ClassCreator.com | Blockbuster sites, amazing reunions

Share Tips

New Topic Reply Subscription Options  

ALERT: Bogus Scam on Domain Name Registration

Forums: General Discussion
Created on: 03/31/11 10:15 AM Views: 3832 Replies: 17
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Admins beware! I just received an email indicating our domain name, FHHS79.COM, was due to expire on April 15, 2011, and to pay $75 to extend it one year.

Attention Brad/ClassCreator: URGENT! There DOES appear to be a confidentiality breach somewhere however. Not only do they have my email address, they also printed my home address and phone number on this solicitation (I deleted my personal info in the copy below). PLEASE help me discover where this breach occurred so I can close it down!!!Shocked

NOTE: This email does NOT appear to come from my domain name registrar, ClassNames.net. In fact, it does not list any company name. The "Reply To" address is "Expiring Registration [andrasburgess@wichitalawnservice.com]". I've copy/pasted the message here:

Quote:

This is a solicitation. Domain Registration Services is not a domain name registrar and does not provide URL registrations, web hosting or email services. Domain Registration Services is a search engine ranking and submission service firm.
Attention: Important Notice

Domain Name: FHHS79.COM

Bill To: Ft Hunt HS Class of 1979 Alumni       Invoice #   1301573514
   Invoice Date   Mar 31, 2011
   Terms   Net 15
   Due Date   Apr 15, 2011
   P.O. #   
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT
Domain Name   Registration   Price   Term
FHHS79.COM   Mar 31, 2011 - Mar 31, 2012   $75.00   1 Year
Attn Ft Hunt HS Class of 1979 Alumni

This letter is to inform you that it's time to send in your search engine registration for FHHS79.COM.

Failure to complete your search engine registration by Apr 15, 2011 may result in the cancellation of this offer (making it difficult for your customers to locate you using search engines on the web).

Your registration includes search engine submission for FHHS79.COM for 1 year. You are under no obligation to pay the amount stated above unless you accept this offer by Apr 15, 2011. This notice is not an invoice. It is a courtesy reminder to register FHHS79.COM for search engine listing so that your customers can locate you on the web.

This Offer for FHHS79.COM will expire on Apr 15, 2011. Act today!

For Domain Name:
FHHS79.COM
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT

Terry

Reply
Edited 03/31/11 10:16 AM
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 10:40 AM - Response #1

Terry,

This is a scam, but that information is publicly available.

http://www.enom.com/whois/

Then type in your domain name (or anyone's domain name) and it will show who owns the domain. The domain registry companies allow people to pay more to have their information private, but that option is more money and most people are unaware of that option.


Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:34 AM - Response #2

I went to whois.net and entered your domain name. You are listed as the domain registrant contact and I'd bet that what I (and the world see is your home address. We got around this by purchasing a PO Box and using that as the address of our registrant. I believe that either you or perhaps ClassCreator.net can help you change the address - you might possibly be able to use the school address if the school is ok with that.

The first couple of lines pretty clearly indicate that this company is not a domain registrar but one of those (scam) search engine optimization (SEO) companies (actually all of those companies are scams). The problem is their invoice reads like it is.

I'm not employed by ClassCreator.com but I'm sure there's not a breach in their site security.

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:41 AM - Response #3

Thanks Kyle and Joe. I would suggest that A) this is more than just a scam; it is fraudulent "phishing" for funds and private financial information, such as credit card info and passwords, etc., and B) as such it warrants a high level of concern expressed through massive campaigns to educate unsuspecting consumers. All participants in e-commerce should have an obligation for clearly stating these precautions and what to do if you become a victim (how to expand the email header, for example, and forward the fraud to the appropriate agencies for investigation and legal action. More importantly, however, is knowing about WHOIS and providing the steps to avoid becoming a victim).

I hope ClassCreator and ClassNames.net are doing everything reasonably possible to educate and warn those of us registering our private information through it's services (and I'm not talking about those buried links to privacy statements we see everywhere that take you to a long litany of legal mumbo-jumbo!)Wink.

Meanwhile, I have forwarded my email to phishing-report@us-cert.gov and will follow up with ICANN to "pay" for my privacy in the WHOIS database. Thank you for the info.

Terry

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:56 AM - Response #4

When you register and renew your domain name, you need to pay an extra $8 a year to protect your id in the whois database. The scammers can't get your personal info.
Everyone should do that.


Kyle Erickson wrote:

Terry,

This is a scam, but that information is publicly available.

http://www.enom.com/whois/

Then type in your domain name (or anyone's domain name) and it will show who owns the domain. The domain registry companies allow people to pay more to have their information private, but that option is more money and most people are unaware of that option.

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:58 AM - Response #5

Thanks Terry for the head's up. If there is a way to pull a scam, someone will always try. This one is disgusting.

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 12:08 PM - Response #6

Scammers area everywhere. You must protect your identity at all times. Maybe CC should alert people on sign-up, if you get a domain name please buy the whois security to protect your identity. It's cheap and saves you a lot of grief.
Wink

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 12:34 PM - Response #7

Some registrars offer free anonymous protection or for much less. You do not have to use classnames.net Here's one

It's not that big a deal though. I'm "naked" for another domain name, but my name and address is readily available elsewhere. Plus it's part of the learning to recognize flim-flam emails. The money ones from Nigeria seems to have toned down. Although I enjoyed reading themVery Happy

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 1:19 PM - Response #8

We do send out several Domain Scam reminders each year to any admin who owns a domain. We also note the scams in our FAQs.

It is unfortunate these companies choose to run their businesses in this deceiving fashion. We do report them, however, as long as they include statements like "this is not an invoice" or "you are under no obligation" like they did in the notice above they are somehow able to keep this practice going. Be weary of any email or mail notice regarding your domain that does not come from the domain provider that you registered your domain with:

Jessica
Class Creator Support


Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 1:43 PM - Response #9

Thanks to everyone for your feedback.Smile It's been some time since I registered our domain name, but having just looked again at the ClassNames.net website, I'm pleased to see that ID Protect is the first service listed in the upper left area on the home page, which does link to a brief description of the WHOIS visibility issue. Personally, $8 annually is a hefty fee for a service that amounts to a "flip of a switch". Thanks to Jack for the link to NameCheap's WhoIsGuard, but turns out it is not actually free and they offer no information upfront about whether the domain name must be transferred to them (for another fee) in order to provide this service. In fact, they want me to provide my info to create an account beforehand - potentially increasing the accessibility of my personal contact information on the Internet.

A P.O. Box rental runs into a lot of money at $24/annually. Our school building was repurposed, so that address is unavailable. My next idea is to query a fellow classmate about using their business address or existing P.O. Box.

I honestly feel that individual consumers should not have to jump through so many hoops and expenses to acquire some basic rights to privacy.

I'm a bit surprised by the lack of concern from several admins here about the fraudulent aspects of phishing. Perhaps our data is so "easy" to find because we, as a society, don't put enough importance or effort into requiring better safeguarding of individuals' personal information from e-businesses, or our legislators. I want to be clear, however, that I do appreciate and consider ClassCreator to be among the more caring and reputable for-profit businesses on the 'net today.Very Happy

I will continue to share with the group any further discoveries/options/ideas if I learn of anything more.

Thanks everyone!

Best regards,
Terry

Reply
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 2:27 PM - Response #10

namecheap is just a registrar. I use them and yes, there's going to be a fee if they become your registrar (see pricing page $8.98 ). That's pretty much standard and extends name for 1 year with whoisguard for free. It also requires a bit more knowledge on your part, but there's a thread here that explains how to do this somewhere. Not hard.

IOW, the whois guard is free if they are your registrar. As a separate service, it costs, but not much. I'm inferring from the info that one can buy it for 2.88/yr since they note that this is a 2.88 value if they are also your registrar (I never got into that since they handle the name too.)

The problem with all this stuff is the huge amount of background knowledge that is not well explained for beginners. So I agree at first it is a bit overwhelming.

As for entering your info - no different than any other site where your personal information is entered for payment. There has to be some trust, the same trust you extended to CC or any other online site one buys from.

CC provides a more painless way to do all of this, but there's a priceWink

--------------
I think phishing is bad because they prey on users with less experience. For me personally, don't care. Rules are simple: Does the email want money? Do they promise you something for free? Does it appeal to greed?

You can make a game out of some of them. I know someone that sends them over the African continent chasing fake money orders that he's paying them with.

Reply
Edited 03/31/11 2:28 PM
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 9:46 AM - Response #11

OK! I'm confused.

We paid for the 10 year subscription from here. I do believe at that time we paid for the domain name that you recommended or was that to you as well.

I received an email similar to that or in fact that letter, I will have to look it up.

I'm not the one that takes care of the financial side of things so I put it aside to run it past the person that pays
the bills.

My first question is there somewhere we are to go to and pay or are we covered somehow?

Next, I did notice something curious a while back and I questioned it with Brad. Somewhere along the line, another students name came at the top of my emails from here. Brad said to disregard it because he checked it out and seems to have nothing to do with things.

But, things like this make me nervous. This person has never been an administrator on here and how did it get on there. It has my email below it!

It has her name in large letters then to: and my email address.

This is not on this subject but, Is there a TUTOR on here that is giving web broadcast on how to use the website? It seems he works with Class Creator too as well as does his own schools website.

Please advise!

Norma

Reply
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 3:23 PM - Response #12

Hi Norma,

Your domain is valid through 2/14/2012. I had the http://www.classnames.net email the user name and password to the individual who registered the domain. Looks like that might be one of your other admins.

The tutor you mention is John Chidester, who is a fellow admin for several class sites as well as a man who started a related service for assisting admins who need additional resources to their site completed if they are short on time and/or resources. His site is called http://www.reunionwebcoach.com/

Jessica
Class Creator Support


Reply
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 4:19 PM - Response #13

Thanks, Jessica...

Not sure whether it's appropriate under a topic that starts off with "Bogus Scam..." but they say all publicity is good. EmbarassedEmbarassedEmbarassed

Reply
Monday, April 4, 2011 at 3:58 PM - Response #14

We received the same letter. I appreciate all the input.

Reply
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 12:22 AM - Response #15

Thank you Jessica. I missed the reply somehow.

Yes, I'm sure you sent it to the Class President and his wife you sent that too. They take care of the finances. I'll double check for sure.

John, I'm sorry about causing you any embarracement. It was not my intent. I did prerequist the question with "Not on the same subject" But, I met your ad with interest.

If anything, you were validated! Now I'm embarraraced for asking Razz Exclamation Shocked

Is there a fee for your live chats?

Thank you all!
Norma

Reply
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 1:14 AM - Response #16

Norma Baron wrote:

Is there a fee for your live chats?

Not at all, Norma. You must be registered at the ReunionWebCoach.com site -- just as those who might participate in a Live Chat at your site would need to be registered. No registration cost, no hidden costs.

Next Live Chat this Monday @ 7:00 PM Eastern Time. "Knowledge Pot Luck"; bring your own best tips to share and your own container to take home the best ones you pick up from others.

Reply
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 3:43 AM - Response #17

Thank you!

Reply
New Topic Reply  
Subscription Options: Have all new forum posts sent directly to your email.
Subscription options are available after you log in.