Business Scam Alert – Domain Networks Promotes Business Listings Via US Mail While Making it Appear Your Domain Name is Expiring.
HENDERSONVILLE, NC (STL.News) We have seen these renewal notices multiple times that involved our domain names. Still, after some research, we discovered that it appears to be an attempt to sell something disguised as something else for a significant amount of money that will provide minimal benefits to the businesses.
If you own a website, “Domain Networks” will send you an invoice via U.S. Postal Service stating that the bill is for “Marketing Services,” which appears to be a business listing. Still, it seems to be a domain name renewal notice, even listing the domain name, and the business owner panics about renewing the domain but ends up receiving only the business listing.
We have been witness to this sales strategy, and it confuses the business owners, and rightfully so. With the money the company spends, it appears to work. We have a friend who has a restaurant business with five locations, and the same domain name does not expire until April 13, 2024, but they have been flooding the restaurant’s five locations with mail for the same domain name. They are asking $289.00, but the renewal for the domain is through GoDaddy, which expires on April 13, 2024, for $21.99.
Domain Networks discloses in smaller print: “This website listing offer is provided to leading websites throughout the United States to enhance the website exposure and expose them to new customers through our directory. We are not a domain registrar, and we do not Register or Renew Domain Names. The listing is for 12 consecutive months and must be renewed annually if you wish to maintain your Domain listing and keep it active on our online website directory. THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLITCITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.”
Nonetheless, we have experienced many inquiries about these notices, and it appears that they have structured the layout of the “offer” to resemble an invoice for the renewal of your domain name.
We had witnessed business owners paying for this service, not realizing what it was, and when their domain name expired, they did not pay for renewal because they were under the impression that they had already renewed it. At a minimum, they are attempting to take advantage of business owners that do not understand.
The address listed on what appears to be an invoice, but they state that “This is not a bill,” is as follows:
Domain Networks
PO Box 1280
Hendersonville, NC 28793
They list the email as [email protected] and list a phone number as (505) 510-7300, but state, “Do Not Contact: domainnetworks.com.”
Business listings are typically used by SEO consultants hired by businesses to enhance their online presence. This is not the usual marketing strategy for business listings. We encourage Domain Networks to be more transparent with their objective.
If you understand and want a directory listing, that is different, but it does not appear that they are attempting to operate a viable online business directory. We checked with MOZ.com, and they say that the Domain Authority (DA) for Domain Networks is a 14, which is based on a scale from 1 to 100. Not suitable, especially for $289.00 annually. Many online directories cost less and have a significantly higher Domain Authority that will benefit your website significantly more.
Additional Resources:
- WPThemeSpeed.com Article
- YouTube Notice
- TualatinWeb.com Article
- There are more – just Google it.
