Related Podcast Link: Listen to Episode 123!

Have you ever gotten one of those letters in the mail from places like the Domain Registry of America? They are nice enough to send you a letter to let you know your domain name is unprotected, about to expire, is going to die a horrible horrible death – but they will save you. They will renew your domain name for you as long as you send them that check back in the mail.

Now many of us know to toss out this crap, because all it is – is an advertisement. Other folks though I am sorry to say are still falling for it hook, line and sinker. Now it isn’t the user’s fault. Nobody told them they would have to watch out for these types of scams. The name for this practice is domain slamming – and it is something everybody needs to be aware of.

In a way you could think of it as a form of domain name hijacking. Instead of hijacking the domain name and taking control of it, they just take over the registration of the domain. They make it sound like if you don’t reply you are going to lose your domain name. This is not true. If you respond back to them, you are making them your new domain name register. Your giving them your permission to switch over.

So we have now covered what will be lost. Now I bet you are wondering, how do they get your information? They can get everything they want about your domain from our good old friend, the WHOIS domain name database. That information if free for the public to browse, and has your name, home address, phone number and more. One more good reason to get privacy protection put on your domain name.

Here are some more links to help learn more about domain slamming.

• Wikipedia: Scams in Intellectual Property
• EasyDNS: Domain Registry of America Scam Letter
• Ask MetaFilter: Who Will Stop DRoA?

Slamming first started with the phone carriers. You would be with company A, then company B would tell you how much better their service is (sell it to you) and then ask you if you would like to switch over. Domain slamming is the same shell game – just played with different shells.