At least once a year, I get an email or phone call from a client because they’ve received an invoice from a company called Domain Registry of America. The “invoice” notifies the client that their domain is set to expire and they must renew it by completing and returning the “invoice.”

This is a scam that has caused much consternation for many domain owners who made the mistake of falling for it.

If you have a domain through a reputable registrar like GoDaddy.com or Register.com, then you renew it through those companies. If you fall for this scam, you are authorizing DRA to change your domain registry and instead of paying $7-15 a year for your domain, you’ll end up paying about $35 a year. You don’t need an MBA to realize that’s a bad business decision.

Sadly, this scam has been around for quite some time. Back in 2003 the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against the company, and in the complaint, it stated:

The Federal Trade Commission has requested that a federal district court enjoin Domain Registry of America, Inc., an Internet domain name re-seller, from making misrepresentations in the marketing of its domain name registration services and require it to pay redress to consumers.

A simple Google search for “Domain Registry of America” is all it takes to figure out they’re not a reputable business. Instead of ceasing their misleading business practices, they’d rather threaten and sue bloggers who report on their shameful scam.

And if you needed any more convincing — which I sincerely hope you don’t — the Better Business Bureau gave the company an F rating. F as in fail.

If you have questions or concerns about your domain, let us know!

Gary Cope is the SEO and online marketing specialist for Business Bullpen. You can follow Gary on Tumblr or Twitter.