Is it a scam?

March 25, 2008 by kim.milton.

Today I received what looked like an invoice (Domain Listing Service) for two of my Domain names. Each bill was for $75. I’m not sure how Dlscorp.net found my contact information; my current Registrar has my old address listed. I have a lot of domain names, but the only common factors for these two are that I attempted to transfer to the Registrar where my other names are managed and the attempt failed.

Neither of these sites is developed so I know I never requested any listing service. A matter of fact, the service they offer is a waste of money.

The disclaimer is on the back of the bill. Do you read the back of your bills?

I found a lot of sites calling this a scam and the reason I agree is:

• This document looks like a bill (not a solicitation).
• There is a reference number and notification date.
• Payment information states “remit payment on or before April 18, 2008” (there is nothing stating this is a special that expires so it looks like a bill due date)
• The disclaimer is placed on the back of the advertisement. (The pages are not numbered, but both mailers were folded so that you open to the other side of the form)
• The text formatting on the front of the advertisement is very standard with bold Capitalized headers followed by normal looking text.
• The text on the back of the form:
  • Underlined headers for the first two items with content off to the right
  • The third item has bold header information with bold text off to the right
  • The disclaimer has no header with small bold text for the first line. The second and third lines are on the line directly below it capitalized, bold, and centered.
  • The background has a gradient and the disclaimer is at the faded part of the gradient.

It took me three times reading the document before I saw the disclaimer.

Kim

Posted in Internet Development | 1 Comment »