Nominet UK Warns of New Internet Invoicing Scam

Nominet Press Release 05/08/04

Following concerns expressed by many of our customers, Nominet UK, the .uk Internet registry, is alerting registrants (domain name holders) to be aware of bogus invoices being distributed by an organisation called "Domain Registry Services."

Registrants have been receiving a 'Notice of Expiration' invoice from Domain Registry Services, which infers that it is the Registry for those domain names.  The notice states that the registrant stands to lose their domain name unless the invoice is settled. The sums being demanded are many times what Nominet would charge a registration agent  (seller of domain names) for registering a .uk domain name.

These false invoices have been issued to owners of  .com and .org domain names in the past, but Nominet UK has recently received information that this scam has spread to .co.uk names as well.

Nominet UK advise all .uk domain holders to be careful when checking correspondence regarding the expiry of their domain names. If you have any doubts about the validity of an invoice, please contact your existing registration agent who will be able to advise you.

Nominet UK is also investigating where this organisation has obtained its lists of .uk information, and is co-operating with trading standards officers to deal with this matter.

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