Domain Slamming: How to Avoid Being Scammed

Many of our customers come to us with questions about receiving strange messages from third party sources inquiring about buying, selling, or listing our customers’ domain names. These messages are either received via email, phone, contact forms on your site or even through snail mail. This is a common scam and we want to warn you–our customer–about this type of situation, so you can rest assured that your domain name and business are safe and untouched by scammers.

These third-party sources are fake domain name registrars that attempt to trick you–the owner of the domain–into paying them money and switch to their false registrar or company. This is referred to as “domain slamming” and making one mistake with this scam could cost you your website.

Oftentimes, these false domain name registrars try to deceive you by pretending they are with your current registrar, for example, Go Daddy, and wish to collect money from you for their fictitious services. Another way these erroneous companies trick you is by contacting you under the pretense of a random stranger that is interested in buying your domain.

The most important thing to do is never offer up your credit card information to an unknown source over the phone and never respond or click on any links in a suspicious email (it could contain harmful malware or viruses). Know exactly who your domain host is and if anyone calls regarding your domain from any other company who isn’t, for example, Go Daddy, it is most likely a scam.

To be sure that your domain is safe, log in to your account on Go Daddy, or whichever domain host you have, and check if your URL is currently active and running. If it is, then whoever is contacting you is a scammer.

If you are unsure about how to check on your domain, give us a call and we will gladly help you with any questions or concerns regarding suspicious domain name registrars. 503-384-2413