The 'domain renewal' scam has a long — by the standards of the Internet — and dishonorable history. The way that it works is as follows: shortly before one of your Internet domains is due to expire, you get an email message or a letter that looks like a renewal reminder, or even an invoice. Without thinking too much about it, you click the link and pay the bill. What you didn't notice in your hurry is that the sender wasn't actually your current registrar and by falling into the trap you have, at best, paid over the odds and, at worst, put your domain or your credit card at risk.

Pioneers in this sleazy form of 'slamming' were Domain Registry of America. In 2003, DRoA were barred by the FTC from engaging in this practice. DRoA is still in business, and still periodically sends out unsolicited letters to customers of other registrars, but since the FTC ruling they've been careful to make their letters look not quite so much like invoices.

However, there's a new player in town, and their name is Domain Renewal Online. Here's an excerpt from an unsolicited message we received recently:

Your domain name www.example.com will expire within 90 days.
You may renew your domain automatically with Domain Renewal. Click on the link in this e-mail to renew the domain for another year. You should renew your domain as soon as possible in order for it to continue to be registered in your name ... As soon as we have received your payment, you will receive a confirmation that your domain has been renewed.

The message includes a link that takes you to their website, where you can give your credit card details and hand over $79.95 to 'renew' your domain.

Given that Network Solutions, one of the most expensive registrars, charges $35 to renew a .com domain for a year, and many registrars charge as little as $8 or $9, you could be forgiven for thinking that $79.95 is just a bit on the expensive side. And what do you get for this?

Well, that's not exactly clear. Here's more small print:

Domain Renewal maintains domain addresses, and registers and consults companies in relation to Internet domain ownership. We inform businesses about which domains are registered, and remind them if a domain is due to expire, or when it is time to renew a domain. If you want Domain Renewal to extend the domain for you, we ask you to click on the link in this e-mail. If you do not wish to use your domain after the due date for renewal, you may disregard this e-mail. When Domain Renewal extends your domain no information will be changed in the "Whois" information section. The domain will be extended for 1 year. You will therefore continue with your current supplier. You may also request your Internet Service Provider to renew the domain for you. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our customer service centre by sending an e-mail ...

Seemingly their 'service' consists of letting people know that their domains are about to expire (which your registrar will do for you anyway) and then 'renewing' the domain for you. It's difficult to tell exactly how they go about this. From the fact that they say that you will continue with your current supplier it sounds as if — assuming this isn't an out-and-out scam, and they don't simply charge your card and disappear — they are somehow able to pay your existing registrar on your behalf. For this indispensable service, they then pocket the difference between what you paid them and what they pay the registrar, which could be anything between $35 and $70.

If you visit their website — which is covered with the logos of companies such as Cisco, Oracle, and IBM, apparently in an attempt to imply legitimacy by association — you'll find that they push the service line heavily. If backed into a legal corner, I'm sure they'll argue that they weren't actually trying to defraud anyone, but that they are helpfully notifying people when their domains are about to expire and smoothing over the oh-so-difficult business of renewing them. You can make up your own mind what you want to believe on that point. In the meantime, watch those 'renewal notices' carefully and don't make the mistake of giving any business to a slammer.