Have you recieved anything that looks like this in the mail?
If you receive a “Domain Name Expiration Notice” letter from Domain Registry of America (DRoA) stating that you domain is about to expire and that you need to renew your domain registration, please do not respond to the letter.
What the DROA does is search through WHOIS records, and look for domains which are about to expire. They then proceed to send postal mail with a letter written to look like an invoice or bill. A recipient who is unfamiliar with how to manage their domain registration may very well be deceived into transferring their domain to DRoA at which point, it can be very difficult to transfer away from DRoA.
This is a fairly well know deception, and the FTC has already received complaints about the DRoA practices:
According to the Commission’s complaint, in marketing its domain name registration services, DROA has violated the FTC Act in several ways. First, it allegedly uses notices/invoices that mislead consumers into thinking that they are renewing their registrations with their current registrar when, instead, they are transferring their registrations to DROA’s registrar, eNom. DROA also allegedly fails to disclose to consumers that it charges a $4.50 processing fee for any transfer requests that are not completed, even when the failure occurs without any fault of the consumers. The FTC also contends that DROA fails to issue promised refunds in a timely manner, in violation of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), sometimes delaying refunds for months.
Just be aware of these facts if receive a letter from DRoA, and if you have any questions about the management of you domain registration, you can contact us for clarification.
