Friday, February 22, 2013

Don't Be Fooled By Fake DNS Services Bills


Some of our clients have recently received what appear to be bills from purported DNS Services companies.  These bills ask that you pay for what they call Managed DNS Backup Business Services.  If you've received one of these “bills” - DON'T PAY IT.  This is a scam that's designed to dupe you out of your domain name (and a few bucks in the process).

"How did they get my information?" you might ask?  By accessing public records (WHOIS Domain Lookup, for example), these companies make it appear as if they hold proprietary information about you, your company, your domain and your DNS.  They hope that by including this information on the “bill” that you will be compelled to pay them their asking fee (usually around $65).  Do so and you’re likely to lose your domain name (and maybe even your website).

One way to prevent scammers from accessing your WHOIS information is to purchase domain privacy from your registrar (GoDaddy, Network Solutions, etc.).  With domain privacy the registrar substitutes your WHOIS information with the info of a forwarding service, thus removing your information from the visible record.  While this method is not foolproof (some forwarding services will release information with a simple phone request), it is another layer of protection in maintaining your privacy.

If you receive a “bill” for DNS services please read it over closely.  It’s likely that buried in the verbiage is a line stating that it’s a solicitation for services and not a “bill”.  If you still have questions, contact wddonline before you cut a check.  We’re looking out for you and we’ll help to determine the legitimacy of the statement.

Contact wddonline:  
(PH) 330.334.3132
(EM) social@wddonline.com