Today I received a letter via postal mail from this company. The letter tells me that a couple of my domains are about to expire and the letter gives me the information to renew my domain through this company. There's a few isssues though.
First, the company mailed the letter to my person address. I only recently posted the personal address on the WHOIS database. Therefore, the ONLY way this company could have contacted me was by collecting my information via a WHOIS query. Per ICANN, the use of the WHOIS database for commercial solicitations is a violation of their policy.
Next is the fact that they are NOT an accredited registrar. A list of ICANN accredited registrars can be found here:
It appears that the company is nothing more than a reseller. They are going through a domain registrar and hosting company called NameJuice (AKA Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc). Now, Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc is an accredited registrar. For those not familiar with domain reselling, you might be familiar with companies such as Wild West Domains (part of GoDaddy) or eNom. As you may know, you can have a reseller account through those companies and resell domains and various services. That is exactly what Domain Renewal Group is doing.
I have emailed ICANN and requested information on how to file an official complaint against Domain Renewal Group. I checked the BBB and the company has an F rating. No surprise there. I will be filing a complaint with the FTC, New York Attorney General's Office, as well as contacting Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc.
The address "looks" legit, however, the physical address listed is not their actual location. If you go to whitepages.com and reverse trace that address you will see that the address belongs to a MailBoxes, Etc.
I would stay away from this company like the plague.
Nicholas
Morgan City, Louisiana
U.S.A.
0 comments