is accomplished, the search can be accomplished to provide the data on all corporations within a specific postal zone. The returned information will be hyperlinks to each corporation’s registration data. This goes far beyond finding out who is behind a particular corporation.

Honest people who provide information when obtaining a business license, registering a domain name, or incorporating are currently being bombarded by scams. However, the scammers provide bad information, including bogus names and incomplete phone numbers, to avoid being tracked. It appears that the scammers know how the game is played."

And sadly, the beat goes on.

I received the same exact letter as the poster below. Total scam. Scammitty scam scam! LOL. Here is the return address that was listed:

processing center 545 eighth ave. suite 401 Ny, Ny 10016 (888)206-5136.

On March 18, 2009 we received a letter from "Domain Name Registration Notice" notifying us that our domain name would be expiring within 45 days and gave the options of 3 terms to renew for (2yrs, 3 yrs or 4 yrs). Asking for checks to be made out to "DOMAIN REGISTRATION". The letter is marked "URGENT" as a large watermark in the center of the page. The return address shows: 545 Eighth Ave., Ste 401, NY, NY 10016 and the phone number is: 1-888-205-8206. This is obviously a scam--we know the name of our domain name vendor--Do not fall for this, we are located in Northern California.

I found that I am a victim of fraud..identity theft..regarding my domain name registration. I am a small business person and because of this scam, I have lost my well-advertised domain name, which has created a multitude of problems. I received a 'Notice' from 'Domain Registration' telling me that my domain name was expiring and payment was due..giving me choices of paying 2,3 or 4 years. I paid the 2yr payment to "Domain Registration", Processing Center,111 NE 1st St 3rd Floor, Miami, FL 33132..check was cashed a few days later..endorsed "Deposit Only (646)205-3289. Calls to this number have gone unanswered. When I found that my domain name was no longer mine and I could not access my website, I called the company who had been handling my account...only to find that someone else had captured my name. I have been unable to retrieve my domain name. Needless to say, I am very angry and am making every attempt to call this to the attention of the BBB, legal avenues and the media. If anyone else has had a similar experience with this company, please let others know. Have you been able to find anything out?
It is disgusting to know that there are people out there...greedy people...who are hurting those honest people who are trying to make a living in these difficult times.
Disgusted in Nevada.

i received same letter and doing research found your comments. just called up the address and this is what comes up.

Bomzer & Bomzer, Llc
545 8th Ave., Ste. 401,
New York, NY 10018
(877) 426-2529
tdb4bnblaw.com

EuKVZl h1! nice site! oxyutelno

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE HEADS UP! I looked up the info (first their name, and then their address) on this "bill" and got to this page. Now we won't get scammed. The "bill" is deceivingly professional, too. We almost fell for it!

Here's some info that was on the "bill":

"Failure to return your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in a loss of your domain name search engine listing."

...

2 year = $199; 3 = $169; and 4 = $199

Apparently, "Registration includes multiple search engine submission at no extra charge" and "Free webhosting included."

Checks are to be payable to: DOMAIN REGISTRATION

Address listed:
Processing Center
545 Eighth Ave. Suite 401
NY, NY 10016
(888) 205-8206

We were also assigned a Customer Number, and there were a couple bar codes (one at the top of the page and another at the bottom) making the "bill" look extra important (EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT!).

Looks like I was a victim. On 11/28/2008, I sent $119.00 to Domain Registration Processing Center,711 NE 1st St 3rd Floor, Miami, FL 33132. I referenced a #83073493997. I received a copy of the cancelled check. It was endorsed "For Deposit Only (646)205-3289." The person handling my domain name cancelled my registered name because he said I did not pay him. I am a real estate business and this is creating problems for me. I would like to see this outfit be accountable for what they have done.
How can I help to stop these people?

i think since this is interstate commerce, it can be reported to the FTC. also report to the Justice Department of the state their address is in.

I stick with yohost.org It has a range of anonymous domain names. It also has the .us anonymous domain name registration.

I forgot to mention the fact that my letter is postmarked from Salt Lake City UT though the address is Processing Center PO Box 4668 New York, New York 10163-4668

We just got one of this in the mail last week at our company and we just filed a complaint with BBB in New York.

Same thing with no company name just make checks Payable to DOMAIN REGISTRATION

Mailing address is Processing Center P O Box 4668 New York New York 10163-4668

Physical address is 545 Eight Ave Suite 401 NY, NY 10018 - (866) 230-2144

How do we stop them?

They sound just too fishy and that got me into researching and found this blog.

I am down here in Alabama and I received the same letter. If it was up to my boss we would have just sent a check but I was skeptical so I started searching for this place. I knew something was up when it had no mention of who was actually sending this to us, but just said mail the check to the processing center. I tried calling the number on the bottom and never could get in touch with anybody. As a matter of fact they only have one person in their entire phone directory. SCAM SCAM

Prior to seeing this forum, I just happened to finish submitting a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully we'll get enough momentum for an investigation... lets shut these guys down!

We just received one as well. No company name, make check payable to DOMAIN REGISTRATION. Any way to shut these guys down?

Yeah, I got one of these this week at my company. On mine they're listed as:

PROCESSING CENTER
545 Eighth Ave
Suite 401
NY, NY 10018
866-230-2144

I always take bills for domain names with more than a grain of salt. It seems like these were the subject of scams from the inception of the internet. Like you all said above, there are numerous references to "search engine" in the body of the document but they try to make it look like an invoice for your domain name. I love the expiration date that only give me two weeks to take advantage of this scam. LOL!

Just got one today - there was no mention of Domain USA on the notice, but I did a search on the phone number listed and found it linked to Domain USA. I tried the phone number and get a repeated message saying that "all customer service representative are currently busy, please continue to hold, or try back later". After a minute of holding the line disconnects.

These guys really piss me off.

Greetings ~ " A courtesy" as the letter says, ya right... We're a NH company that received this letter, so glad I decided to check before sending off the check. A thought occurred to me unless my domain name registration company merged/changed names/or some such activity something was up. Thanks for posting as you saved me $119-bucks! Who do you report a scam like this to?! Again thanks.

We are a Michigan company and have just received the same kind of letter on November 7th 2008.
Below is the middle caption from that letter. I will be holding on to the actual letter if anyone finds a good way to stop this and posts it. The worst part of the SCAM is that you need to mail back the letter to them, now you have no record of where and what you sent . There information is below.
Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.
Make Checks Payable to: DOMAIN REGISTRATION
Recieveing Envelope was from: Processing Center 93 s Jackson St #18895 Seattle WA 98104
Return Envelope was from: Processing Center 111 NE 1st Street 3rd Floor Miami FL 33132
Phone # (312) 260-7936

It has been brought to my attention that several scamming companies are mailing invoices requesting the renewal of domains. They obtain hosting contact information through the publicly accessible WHOIS database, and are sending renewal notices through regular mail in an envelope and on stationary intentionally designed to appear to be an official government notice or invoice. Several of these scam companies have taken the approach to send domain renewal notices by postal mail to domain registrants 90 days prior to the renewal date. However, some people think this is a legitimate renewal notice and pay it. These solicitations are often called "Domain Expiration Notices." They are sent by postal mail hoping accounts payable may provide payment without questioning the fake invoice. The domain is then "hijacked" by this new registrar. By paying them, you are providing authorization to move your domain name to a different registration company. The problem is that to complete the process of moving the domain, confirmation is required from the administrative contact. Since the administrator contact would not authorize the transfer (myself), you would then have the authority to allow this transfer. You could also be faced with losing your domain if the transfer was not confirmed and the domain was not renewed at the current registrar, regardless of having paid the new firm. If you review the offer you will see that it is a solicitation, not an invoice. The manner in which it is presented, however, is intended to cause alarm—"you could lose your domain and your website"—

______________________
Submited by : Descargar Libros

Out side on envelope it has the return address as Processing Center PO Box 4668 #82011 New York, NY 10163-4668 but I still have the outside envelope and it was processed in Salt Lake City UT 841 on the 16th of Oct 2008 PM 1L . Obviously someone out west is behind the shipping out of these letters and who ever picks up everything in Chicago benefits and the address for sending it out to them is Processing Center 500 North Michigan Avenue Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60611 they even include a phone number (312) 260-7936 Sounds like they have been doing this for years and I am surprised they have not found the people and arrested them.

and of course i was frightened that my domains were expiring until i examined the document further. and i deal with this type of stuff daily, so I was surprised they had me fooled so easily. to me the wording appears highly deceptive, so I am eager to see what happens to this company.

one of my friends said his father had a freak out when reading one of these recently, lol

Scam is such an immoral thing to do but, once and for all, I want to clear that not all Payday Loans industries are swindles. There are still other out there, which have good intentions to these poor people and not to take advantage of them. Why do many people are doing this kind of fraudulent act. They keep on taking advantage of poor people just for their own sake. Many have been victim by this swindle doing. So, I think people in the government must act right now to run out this wrongdoing.

Scam is such an immoral thing to do but, once and for all, I want to clear that not all Payday Loans industries are swindles. There are still other out there, which have good intentions to these poor people and not to take advantage of them. Why do many people are doing this kind of fraudulent act. They keep on taking advantage of poor people just for their own sake. Many have been victim by this swindle doing. So, I think people in the government must act right now to run out this wrongdoing.

href="/blog/money_privacy/money_saving_tips/payday_loan_warning_the_personal_money_store_a_scam">
The so-called "Professional Blogging Team" at "The Personal Money Store" is up to some very sneaky tricks. Not only are they involved in predatory loans to poor people, but they are using predatory blogging in an effort to make it look as though they enjoy the support of consumer groups like UCAN.  More.

How do I change the DNS information for my Domain Name?

There is tons of scams and scammers out there. The FTC has warned against some of them. I tried to figure out what to watch out for before building my web sites. My main web site is a real estate site that I use in my home town. Check this site www.buildasitebookmarks.com there are some well written simple tips and suggestions on it that will help you to not get burned in the internet game. Just a reccomendation--those guys who built that site helped me out a log.

Bill recieved, suspicious looking generic envelope with huge red letters stamped URGENT- OPEN IMMEDIATELY. Return address Processing Center PO Box 4668 #82011, New York NY 10163-4668.
Opened to find a generic bill with the beginning underlined text saying "Dear Valued Client..." blah blah blah.. "Must renew Domain Name Search Engine Registration by expiration date or will result in cancellation making it difficult for customers to locate you on the web."
I googled the return address to find it belonged to Davinci Virtual Office (http://www.davincivirtual.com/locations/list.asp?mr=58) listing many office locations. Looks like a company who leases space so you look like you have an office, providing such services as but not limited to address, phone, communications, etc. So obviously it's one of their customers running a scam. (I am picturing Mailbox City!) BEWARE! NEVER PAY A BILL VIA USPS OR ONLINE IF YOU DON'T KNOW AND HAVEN'T USED THE COMPANY!

READING THESE POSTS, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS HAS GONE ON FOR ABOUT A YEAR AT LEAST SINCE THE FIRST POST. dOES THAT MEAN THEY ARE STILL IN BUSINESS??? WHY? HASN'T ANYONE TURNED THEM IN?

Nice! I've bookmarked it http://www.searchallinone.com/Other/TT-459_-_Whatever_Became_of_Hikari_T... :D

They must be targeting churches because we got hit... $87.00 for 5 years of worthless service. It seems this company won't get any fraud punishments either because it just seems legit enough. The wording is just enough and if they provide any service at all that has anything to do with what they say they will escape with all our money.

We should have read it more clearly. We forgive them for any part they've maliciously done to us.

God Bless you all!

It is January 2008 and we just received a bill from our REAL domain name host that our renewal is due. I contacted our Pastor and asked him who it was we had paid in September of 07 and he said the check was made out to Domain USA. I remembered in Sept. that Pastor had given me a bill to look over and he had asked if it was related to our website. I looked over the letter he had received in the mail and it seemed legitimate. So we paid $119.00 to Domain USA on Sept. 5th, 2007. It had the account name and such on it. I should have investigated it further. If there is anything further we can do please e-mail this page.

We were scammed in March, months before the domain name was to expire. We had also turned over site management to another person. Since we had no record of the name registration, we didn't know it wasn't legitimate, and we "reregistered." When the real bill came in, we ignored it since we had already done that, we thought. About two months later, when we tried to do some work on the Website, we found it redirected to some list of site names. That's when we did the search and discovered the scam. Bad as it is to lose money this way, it's even more disturbing to see the name in use. Does anyone know if this means someone else, hoping to skim off some cash, has bought the name (possibly in association with these frauds) or if this is just something he registrar does to keep it active in case the lapse was an error?

Please let me know if there are any legal actions agains Domain Usa Scam

In September, I started helping my church with their technical needs and discovered that the office administer had paid a scam invoice of $169.00 from Domain USA. She mistakenly thought it was for domain registration.

It's disgusting that DomainUSA tries to steal from non-profits.

Thank you for posting this report. I had mailed a check a few days ago and the more we talked about it, I searched Domain USA on the web and saw your report. I called to put a stop payment on our check.

Just received a notice from Domain USA in Charlotte, NC. Notified us that our church domain name was expiring on Sept 5, 2007 when in fact it does not expire till 2011.

Reported them to the fraud investigation branch of the USA Postal Service.

I am a bookkeeper at a church and we received the same domain name registration notice. The pastor didn't seem to be alerted by this letter because it looks very legitimate, but since the correspondence was sent only a week before the "due date" of the expiration, I decided to look up their contact information online since our payment would end up being received after that time. Thanks to Google for bringing me to this website and many thanks to you for the heads up on the scam - was getting ready to send payment!

Our church office received a domain registration letter saying the domain expired on 9/10/07. I take care of the website and domain for the church and thankfully, the church secretary gave me this notice instead of paying it. I pay for the domain and hosting and the domain expires 11/07. The $64 is really a scam and I think probably fall for this.

We are a nonprofit mental health agency in Oregon and also received this "courtesy reminder" today. Thank you for the scam alert.

I received a "Notice" from this company with an account number that was supposed to be me, asking for $64.00 "Before Sept. 10, 2007" Isn't this mail fraud too.

This weekend I received a letter like the one posted to this article for our church web page. Since I was fairly sure that we registered our domain name through our ISP, I checked with them to be sure. As noted above, DomainUSA is a scam, plain and simple.

I just got involved with the financial end of our organization, and had I not been the one who received this letter, it would have been paid without question. It's frightening what people are allowed to do and call it a business.

I, too found this upon doing a search when I was a little susupicious, and when I saw the image I knew I was in the right place.

We were lucky - I happened to have an idea that it wasn't expiring that soon, and the Financial secretary happened to check with me (web person) before paying it.

The Church I work for in Norfolk, VA received this letter. The finance office brought the letter to me because I am the webmaster for the ministry. I tried several times to call and the recording states that all lines are busy and then it hangs up. This happened several times so I decided to put the name in Google's search engine to find out more about this company and see if I could contact them via internet. That is when I found the information on this website. I Thank God that I did take the time to research and the information was here for me to find. It allowed me to make a wise decision to tell the finance department not to pay the bill. I printed the information listed on this site and forwarded to them to justify not paying it. Thanks for the awareness being posted.

Our church also received this scam letter from DomainUSA. Thanks for the warning! Now I hope someone will investigate and prosecute.

I have tried for four days to contact these idiots and give them a piece of my mind. I received the documents shown here MANY times before, but the first time I phoned my ISP and they told me to throw it in the garbage or contact law enforcement. I did. I sent a complaint to the Better Bus Bureau also. I called their Landlord "SmallSpace" @ 304 Park Avenue South, New York New York 10010 & was informed that this DomainUSA only receives mail at this address. I have phoned the 800 # for 4 days and get the generic message which does not put you through to any other number and then the stupid guy who simply tells you to "send your money in". How bogus!!! I also called some of the other tenants in 304 Park Ave South and none of them have heard of this company. I will not stop trying to find these people either. This is fraud, plain and simple. It worries folks to think they have an additional bill and this is just wrong!

We're always looking to help the lovely people of Louisville!
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/hotbytes/viewtopic.php?t=965

I just received a Letter from these people, and thought maybe the previous IT person signed us up for it and wanted to know why they sucked so i tried contacting them ( my form had a number 800 2171826-same as above) But the answering machine one week let me leave a message and the next would just hang up on my after telling me to pay the registration notice before by the due date. Good thing i am just a tad paranoid.

I too received this supposed bill in the mail claiming our domain name was about to expire. I work in accounting for a non-profit organization where money is very tight. The fact that they would pray on such businesses is despicable. Thankfully, I was careful enough to research it online before paying it. Thanks for posting this very helpful information.

I run the website for our church in Tampa FL and the church office just called me saying "Hi. We just received some letter saying our web somthing is about to expire in a week or so. Do we pay this?"

So over the weekend I reviewed our domain name registration info and found out it's still good for several months, so searched today on this company only to find out (thru your HELPFUL site) it's a scam.

Glad to have found your site. THANKS!

... on the way to ftc.gov now :)

Seems like they are targeting mostly churches. Shame on them for trying to take advantage! Their rates have gone up, though... $64 a yr. I was suspicious right away since there was no phone number listed. Lets all pass this on to our neighbors.

I received the letter from Domain USA. I knew immediately that it was a scam. I always throw them in the trash.

I too am a church secretary and had just received an email alert from one of our software support techs, advising us of this "Domain USA" scam. Five minutes later, I open up my mail, and there it is! I'm still new in this job and so I placed a call to the person who handles our website to see if we really had an account with this company (there is an account # and everything at the top of the NOTICE, which seems to make it look legit). Since that person was not in their office, I googled Domain USA, with no luck and then googled the 800 # at the bottom of the page and got this site. Thanks for the extra clarification. Hope somebody shuts these thiefs down.

The company sent an official looking bill that requested payment for our website domain name registry. I paid the bill and then wanted to contact the company but the billing didn't have a phone number. I looked them up on the internet and accessed your site which states this is fraudulent. I want a refund but don't know hot to request it. It is not about the money, it's about the deception. Please let me know what I should do.

This was a scam. I only realized after it was too late. Took my $49.00.
They mention my domain was expiring.
This person needs to be prosecuted.

JM

I am a website designer with many clients. Nearly 25% of my clients have received the scam letter from DomainUSA. If you read the text carefully you will see that it is carefully crafted to give the impression that my client's domain is about to expire.

Closer examination shows that actually the "domain search engine registration" is about to expire.

Two of my clients paid the fees and then discovered they were scammed when I contacted them months later about renewing their domain names.

This is a fraudulent practice and should be prosecuted with criminal action.

We are a church and I'm glad I found this website. What a bunch of crooks!

Rex
Destiny Christian Center
OK

Received a fraudulent request for money from domain usa apparently offering services which they do not actually provide

harry

Our church just received this notice and I was so grateful that this site was the first stop for my Google search. The lack of phone number and website were fairly suspicious.

Since churches seem to be targeted, I'd encourage people to send the news on to churches in your area.

You confirmed my doubt. I had bill in hand and was reading fine print to see what this was really about. I can only imagine how many other people sent in the check.

Jennifer

I am the financial secretary at a church and we received one of these letters, identical to the picture in this blog. At first I thought it was a bill for our domain name registration. Since I pay the bills I knew we had just renewed with our host to continue with their services and registration of the domain name is part of that service. As someone else stated, there was no phone number on the letter. The envelope it came in had a different return address than the self addressed payment envelope and still no number listed. So, I got on line to see if they had a phone number. I just googled domainusa and your site immediately caught my eye. It was about third in the list of matching subjects, but scam jumped out at me. You saved me time and money and we can't thank you enough.

I work for DomainDiscover.com and we are an accredited domain registrar. Over the last week I've spoken with 2 church contacts (one being my dad) and they have also received these notices. This is definitely a scam similar to Domain Registry of America in the past.

I just recieved this same thing for our church Domain and was very suspicious since there was no phone number and decided to try to look up the phone number for them and recieved this information! Thank you all for putting this up here for people to see I am newer to my job and if I wasn't paying any attention I would have made the mistake of sending a check but since it was so close to my due date before it "expired" I wanted to call them guess they won't recieve my money and I pray that everyone who recieves this notice doesn't fall for it and stays alert! God Bless

I work for a small web design company with about 80-100 clients, most of whom we provide web hosting and domain name registration. A few of our clients have apparently gotten this same fake invoice (I've received it at home for my personal homepage but tossed it out immediately), and unfortunately one client did mail them a check for $50, but called shortly after to ask us about it. I explained that it was not legit, but agreed to look into it for her. After searching the web for them, I came across domainnameusa.com, which has a big red notice that they are not the same company and do not send out anything by mail, and says "Domain Name USA" is located at domainnameusa.net. If you go to that site, all you see is: "This site is currently down for maintenance please try later..."

I decided to do a "whois" lookup on that domain and see who it was registered to. If you go to "whois.net" and type in their domain name, you can see that it's registered to "Ron Scott", at some address in Canada. The phone number is listed as 1-800-217-1826. I called and got an answering service that does claim to be "Domain Name USA" and gives some menu options, but no matter what number is input, the system says the user is unavailable and either asks you to leave a voicemail or hangs up on you.

We are a social services agency in Washington, DC. We received a letter for registration also. What caught my attention was that there is no telephone number on the letter. Im glad we didnt use them or reply.

Our church also recently received a notice from Domain Name USA about re-registering our domain name. Being suspicious, since our name should not come up for renewal till summer, we ran a search and immediately found your "scam alert" -- thanks! Since our current website is relatively new and with a new provider, we were not sure what to expect in terms of re-registering the domain name, and in the past we've lost a couple of names due to failure to re-register. So, if it had not been for the time discrepancy and the availablility of your warning, we might have paid this. Guess we should add "Domain USA" to our prayer list! Anyhow, thanks again!

I mistakenly thought this was our real account. I wrote a personal check to cover the charge for our club. I have stopped payment on my check. I want to be sure that they do not get our business.

DomainUSA sent us a letter notifying me that our "business Domain name search engine registration" for www.godskids.org was about to expire. The letter encourages me to act quickly to maintain registration.

It is an obvious ploy to trick us into thinking that by sending DomainUSA money, we are updating our registration for the domain name itself.

Hi - Thank you so much for posting this. Being a small company, every penny we do not spend helps. We are a small retail business in Nevada not a Church and we received one of these letters to renew. The funny thing is that we just renewed our web site about three months ago and it seemed quite odd to be getting a bill for this. So for a half hour or so I searched the web, hoping to find a phone number for these people at Domain Name USA, so that I could call them and find our why they were billing me ... and lo and behold no phone number or listing can be found. Eventually, I found your site and an adequate explanation that proves once again ... that you must know what you are paying for and who you are buying from before you send them money.

Thanks for posting, my church received the same thing

These folks seem to be preying on churches. The one we got was for a domain name that didn't even belong to us. It was for a church with a similar name in another state.

Thanks for posting it so others can see what to avoid.

I have been getting these for years for my domains, and just throw them out.
The ones I have received come from Domain Registry of America
(http://www.droa.com/) so watch out them.

I personally hate these "advertisments posing as invoices"
It says "this is not a bill" in the letter, but can easily be missed
by the surrounding warnings you may lose you domain.

Also, the prices are triple what a domain registration should cost.
$50 for 2 years (25/yr), and 87/5 (17.40/yr)
I get two free with my web hosting package and more are just $5.99 per year.

My Church in Oklahoma received the same letter with the same Account number as it is on your letter. I had a feeling this was a scam. Thank you for posting this online!