Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    699

    Domain Registry of Canada (DROC) Scam Warning

    Today I recieved a letter in the mail stating that it was from "Domain Registry of Canada". At first, I thought it was something to do with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority but after doing a quick Google search I found out its not. In fact, it's a "registrar" and not a "registry". The other flag was that it was for a .com and not a .ca domain name.

    The letter asks for your credit card information or a check and provides an envelope so you can mail it back and they will (supposedly) renew your domain name. Except, I don't know how they are renewing my domain name when it's not even registered with them and they would need a EPP code to transfer it. The costs are $40 for one year, $70 for 2 years and $140 (CDN) for 3 years (which is outrageous). It also provides a website and toll free phone number you can use to renew it there.

    My mistake was that I didn't get WHOIS privacy protection for this domain name because I didn't want this domain name in the first place and I want to get rid of it. I've since added WHOIS protection to it, but I'm afraid that won't help as DROC already has my information. I don't want to contact DROC either because they will ask for my information and then they will keep sending stuff because they know I actually exist.

    It looks like this is going to be the first of many letters they will send me so I have filed a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and I am considering further legal action. I'm also thinking of contacting the Liberal Party of Canada because DROC uses the same logo as them just its flipped horizontally. The good thing is that DROC is located in Canada as well so I'm not dealing with foreign laws. On the other hand however, they haven't stolen anything from me except my contact information. They already have the lowest rating you can get from the BBB (an F). There seems to be another branch of this kind of operation in the USA where they operate as Domain Registry of America (DROA) and they send letters like this asking for money. I have included a picture of the letter they sent asking for money and also the envelope it came in.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails droc.png   droc-envelope.jpg  
    Last edited by LittleApps-Nick; 04-03-2014 at 07:56 PM.
    Little Apps
    Open Source Software

  2. #2
    We have been getting those for years. My garbage collector does something with them, I know not what!
    -----------------------------------
    AmeriWeb Hosting
    One Stop Business Solutions
    AmeriWeb Hosting

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    /roof/ledge
    Posts
    28,090
    Quote Originally Posted by CBH-Nick View Post
    The letter asks for your credit card information or a check and provides an envelope so you can mail it back and they will (supposedly) renew your domain name.
    It states clearly right at the top "when you switch today to the DROC...".
    That's the main loophole that allows them to send these. Originally, the DROA (American version; there are several) was sending what looked like invoices with no disclaimers. They got into trouble, and now though it looks like an invoice (and fools many) the wording makes it clear it's not an invoice nor a renewal but a transfer/solicitation.
    Quote Originally Posted by robertk1 View Post
    We have been getting those for years.
    Definitely. Months in advance, for every domain with public whois we manage. If it came with postage, I'd shred them and send them back...
    Your one stop shop for decentralization

  4. #4
    We have no end to the number of customers who are deceived by this company and their scam.

    The customer doesn't usually find out about it until they are contacted by the company asking them to disable the domain-lock status and provide the EPP key. Then sometimes they (our customer) will contact us to get that info, and we'll ask them where they are transferring their domain to, and they (the customer) is surprised because they think they're just renewing...

    Companies like this should be shut down. It's very very obvious they are violating the principle of good faith. Unfortunately, it's not possible to easily legislate immoral behavior.
    We are eNom PLATINUM PLUS resellers!
    Sign up today for an eNom.com reseller account with lowest possible pricing.
    * We provide support and service to over 4275 happy eNom domain name and SSL certificate resellers!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    US
    Posts
    76
    I received the same letter 6-7 years ago and it quickly went into the trash.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    699
    Quote Originally Posted by mrzippy View Post
    We have no end to the number of customers who are deceived by this company and their scam.

    The customer doesn't usually find out about it until they are contacted by the company asking them to disable the domain-lock status and provide the EPP key. Then sometimes they (our customer) will contact us to get that info, and we'll ask them where they are transferring their domain to, and they (the customer) is surprised because they think they're just renewing...

    Companies like this should be shut down. It's very very obvious they are violating the principle of good faith. Unfortunately, it's not possible to easily legislate immoral behavior.
    Yep. It's sad to see how companies like this are staying in business by profiting off of people that don't know better and by unlawfully taking peoples personal information. The government doesn't help either by just telling them "just do this instead and then we won't bother you anymore".
    Little Apps
    Open Source Software

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by mrzippy View Post
    We have no end to the number of customers who are deceived by this company and their scam.
    That I think is another noticeable part of the issue. Customers are not properly educated about the basics of the features they are using. Its a combination of lack of user-friendly sources and underestimation of the value of this knowledge. This scam is really one of the oldest in the book so how does it still fool such a number of people is beyond me. There are two simple things that a user needs to know so they can avoid confusions:

    - Notifications for domain renewals, such as for many online services, are NEVER sent via physical mail
    - Keeping track of your hosting/domain registrars would immediately ring a bell (i.e."I registered my domain with GoDaddy and Domain Registry of What-Now wants me to renew it? Yeah, sure, nice try *slam dunks mail into bin*)

    There are a few forums that have stickies with the most common scam emails for their users and you can easily google the text of the (e)mail to see if someone else shared it in any database/blog/forum
    www.WebHostFace.com where Service always comes with a smiling face!
    Contact us for Shared, VPS, Reseller and Dedicated Hosting Solutions.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-30-2011, 10:27 AM
  2. Canada Domain registry
    By LM-AndrewS in forum Domain Names
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-26-2010, 08:38 PM
  3. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 06-29-2008, 01:34 AM
  4. Domain Registry of Canada/American sam
    By Evolver in forum Domain Names
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-21-2008, 09:46 PM
  5. Domain Registry of America Scam, what to do?
    By ajiabs in forum Running a Web Hosting Business
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 04-13-2004, 02:39 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •