Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Today I would like to warn you of an old scam with a new twist!
We have over 100 ministries online, and over 300 domains registered. It has been common place over the years for scammers to send emails and snail mails (US Mail) to our hosted ministries telling them their domains are about to expire with an offer to “save money” on a domain renewal. Sometimes their domains did not renew for several months (I received one for a domain I just registered LAST WEEK). The cost for us to register a domain is usually around $10 per year. The cost to save money through these so called special deals runs anywhere from $25-$75 per year if you “act now!”
I have had at least one pastor send money to these scammers. Because of this, I keep the domains with my contact information to protect the ministry from these unscrupulous thieves.
While we were in Maryland in August, one of our hosted ministries brought me a “Domain Name Expiration Notice.” They could renew 1 year for $45. The domain did not expire until December! This particular scammer company is “Internet Domain Name Services (iDNS).” The letter looks official. They are one of the companies that have been running this old scam for a while now.
I thought that this may have been a legacy domain that I had not changed the contact information on. When I looked at the domain name it was a new domain we registered in December for the first time. I went to the contact information and it had my contact information, not the ministry’s contact information. Internet Domain Name Services (iDNS) is taking this old scam to a new level. They are going so far as to go to the ministry’s web page to get the ministry address off the web page, and mailing a renewal to the ministry via US Mail in an attempt to scare the ministry into transferring the domain to the iDNS.
If you own a domain you need to be aware of who your current domain is registered through and make sure you do not fall prey to unscrupulous scammers like iDNS. Scammers seem to continually find new ways to work an old scam to separate us from our money.
Matthew 10:16 – Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
