Domain Name Scam

A friend, and MD of a Executive Search company, called me up to ask my advice on what she thought sounded like a domain name scam.   

She'd been called by a domain registration company saying that another recruitment firm had contacted them to register seven extensions (ie, .org.uk, me.uk and .biz) of a domain name already held by her.  The company said that they were calling her out of courtesy to see whether she'd like to buy the domain names, otherwise they would sell them to the other party.

The cost to buy all seven domains was around £200 and she had until 5.30pm to decide.

The scam is that there isn't a competitor company after the domains.  These scammers must put out hundreds of calls each day hoping to scare people into buying domains they didn't want and don't need.  Even if she did decide that she wanted them all she could have bought them for around £100 less than she was quoted.

The upshot is that she decided to buy the .eu version (which I don't think she was aware of) via a reputable domain registration company. 

If you are approached like this:

• Do not be panicked into making a hasty decision.
• Ask for the company's full contact details so you can report them
• Think about whether you really need to buy the domains in question (do you REALLY need all 9 versions of your domain name?)
• Look on the web to see what price you could/should be paying for the domains (I use sites like easily.co.uk and www.telivo.com)