Hi there, today I want to write to you regarding a company called “US Domain Authority” and the pretend invoices that they send out in the mail.
Just this morning, I had a client who received one of these pretend invoices in the mail who messaged me to ask, “is this something I’m supposed to pay?”
Here is the answer:
- You DO NOT have to pay “Domain Authority” anything. Not one red cent.
- Paying them almost $300 will definitely NOT renew your domain name.
- If you think that you really should renew your domain name, simply do that with wherever you registered your domain name with in the first place (probably with someone like GoDaddy or similar).
Did you get a letter from “US Domain Authority” that looks like a bill for $289 for an “Annual Website Domain Listing?
If you received one of these in the mail, and you are wondering if you need to pay it, YOU DON’T. It is a sneaky solicitation, NOT a real bill. So do NOT pay it.
Is US Domain Authority Legitimate?
These letters are NOT real bills. They are actually solicitations from “US Domain Authority” to be listed on their directory website, usdomainauthority.com. These fake invoices can trick unsuspecting recipients into paying a bill that is not real. It just looks real. But it’s not. For instance, if the person who pays the bills is not paying attention or does not know they are looking at a fake invoice, they could very easily pay it by mistake.What Is US Domain Authority?
In reality, the “US Domain Authority” is not a domain name registrar at all. Go figure. Rather, they are a directory service, similar to something like YP.com, MerchantCircle.com and others where they display your business information. In case you are wondering, a directory is an online listing of business information. The listing will provide information about the business such as the name, address, phone number, associations, services, products, etc.Beware of Scam Domain Listing Invoices
The real kicker with these fake invoices (at least with the one that my client was asking me about this morning) is that they do in fact state on the front “we are not a domain registrar and we do not register or renew domain names…” and they go on to also say “This is not a bill. This is a solicitation…” So technically they warned you. Even though it is not obvious that it is not a bill.Here Is What You Should Do When You Receive a Fake Bill From “US Domain Authority:”
- Do not pay it.
- Throw it away.
- Pretend like it never even existed.
- Move on with your day.