UPDATE: I received a cease-or-desist from DRoA in March 2006 about this post.
Just received a letter in the post from ‘Domain Registry of America’ (DRoA), urging me to pay them for renewing my domain name. The paper, with a London address on the back, looks like a bill and tries to scare the reader with “Your registration will expire on May 10, 2005. Act today!”
The issue is: it’s a scam. There is no need for me to renew now, and certainly not with DRoA. I know exactly who manages my domains and I am quite happy with them. But I can imagine this trick works quite well with people who have no clue how DNS works, or in accounting departments of companies. These guys have been fooling people since at least 2002, as the Domain Registry of America, of Canada, of Europe and of Australia.
Who’s behind it?
- The letter I received has a UK address: 56 Gloucester Rd, Suite 526, SW7 4UB London. This happens to be the same address as Mail Boxes Etc, so it’s probably just a mail box.
- The letter was shipped from “Jamaica, NY”, which seems to be the USPS post office in John F Kennedy Airport. The address on the DRoA site says “2316 Delaware Avenue #266 - Buffalo, New York”, which apparently is again a “Mail Boxes Etc” location.
- A legal document of the Federal Trade Commission (Dec 2003) places them in Ontario, Canada. I found a “PO Box 4577, Markham, Ontario, L3R 5M7″ address on their Canadian site. Again no ‘real’ address.
- A search in Canada’s WHOIS comes up with: droc.ca was registered in Aug 2001 by a Mr Pearl Bitton. A search in Canada’s 411 phone directory gives us one Mr. P. Bitton in Thornhill, Ontario - about 15km away from Markham. I can’t be sure it’s him, of course.
- The FTC final judgment of Dec 2003 mentions a Daniel Klemann, President of DRoA. Mr Klemann must be seing a lot of court rooms, because he was already convicted in Canada in June 2002. So this man has been told twice by a judge that he should stop his practices, but still continues. What a hero. There is a D. Klemann living in Markham and in Toronto.
- His partner in crime, James Tetaka, equally popular in courtrooms, was convicted for similar facts in May of 2004 and described as a Toronto-area man.
- The company under which they operated is “1473253 Ontario Inc”, which is run by Peter Kuryliw, also from Toronto.
- So they first ran a scam as Yellowbusiness.ca, then as Internet Registry of Canada (IRC), and now they are basically active all over the world. Global scumbags.
Other mentions of the scam:
asa.org.uk
compudave.blogspot.com
coofercat.com
domainavenue.com
domainregistrationtips.net
drbacchus.com
seowebsitepromotion.com
theregister.co.uk
webhostingtalk.com
wellho.net
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Obviously slaps on the wrist by FTC never seems to deter the stubborn scamsters! FTC always seems to settle for small fines much smaller than the scammer’s take from the scam run… why would anyone fear FTC then?
Received letters for the domains I have. The letters had the address same as one on their website now:
Domain Registry of America
2316 Delaware Avenue #266
Buffalo, New York
14216-2687
Ph: (866) 434-0212
FAX: (866) 434-0211
int (1-905-479-2533)
support@droa.com
sales@droa.com
info@droa.com
Also, see their record at the Better Business Bureau to trakc their progress to corporate integrity…or not.
http://search.buffalo.bbb.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&ComID=0041000017000531
You missed one article;
Peter Kuryliw has already been convicted of mail fraud. And guess what, Domain Registry is now a Registrar (Name Juice) And Peter, he is their compliance office.
Earlier this year, a director of Yellowbusiness.ca, Peter Kuryliw, was fined $30,000 and given 90 days to shut down the company. If you think you have been a victim of deceptive mail, you are asked to call the Competition Bureau’s Information Centre at 1-800-348-5358 or Project PhoneBusters at 1-888-495-8501.
Here is the link
Hello,
I would just like to update you with the correct address of the company you have listed which is “Domain Registry of Canada” and also “Domain Registry of America” and also “BRANDON GRAY INTERNET SERVICES INC. (dba “NameJuice.com”)” and also “Registration Services Inc.”
Their website addresses are as follows:
http://www.droa.com
http://www.droc.ca
http://www.namejuice.com
http://www.registrationservicesinc.com
They are all the same company owned by the same person Peter Kuryliw.
The company’s actual address is as follows:
7100 Warden Ave Unit 8
Markham ON L3R8B5
Canada
1-905 479-2533 ext 200
Their contact info is also listed on http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-636.html .
http://www.google.ca
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&as…t+OR+scam&meta=
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&as…t+OR+scam&meta=
http://www.google.ca/search?q=+%22pe…l&start=0&sa=N
All the other addresses you have listed for them are fake or just mailbox addresses!, the address that I had mentioned above is their physical business address.
Thes crooks are in a new escalation: urgent emails requiring TRANSFER of domain name! After receiving a few, I put a lock on the domains in nquestion- didn’t stop them! Here’s an example:
” The transfer and renewal of your domain name, corvisionquest.com is not possible at this time because your domain name is currently in a “REGISTRAR-LOCK” status with your current registrar TUCOWS INC.
In order to complete the transfer and renewal the “REGISTRAR-LOCK” status needs to be removed. Please see below for instructions on achieving this.
Solution:
- Log into your account with your current registrar, and change the status of your domain, corvisionquest.com, from “locked” to “active”.
- Alternatively you may call your current registrar, TUCOWS INC. (see phone number below) and ask them to remove the lock status of your domain name and allow the transfer to Domain Registry of America.
- Once done please notify us that you have done so, by clicking on the link below, or calling our toll-free number below.
http://confirm.droa.com/TTresponse.asp?o=1365048&p=jaex
We will then re-attempt the transfer and renewal of your domain name.”
SO HOW DO WE STOP THESE ASSHOLES? Some of my less net-savvy clients have already paid their fraudulent demands….
If the feds can do nothing, can ISP’s do something about it?
I was recently scammed. On my bank statement the debit card (non-signature) charge (a whopping $215.00) was attributed to “Visa Purchase Domain Registry Marham On”. I am glad I check my charges. I contacted the bank I go to, & they’re looking into it.
I’m in Australia and have received letters from them with Aussie, US and Canadian addresses over the past 4-5 years. I’m always thrilled [not] to get their new invoices [like today] for a client domain and wish there was something we could all do to ban these miserable gits.
I wrote a blog post just today and then googled them and found your site. All the info above is great - at least we can expose them in some small way.
cheers
Teena
http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com
Je viens de recevoir une facture de ce “domain registry of america”, je ne les connais pas et en plus tout est en Anglais, nous sommes un club de passionnés de voitures ancienes, no bisness, mais collectionneur.
Je reste à la disposition pour arrêter ses voleurs et profiteurs de gens qui essayes de converser par internet.
Je préviens mon référenceur de site, pour qu’il ce renseigne des démarche a suivre.
Yvan
yep we have just been hit by these guys, only with us it was the domain registry of canada, we have quite a few domains all registered to one owner so imagine our surprise when these letters started arriving.
The thing is they look official if someone was to just look at it quickly I can see people paying out a huge amount of money for the priviledge of changing your domain hosts.
we have also reported them to our current domain managers but whether anything can or will be done is another matter.
oh sorry I forgot to add this in the above post… apologies
new website address for these scammers… http://www.droc.ca
toll free number for canada 1-866-434-0212
Here is another “licensed” scammer in Canada …
Monex Canada Is A SCAM!
A must read for small business in Canada … Biggest SCAM in Interact Debit, Credit Card, Merchant Account business. Once signed up, you’d regret for life!
For more details, please visit http://monexcanada.blogspot.com/
Just received one of these letters from DRoA…
It gets even better - read the T&Cs on the back. If you transfer, and you want the domain back again, looks they’ll bill you for USD$250. Well that sounds reasonable…. not!!
Thankfully I know exactly who looks after our domains, but it’s good to see them exposed!
I’m a company from New Zealand and have received the same letter as what is at the top of this page. Seems they are all over the world.
The address on the letter is:
Domain Registry of America
189 Queen St., Suite 209
Melbourne, 3000
Australia
Customer Service Phone Number - 1 905 479 2533
It’s quite funny it’s the Domain Registry of America but we send our money to Australia.
I just received the “scam” letter from DROA. Is there anyway we can all get together and place a class action suit agsinst DROA?
got tons of emails from this droa and telling me to transfer my domain to Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc. and quickly before a couple of days have passed and this seemed suspect and now I am reading all this stuff about them …..there should be much more severe punishment for people like this…
I just received a notice of expiration from Domain Registy of America.
It state my domain name would expire if I don’t act quickly before 10/19/07 and send in payment to them.
1 year.$30.00
2 years $50.00
5 years $95.00
They say I could mail it in with credit card no.
or go to the website http://www.droa.com and make payment.
The address on the back of my letter is..
Domain Registry of America
2316 Delaware Avenue #266
Buffalo.New York 14216-2687
I really think congress should get off the well paid fat #^&$%.
A do something to protect the American citizen.
They help with porn your child can even look up information for School with out the fear of running to porn.
The bank throw your record out for anyone instead of shedding it.
The credit card company rip you off with percentage fee,hardly protect your identity.
There just too many thing you have to double check for yourself or you will be ripped off.
I have been receiving these notices throughout the year for a few different domain names that I have. I disregarded them because I do not use them anymore and didn’t care if they were shut down.
But I have a letter from “Domain Registry of America” that came last week (Sept 26, 2007) and I was actually going to mail in a check. Because I have a small business, I constantly get solicitations, so I always go online to research the company before I reply to anything. ESPECIALLY IF A COMPANY IS ASKING FOR MONEY!
But anyway, I am glad that I saw this. It’s terrible how people try to scam you.
I just received another letter from a different company claiming that I wasn’t “up tp code” or “compliance” with certain things in my business. I researched that as well and found out that it is a scam.
I am really upset about how people prey on people who may not be aware of their intentions. I think that people should ALWAYS question suspicious letters. Like I said, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ASK FOR MONEY.
I recently received the letter from Domain Registry of America. It got me so annoyed that I called them up and recorded the conversation.
I put the audio file on my blog:
http://www.scrappybusiness.com/domain-registry-of-america-scam.htm
Good day Folks and Mr. Blog Master
This is BAD BAD BAD. They are scanning for domains coming up for renewals. Thanks for the heads up on all this. I found you in Google for their domain name search. I will notify authorities. Here is what they sent at 4 am this morning. I just x ed out the domain name in question.
Regards,
Linda
Hello Linda Lynch,
The transfer and renewal of your domain name, xxxxxxxxx.com is not possible at this time.
Reason:
——-
1) The Domain name is currently in a “REGISTRAR-LOCK” status with your current registrar TUCOWS INC.
2) We require that you provide us with an EPP Key/Authorization Code from your current registrar
In order to complete the transfer and renewal, the “REGISTRAR-LOCK” status needs to be removed and an EPP Key/Authorization code needs to be obtained. Please see below for instructions on achieving this.
Solution:
———
- Log into your account with your current registrar, and change the status of your domain, xxxxxxxxx.com, from “locked” to “active”.
- Then look for the EPP Key or Authorization Code.
Alternate Solution:
———
- Call your current registrar, TUCOWS INC. (see phone number below) and ask them to remove the lock status of your domain name, give you your EPP Key, and allow the transfer to Domain Registry of Canada.
- Once done please notify us that you have done so, by clicking on the link below, or calling our toll-free number below.
https://namejuice.com/agree.asp?e=1&o=1522351&p=2626924
We will then re-attempt the transfer and renewal of your domain name.
As a convenience, we have supplied your current registrars phone number below.
Domain: waterhouseart.com
Current Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Registrar Phone Number: 800-371-6992 (Toll Free) or 416-535-0123 (Local)
Transfer Department
Domain Registry of Canada
Toll free 1-866-434-0212 or for International Callers, dial 1(905)479-2533
10/29/2007 4:01:10 AM
I’ve gotten maybe half a dozen of these from the “Domain Registry of Canada”. What assholes.
I’ve been stung too. No one mentioned if anyone has used anything successful to get their cash back……maybe the world should flood their system with our vitriol and crash them. What supreme jerks.
I just got a letter from these con artists a few days ago. I knew right off the bat that this was a scam because I know who hosts my domain, not to mention I have a package service. Since a few of you mentioned domain lock I decided to check if my domain name was locked or not…..Sure enough my domain name was unlocked. I was able to lock my domain (Thank god) and prevent these a$$holes from stealing my domain. Domain Registry of American is basically an extortion racket, they try to con you out of your money, then they steal your domain name right out from under you. My advice to anyone who gets this letter, go and immediately lock your domain. Thank you to the blog master for creating this page, like I said, I knew this was a scam, but I had no idea they could just steal your domain.
What the hell can be done about this? Seems this is a world wide scam, I’m in NY and the news media love to do watchdog stories like this, I’m thinking I should get some info together and send someone an email. My state attorney general is definitely getting a letter from me…..It seems people are aware of these con artists, but why aren’t they in jail? The letter I got told me to pay $50, now this is world wide…..How many people are falling for this?
Jeff-
THIS CON ALAN BENLOLO LIVE IN THORNHILL IN A 5 MILLION $$ HOUSE DRIVE AROUND EVERYWHERE IN A RANGE ROVER, 2 NANNIES ,GARDENER PERSONAL TRAINERS, GUARD OUTSIDE IS HOUSE .HE IS NOT IN JAIL I NOW FOR A FACT MABY $$$ THE COPS
Thank you for this posting. My question, now that one of my clients was taken by this scam a little over a year ago … How do we get it back? The Admin contact info is “private” and I suspect the email address was changed as I receive no response when I submit a transfer. It’s probably locked too. Frankly I’m a bit frightened of what might happen if I try to contact them directly! :^0 Does anyone have experience retrieving a lost domain? Or do I have to keep paying them renewal fees so I don’t lose it?
Hmmm … Just received a new notice - this time from Liberty Names of America or LNOA.com. Pretty much the same thing, though “This notice is not a bill” is in bold about halfway down the page.
I’ve been getting these for many years and have, luckily, never been fooled. For me, they used to come from Australia (from memory); now they are sent from ‘Jamaica,NY [no space] / Permit No. 9014’. The envelopes on the latest ones (yes, plural) received yesterday read ‘Registration Services Incorporated’ and feature Canadian, US, EU, New Zealand and Australian flags in their attempt to look official. There is no return address on the envelope. The “notices” have not changed much over the years: they still have ‘Domain Registry of America’ at the header. Return address on mine is ‘189 Queen St., Suite 209 / Melbourne, 3000, Australia’—not the way most Australians I know would actually format their address.
I recommend putting a Registrar Lock on all domains to prevent any type of transfer.
Re Dp,aom Registry of America [ Domain Name Expiration Notice] URL droa.com I received sometime in October 2007 that my domain will expire on 2/8/08.
The letter was clearly a farce,it is apparent that the communication came from a mass mailer list using *******AUTO**3-DIGIT(zip code), which did not look kosher enough to sallow. If they have been taken to court and ordered to cease and desist, why are they still arround?
I guess they are confident that by making a disclaimer, takes them off the hook. “You are under no obligation to pay amounts stated bellow, unless you accept this offer. This notice is not a bill, it is rather an easy means of payment should you decide to switch your domain rgistration to….” I believe the disclaimer itself is a “come on” succer”.
Since these bastards are already illegally using my private address, it’s only fair to post theirs:
Peter Kuryliw
24 Creekside Rd
North York, ON M2M 4E1
Tel: 416-225-8346
E-mail: pkuryliw@namejuice.com
Daniel Klemann
4206 19th Ave
Markham, ON L6C 1M2
(905) 927-1185
James Tetaka
2269 Lake Shore Blvd W
Etobicoke, ON M8V 3X6
(416) 503-3153
There are no other people under these names in Canadian phone registry. Check canada411.com yourself.
Don`t be afraid they are all little shumk go to police that`s what they would do snich on you don`t be afraid trust me.scum bags
I’m a webmaster and have received such invoice looking notices from both Domain Registry of America and Liberty Names of America. I understand what both these companies are out to do, but now my clients are getting such letters and they aren’t hip to the reality of what’s going on.
I sent out a letter to all my clients explaining these two companies and to either ‘return to sender’ or throw the notices away.
I received the same letter from a Buffalo, NY address. Luckily I found this before we sent a check. But what I would like to know is if we want to switch our host domain to a legitimate company how do we do this? When our business originally set up our domain we received a site that is well “unprofessional” looking so we are not happy and want to switch. Any help would be great as we are some of the unknowledgable about these such things. So if this is somewhat confusing please excuse me but any help would be most welcome.
I also received a letter from Domain Registry of America. The address (in London) is still the same as mentioned by Peter in December 2004.
I also received this “registration” form from DROA and was amazed. I called my domain host “Imatrix.com” with whom I am very happy as web services providersdoing a great job as hostind webpages, email, etc. and spoke with Mr. A. Benhaim, who assured me that in fact this is a scam and I should not worry about my domain expiration date.
i decided to call DROA anyways, just curious to see what do they have to say. a nice lady on the phone told me that it is only a “suggestion” to register with them and i dont have too. I replied that no where on there document it says that this is a suggestion, and in fact it looks like an invoice, and I got scared because of it. The lady insisted that it was not a fraud and hung up…
I received the same letter from these scamming bastards today. I know who my registrar is so I knew straight off it was a scam, but i’m thinking of how many thousands of people out there don’t know any better. What a shower of pricks! They can cram it right up their anonymous maildrops!
I just got one of these yesterday and, luckily, thought this was a scam from the start.
The return address on the envelope is still Gloucester Road, London.
Hello All,
I have just today reviced the exact sam letter that all of us are reciving from DROA. I’m a small time webdesign person from New Zealand.
I’m like some here or all and that I have locked my domain from day 1 to prevent this kind of thing happening at all.
I’ve also taken the next best step and have sent back there letter to them with no cc info etc so they might get the message and not bother me again, but if it still keeps coming thru then I’ll keep sending it back to them.
OK, but the only thing different about this scenario is that they sent a confirmation email to Frank Khoury, and I did not send them a check. Therefore, they solicited funds from an alternate party, not from me. So if I refuse to allow transfer of the domain name, then haven’t they illegally solicited and received funds from the motel via postal mail without contacting Frank Khoury first? Shouldn’t this be enough to legally put a stop to their scams?
—– Original Message —–
From: DomainsNow4U.com
To: ufopro@msn.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 2:48 AM
Subject: Order Confirmation for lockhartinntexas.com, Order #1555778
Hi Frank,
I am sorry to read that your customers got caught by the DROA scammers.
From a legal point of view neither you nor we are to blame since reasonably, having reached an understanding with you/your company, your customer should have contacted YOU first after receiving a communication from a third party (DROA).
However I am raising this issue with our registrar partners and will let you know their response asap.
Meantime you might like to consider discretely informing/warning your clients about these scammers before they get caught.
Fyi more info here:
http://blog.forret.com/2004/12/domain-registry-of-america-scam/
Thanks
Fred
http://www.domainsnow4u.com
Please include all of this message thread with any response on this issue.
—– Start Original Message —–
Sent: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:13:42 -0800
From: “Frank Khoury”
To: “Fred Bunzi”
Subject: Fw: Order Confirmation for lockhartinntexas.com, Order #1555778
>
> Hello Fred, just wanted to let you know that Domain Registry of America
is at their bullshit again. What can we do about this? They can’t
actually transfer this domain without my approval, but they have
collected a check from my clients. My clients were under the impression
that they were sending a check on my behalf, at my request. They were
upset when I informed them that their domain name is currently paid until
July and that I had nothing to do with droa contacting them. Please
advise. Sincerely, Frank J Khoury
Owner/Designer
INN Web Designs Phone: 480-246-5926
http://www.innwebdesigns.com
Designs with your success in mind —– Original Message —– From:
Customer SupportTo: ufopro@msn.comSent: Monday, February 25, 2008 8:13 AMSubject:
Order Confirmation for lockhartinntexas.com, Order #1555778
To Frank Khoury,
Thank you for registering/renewing the following domains with the Domain
Registry of America, America’s fastest growing Domain Registrar.
We take pride in offering you superior customer service and competitive
pricing.
*******************************************************
Order Information
*******************************************************
lockhartinntexas.com renewal/transfering
The order number for lockhartinntexas.com is 1555778.
*******************************************************
Payment Information
*******************************************************
Your check #2845 for $95.00 has been received.
Domain Registry of America
support@droa.com
Please have your Order Number ready when calling.
2/25/2008 11:13:22 AM
—– End Original Message —–
I would go to his house and fix this at 70 Parr place Thornhill Ontario Canada.Any taxie will take you there he works for segalhomes.com, duodecor.ca that`s the wife.He`s alittle low life jew.
I too have been scammed. Once I caught on I called them and they guaranteed a refund check to be mailed back….that was over 3 months ago now.
Too bad scams are all around us like this,
We received this in our office today, so the scam is still going strong. Fortunately, I’m aware of our registration and hosting company, so I was able to recognize it.
The reply envelope listed an address in Buffalo, NY.
DRoA is also in violation of a United States Post Office Prohibitory Order. See http://www.ownrecognizance.com/droa.html for details.
I paid Domain Registry of America in 2005, and now it’s time to renew. I had no idea it was a scam. The domain name expires again in a week’s time. I started to renew it, but then saw the fine print about Brandon Gray Internet services, and found all the complaints online. Any advice about how to renew through another company? I worry that if I let the thing expire, I won’t be able to get the domain name back. Thanks, stephanie
1and1 has been a good company to me. 6.99 is what they charge i think for domain name registration. These wackos…why doesn’t someone in NY physically go to the address 2316 Deleware avenu #226 (probably a mail boxes place) and find out what’s up first of all.
Why can’t we report a mass scam like this and have the police just wait there for them to pick up mail and arrest them? -Bob
Why has no legal action resulted in anything in North America or Europe? More importantly, why doesn’t ICANN grow some teeth and stop this. It goes on year after year. Our 2000+ clients are continually bugged by these people. It just never ends.
Why not just start sending them phony emails saying you have an interest in their service asking them a bunch of questions that cause them a lot of work. This worked well with the Ethiopian scams. A good example would be asking for their help to register a bunch of domains that you know are already registered. Make them search and reply 4 or 5 times and then finish with a big “haha, I scammed you because you’re a scammer”.
The DROA is at it again, this time with more associated partners in their legal disclaimer, and worse, operating under a new company name: Domain Renewal Group
They’re continuing to send snailmail spam which attempt to trick recipients into renewing their soon-to-be-expires domains with them instead of their current registrar.
The registration agreement on the back of the letter states:
“DOMAIN RENEWAL GROUP (DRG), http://www.drg.com”
“We, us, and our refer to eNom, Inc., Wild West Domains, Inc., BRANDON GRAY INTERNET SERVICES INC. (dba NameJuice.com) and DRG”
The address of their operations? Same office as DROA:
2316 Delaware Avenue #266
Buffalo, New York, 14216-2687
This is one of the biggest problems with capitalism in the United States. Legal rulings are often done against *companies* and not individuals, which lets said individual start a “new company” (even out of the same office) and continue the exact same scam operation under a different name. This can go on for literally a lifetime, or until someone takes the individual to court and gets an injunction upon them.
Moral of the story: this bullshit isn’t going to stop until ICANN gets *even more* involved, or someone brings the issue to the attention of a large firm who wishes to take the case on pro-bono.
Now I’ve given them back some of their shit. I have had the customer relations manager Eric Voisard evoisard@droa.com on a series of emails suggesting I want to register a domain dancefever.ws
I have created a lot of work for him and now I told him I sent them money via Western Union (which I obviously have not) This is what they wrote to me last “We do not normally accept payment in this fashion, we will have to send someone to pick it up later today or maybe even tomorrow”. Whoever they send is going to look like a fool at the Western Union office with my phony code to pick up the money!
I suggest more people do the same. Use evoisard@droa.com or sales@droa.com
After a 100 or so phony mails suggesting interest in services they will never be able to tell if an email request is real or not.
Well,,,I was so happy to find this blog on the scam of
Domain Registry of America. We have 4 separate websites we run as musicians based in NYC USA and a number of domain names.
I been receiving letters from them for a few years now…at least 2 (can’t remember exactly) - I usually just threw them away. Then I finally called my webmaster - he said toss it..it is not legit with regard to our business with him.
I sent the letter back with big Black writing to STOP sending them. This year I started calling them to get our address and another CA address off of their mailing list. I told the rep that it was very misleading. Blah, blah,,etc,.etc..
I just received another letter today… the rep Louise X 230 was very rude when I told her this was a misleading letter.
She proceeded to blab and say it is not up to her if people do not read..etc., etc., ..very, very nasty and rude.
I asked her who the President was and she said Alan Benlolo and that her supervisor is Eric at X 248.
She said that they had no control over the ‘marketing company’ who sends them names and has us on their mailing list. I asked for the name of that marketing company. She said she had no number and that I would have to speak with her supervisor. I told her she was rude and she was as nasty as could be.
After getting off of the phone I started a search and found this site.
Now I have more knowledge and thank you all for your input.
Of course I never paid anything - but with the way they present the letter - imagine the individual who does not understand or even know who their runs their Domain name.
We use a small company and I can talk with the webmaster anytime.
I am going to call this Eric guy…(sounds like the same Eric guy from the MDman April 8, 2008 comment on this blog) –
I will let you know how it goes.
Have a great Day!
HHR
Don’t call Eric. Scam him back like I did. I actually got him to make a trip to Western Union looking for money that did not exist. Waste his and others time. Eventually if more and more people do this they will never be able to tell which contacts are serious and which are pulling their leg. That will make their attempts at scamming people much more difficult.
BTW, both Allan and Elliot went to jail. They were handed 4 year sentences of sorts.
In Canada you do 1/6th. of what your sentence is. So Allan and Elliot went to Millhaven Inst. Then to Beaver Creek and then to a half way home in Brampton called St.Leonard’s that is run by a Carmen Spadafora who was bought off by these Alan and allowed to run scams right from the home.
So call up York Region Police and tell them what is happening. I can not believe these guys are up to this shit again.
I told york region police 3 months ago they told me It`s only money people have sat in jail for these guys while they enjoy their lifestyle makes me sick.
What do you mean did scam from his house??? While paying this guy His btother started yellow pages scam when Alen was in pennsylvania he came out and went at it right away,jails gaurd were paid while he was in jail in Canada for the Yellow Pages scam to make sure no one hurt the LIER .WOULDN`T BE SURPRISE HE PAYS COPS TO HAVE PEOPLE ARREST.Alan will always be Alan .He has a mansion in Florida also He is laughing at American and canadian justise system.he is unstopable.He needs half a million just for hius lifestyle he has about 30 millions hidden away. It`s ONLY money
Yep, they are one smooth bunch. The internet is rife with bad domain name registrar resellers, miserable hosting companies, and underhanded creeps like Domain Registry of America. The guy who owned BlackBearBike.com was getting these until I changed the contact email to my own so that I get them instead. Now I just want to do something to them - but of course there’s nothing TO do short of tracking them down and giving them a beating. I’ll bet that anyone who does transfer over to Registry of America will NEVER be able to get their EPP Code from them and so never be able to leave - and nobody will lift a finger to help. What garbage these people are.
From the Half way house get it.Look he does it from jails.Wish I had proof of that.
From the Half way house get it.Look he does it from jails.Wish I had proof of that.
I was so glad to find your web page, I recieved a letter from these guys, mine has a Australian address for sending money. I nearly sent it, but something didnt feel right so I looked up there web ad and found you guys right under them. Thankyou so much, your wonderful, just saved us a lot of money and wasted time
Can you guys help me, Is whois@name.net legitamite, I am confused about who to trust in trying to retrieve my domain name.
Thanks Michelle
July 2008 I have just been mailed by Domain Registry of America, so they’re still at it…I live UK. The guy who looks after my website warned me against them. I recognised them to be a scam. What alarmed me was that they knew my name and address.
I will pass the letter onto Scotland Yard internet fraud office.
Received a domain expiration notice from them while I was on vacation. Accounting paid it on the credit card. Thankfully the webmaster emails come to me so I was not here to click the link to confirm the domain transfer. I emailed asking for a refund to the card a few times and then finally called today and spoke to some gum chewing twit who agreed to refund it within two seconds, curiously not long enough to even call my account up on the screen. When I said there was an injunction against them and I cant believe they are still operating he started talking over me, loudly reading from a script and shouting the words from it. I started laughing (out of shock) and asked what he was screaming for. He said if he was screaming, I’d know about it. Lovely company. I am reporting to the BBB and have asked me REAL domain provider to issue an email to all their customers warning them of the scam.
The full report is available online on the Federal Trade Commission website at:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/12/domainreg.shtm
A copy of the complaint filed by the FTC against DROA is available here:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/12/031219compdomainreg.pdf
A copy of the actual Federal injunction against DROA can be found here:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/12/031219stipdomainreg.pdf
You can find him at 80 Parr place, thornhill ontario Canada ( 5 million $$$ house) his name is Alan Benlolo the wife is Sharon benlolo nice bunch of low life.
I work for a domain registrar. The amount of calls we get from idiots who don’t know they are with us and have paid domain registry of america is amazing. Some times people are getting stung for up to $300 or more.
I still cannot believe these guys still operate its such a joke. Makes me sick.
All i can suggest to people is to get Private Registration on your domain names. They grab all your details from the whois. Address, email etc, and then send out those stupid bloody letters, which are soo dodgy.
Anyway, Im thinking of doing what others have suggested and just messing with them for fun. Pretending interest in buying expensive domain names and making them go to western union etc. Just to make them waist some time, and get revenge for all the waisted time my Company has had to deal with because of these annoying letters.
DROA please go away and die. thanks.
I read an artilce about this online at http://www.buildasitebookmarks.com/DNS_scams.html it had a lot of good information on it. You should check it out if there are things that you are leary about. They seem to update the site pretty frequently. Also the FTC publishes information about shady scaming companies.
I have just received a letter in the post from these people. I am used to receiving letters from vaious people, like Performing Rights Agency if I play music to my clients at home, even though I don’t see clients at home. Then there was a request to register with data protection at some fantastic sum, where in face it costs peanutes, and like the DRG all these letters suggest that I must act or lose out or be fined. I usually drop them into my local police station who pass them on to their fraud department. Also I think I remember reading something about Gloucester Road, London being quite common for accomodation addresses.
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, I just got hit by these guys. I have been so busy as of late that when that letter came in the mail I didn’t even think about who my registrar was. I just thought, oh my domain is going to expire I better pay it. Now I’m shaking my head in disbelief at how dumb that was. It’s not so much the $30 I paid that I care about. I don’t want these guys to have anything to do with my domain. The thing is, I am not sure if my domain is in their hands now or not because while I did end up paying the $30, I received an email from them saying that they needed me to approve a transfer of my domain. The email looked fishy so that is why I started researching this company, and man, was I shocked to see how they had scammed so many people the same way. So naturally, I am not going to approve the transfer, and am just hoping that will be enough to keep my domain with my current registrar. I know I paid the $30 but I never once did I give them permission to transfer my domain from Arvixe to theirs.
So anyways guys, I feel for all of you people who have had to deal with these guys. We need to do a better job in educating people about these scams. Let’s face it, this company has been doing this for years, so noody is going to do anything about it. But we can. There is strengh in numbers and what we have hear is A LOT of angry, fed up people. I encourage you to give as much bad publicity to this company as you can. Through your online businesses, blogs, websites, etc, spread the word around of what this company is doing.
Ok, I got stung. Had surgery, husband paying the bills, he sent them $95. BUT I caught it and did a stop payment on the check before it hit my bank. So I am out $15 instead of the $95. Got the emails about them needing me to “unlock” my domain. No way. Also have filled out an FTC complaint for all it seems to do. I am going to fill out a complaint at my local post office for mail fraud. If anyone has a current copy of the letter they are sending out I would appreciate it. They have you sign and send the letter back with your payment.