Continuing in the series on domain scams is the story of DomainRenewOnline.com.

I recently received the following email from reminder@domainrenewalonline.com:
(click on the thumbnail for full-size image)

It is time to renew your domain name www.——————–

————————–
Your domain name www.——————— will expire within 90 days.
You may renew your domain automatically with Domain Renewal. Click on the link in this
e-mail to renew the domain for another year. You should renew your domain as soon as
possible in order for it to continue to be registered in your name.

Click here if you wish to renew your domain
——–> http://www.domainrenewalonline.com/for.php?d=———————

As soon as we have received your payment, you will receive a confirmation that your domain
has been renewed.

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Services and information about Domain Renewal
Domain Renewal maintains domain addresses, and registers and consults companies in
relation to Internet domain ownership. We inform businesses about which domains are
registered, and remind them if a domain is due to expire, or when it is time to renew a domain.
If you want Domain Renewal to extend the domain for you, we ask you to click on the link in
this e-mail. If you do not wish to use your domain after the due date for renewal, you may
disregard this e-mail. When Domain Renewal extends your domain no information will be
changed in the “Whois” information section. The domain will be extended for 1 year. You will
therefore continue with your current supplier. You may also request your Internet Service
Provider to renew the domain for you. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate
to contact our customer service centre by sending an e-mail to
support@domainrenewalonline.com

My domain name is not registered with DomainRenewalOnline.com and I’ve never heard of the company until now. They try to make it seem as if they are your domain name provider—even writing (in image-embedded text) that they are “Your Domain Name Provider”.

This practice is similar to what Domain Registry of America (DROA) was doing:

DROA is a re-seller of domain name registration services for a company called eNom, Inc. (eNom), an accredited registrar of Internet domain names. It allegedly conducts business by sending mass-marketed direct mail to U.S. consumers, soliciting them to transfer their domain name registrations from their current Internet domain name registrar to eNom. According to the FTC, DROA’s mail solicitations to consumers appear to be renewal notices or invoices from the consumers’ current registrars, advising them that their domain names are about to expire, and requesting payment for “renewal” of the domain name registration….

According to the Commission’s complaint, in marketing its domain name registration services, DROA has violated the FTC Act in several ways. First, it allegedly uses notices/invoices that mislead consumers into thinking that they are renewing their registrations with their current registrar when, instead, they are transferring their registrations to DROA’s registrar, eNom.

Have any readers received a similar email from DomainRenewalOnline.com or similar company?