Well it’s that time of year again; I received yet another letter (snail!) from the ’Domain Registry of America’

For those of you unacquainted they offer a fantastic service where they’ll renew my domain name for one year for the lowly sum of just £18 ($35 USD) – wow – how could I refuse such an offer? IDIOTS

Letter from DROA (Borrowed from here - don't have a scanner!!)

At first glance you’d think the letter was from your current domain registrar or hosting company but this is not the case – it’s spam - and a ‘company’ trying to get you to transfer your domain(s) over to them.

An action that will no doubt mess up your hosting, email and give you a big headache while you scramble to get everything working again. I don’t even have to mention  the money you just wasted on their over-priced “renewal” fees. (they also charge for transfers back to your registrar but, surprisingly, don’t say how much)

In fairness to them it does say in the text “This is not a bill, it is rather an easy means of payment should you decide to switch your domain name registration to the DRoA” – but who reads all the text.

So just be weary if you receive any post asking you to renew your domain name or warning you about a domain name expiring. I’d advise you contact the company you registered the domain name with in the first place and renew that way.

Oh… and always read the small print