Beware of SCAMS targeting website owners.
Over the years I have seen my fair share of scams online. From the domain company sending you a bill, not knowing they will try to transfer your domain and charge you more (Domains of America you know who you are), to the company offering you to become part of a world business database. Two classic examples that may be very costly to the client and a headache for you to fix (if possible).
Example #1: Invoice from Domain Company
Company sends you an invoice asking you to fill out a form and send a check to renew your domain.
This is frustrating as a web designer because you design and hand over a brand new website to your client and expect them to take care of it. Little do they know that their registrar information, if not private, will be purchased by a company that will try to transfer their business from their original registrar/hosting company.
The client doesn’t know any better and I can’t blame them. If I received a letter, that looks like an invoice, from Domains of America telling me my domain is expiring and that in order to avoid this I must renew my domain. I would probably just send a check. After all I don’t want to lose my site.
Thank God for domain locking or else I would have dealt with more of these situations. The best way to avoid this is to talk to your client and let them know about potential scams. Advice them on getting a private registration so that this doesn’t happen. They might know if the scam but their business partner or assistant might not. Hopefully you built a relationship with them and they trust you completely with all their web related accounts.
Example #2: Register with our World Business Directory (updating is free of charge)
This is a new scam to me that I have never received before. The so called World Company Directory sent me an email inviting me to be included in their world business database. The letter reads -
We are compiling data for The World Company Directory. It is our intention to inform other companies about your activities and about the languages spoken in your company or organization. In order to include your company in the database of World Company Directory, just complete and return the form.
Any additional material of your company that may serve to update your profile is very welcome.
It all seemed legit until I kept reading and stopped at the fine print. I especially liked the bold parts -
Your signature is legally binding … The term of the contract is THREE YEARS and commences on the eighth day after signing the contract. … I hereby order a subscription with service provider World Business Directory LTD. I will have an entry into their database for THREE YEARS. The price per year is EUR 980. The subscription will be automatically renewed every year for another year, unless the service provider or the subscriber receive specific written notice two months before the subscription expires. …
Wow, talk about a scam. 980 Euros is $1367.30 US dollars ($1.3952 dollar to EUR). Oh did I mention the form says that updating is free or charge? You can update your listing as many times as you like after paying them $1367.
Just to let you know. There is no such thing as a world business database. The closest you can get to that is Google. This company is promoting “The World Company Directory”, in other words their website.
Example #3: Paypal Identity Risk
Paypal will never send you account information warning you about your account being suspended. If they do they will ask you to log in and change your settings on the website. They will never provide a link to their page. Please warn customers of this email.
Dear valued PayPal member:
Identity protection matters. And PayPal works day and night to help keep your identity safe. That’s why it has come to our attention that your PayPal account information needs to be updated as part of our continuing commitment to protect your account and to reduce the instance of fraud on our website. If you could take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service.
However, failure to update your records will result in account suspension.
Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.
To login to your PayPal account and update your records click on the following link:http://paypal.com…… (looks legit but looking closer it reveals a link to a different site with similar paypal interface)
Thank You for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
Informing your clients of such scams
After finishing and briefing a client on a project, let them know about potential scams and problems that may arise. If you have a blog or email subscription list that your clients are a part of - email them when one of these scams comes up. They tend to pop up in spurts. It will save you a headache and give them peace of mind. You never know, you might get additional projects or client referrals from them if they can trust you.
What scams do you see most often? Please feel free to include them or just comment below.
In request to user inquiries, here is information on reporting such scams:
- Report scams to FBI and FTC by sending complaint to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center - http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
- To file other types of complaints and in other countries, visit the Consumer Fraud Reporting website for further information - http://www. ConsumerFraudReporting.org
According to the StopECG.org I found the following information:
To Pay Or Not To Pay
For legal reasons StopECG cannot issue advice either generally or to individuals on the issue of whether you should part with money based on the document you have signed. All we can do is appraise you of the situation as it stands and allow you to make up your own mind. We hope the notes below are of assistance.World Business Directory has companies on its books who have, or are disputing the validity of its contracts.
The debt collection agency used by the sister companies appears to no other function than to bully people in dispute with these companies. Threats of legal action have not been followed up and to date we have no evidence that anyone has been taken to court for refusal to pay.
Based on past rulings against similar documents this contract would almost certainly fail to stand up in a court, however you must accept that as this exact document has not been challenged yet there is a small risk involved with refusal to pay.
While there is no assurance that the process will be painless, other companies have also filed complaints against this company.
To read more check out http://stopecg.org/world_business_directory.htm#advice.
Leslie Cummings
Gary Wright
