Scam Alert: Transferring your domain

You might not think much about your domain name. Once your domain is registered, and your website is up and running, it becomes an administrative detail you deal with once a year at renewal time. However, your website and its performance rely on many elements, including your choice of domain registrar. Unfortunately, unscrupulous registrar companies care more about profit than your business. They utilize dishonest tactics to drive sales, with some methods categorized as outright scams.

One of the most common scams used by these companies targets unsuspecting businesses when their domain name renewal date is near. They take advantage of people’s lack of knowledge and use your publicly available domain information against you. You might receive an offer to switch your service, cleverly disguised as an invoice for renewal from your current provider. By paying the invoice, you are inadvertently transferring the responsibility of your domain name to the deceitful company, usually at a higher cost.

Leaving your website in the hands of a company you can’t trust is never a good idea. Fortunately, there are ways to safeguard your domain. Always keep record of your domain registrar username and password. For added security, ask about a domain locking feature that will prevent the transfer of your domain name to another company without your permission. Make sure you know your renewal date, and when possible, set up auto-renew, so you have one less thing to think about. Finally, and most importantly, choose an honest company with a good reputation.

GM Web Services provides domain registration services and one point of contact for your hosting and email needs. If you ever receive a questionable invoice regarding your domain name, look for the clue words, “switch” and “transfer”. If you’re unsure, we always encourage our clients to call us for advice before paying any web service invoice you might not recognize.