One question I'm asked frequently is about renewing domain names. This is a service I provide my clients, but it doesn't keep malicious companies from trying to get their business. A popular one sent by snail mail (postal mail) is from Domain Registry of America. I hesitate to call it a scam because I've never tried to use them and they may very well be a legitimate business, but their letters are very deceptive and I warn everyone to stay away from them. There have been numerous complaints to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), but unfortunately the DRoA is still in business.

Domain Registry of America sends out letters to people stating their domain name is due to expire, sometimes as far in advance as 5-6 months of the actual expiration date. They state you need to renew your domain name right away, with a "reply requested by" date far in advance of when you actually need to renew. They're renewal prices are outrageously high, 2-3 times the standard renewal rates from more legitimate registrars. For example, the latest request they sent me arrived yesterday, quoting $30/year to renew my .com name, when checking out GoDaddy.com's .com registration rates today are $10.69/year. Domain Registry of America can quote considerably higher rates, I've heard some people writing a check for $300 or more. Don't be fooled.

The letters from Domain Registry of America often imply urgency is required, to keep your website alive you have to send them money now. That's not typically true. Read carefully, and then check with your webmaster to verify when your domain name needs to be renewed, and which registrar they recommend using. I'm willing to bet your webmaster will not recommend Domain Registry of America.

It looks like the same people who run DRoA also run Domain Registry of Canada, of Europe and of Australia. To read more about the DRoA, you can check out this blog post: http://blog.forret.com/2004/12/domain-registry-of-america-scam/