Domain Slamming - Beware

August 1st, 2008

If you own a website domain and are not aware of the phrase “domain slamming”, you should be. Domain slamming is a common practice where a registrar (or possibly a domain reseller) sends a misleading renewal notice to a domain’s owner in an attempt to get them to transfer their domain away from their current registrar to the domain slammer.  Usually if you read the fine print in letters or emails that are received, they clearly state that by paying the requested fee, your domain will be transferred.  The problem is that many domain owners do not know who their real registrar is and get tricked into paying the renewal/transfer fee for fear that their domain is about to expire.

Domain Registry of America (DROA.com) and Liberty Names of America (LNOA.com) are well known for this practice and regularly sends official looking renewal notices to unsuspecting owners. Their methods, while unethical, are not illegal since their correspondence clearly states that the domain will be transferred if the fee is paid. The issue is that the domain owner is usually unaware of the pending transfer until after the fact and will typically pay a higher fee for the renewal than they would have through their original registrar.

There are several things you can do to minimize your exposure to scams such as this:

  • Know who your current domain registrar is or who controls your domains on your behalf.
  • Be cautious of any letter or email asking you to pay fees related to your domain name. Any reputable hosting company will administer and automatically renew your domains for you and any correspondence about your domains will come from them.
  • Know your domain renewal dates. Put your domain renewal dates in a computer based calendar that will automatically notify you a minimum of 30 days prior to the renewal date. Even if your domain was initially registered for multiple years, the annual renewal date is a good time to verify that no unauthorized changes have occurred with your domain.
  • Immediately update the contact information on your domains, especially your email address, as soon as it changes.

As a final note, variations of this scam have also been used to transfer ownership of domains away from the current owner.  Remember, it is much easier (and cheaper) to maintain your current domain registrations than it is to try to get the registration back once it has been lost. Even if the information you receive looks credible and appears to be on the up and up, it is always better to be safe than sorry by verifying that the requestor is in fact working on your behalf and has your best interest at hand.

Information about the Federal Trade Commission’s actions against companies such as Domain Registry of America can be viewed on the Commission’s website at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/12/domainreg.shtm

Domain Registration Services

July 9th, 2008

First Capital Web Services now offers direct access to domain name registrations on our new First Capital Domains website. Domain name registrations start at only $14.95 per year for all .com, .org, .net, .us, .info and .biz top level domains (TLDs). First Capital Domains also provides registration services for more than 50 additional TLDs for specific website needs or for use on international sites.

Our new First Capital Domains website allows users to search for domain name availability and see if additional TLDs for the name searched are also available. Recommendations for possible alternate names are also provided with each search.

All purchases from First Capital Domains include access to your very own domain control panel where you can monitor and configure all of  your domain registrations and DNS settings in one easy to use location. If you would rather have us administer your domains for you, we would be glad to do that at no additional charge.

First Capital Domains - TLDs

Welcome to WebTalk

July 9th, 2008

Welcome to our new WebTalk discussion blog. WebTalk is provided as a way to keep our customers up to date on the latest products and services offered by First Capital Web Services. In this area of our website we will post information about new services, changes to our existing services and general information to help our clients understand what is available and possible on the web.

Suggestions for future WebTalk posts should be emailed to webtalk@firstcapitalwebservices.com.