Like most companies, over the years we've received numerous calls and emails from people trying to scam us. Some are more obvious than others. We're often contacted by our customers who've had similar approaches made to them, and they want our advice. These are the most common scams we've come across.

1. Domain Slamming

Scenario

You receive an official looking form (usually via snail mail) reminding you that your domain name expires soon and if you don't renew it you will lose it. Fill in your details and payment information on the form and the domain will be renewed.

The Scam

The form isn't from your own registrar. If you read the small print its actually an agreement to transfer the domain name from your current registry to the one operated by the scammer. The annual fee for the domain jumps from the $10 or so you might have been paying to at least double, and often rather more than that.

How to Avoid

Be suspicious of any domain renewal requests you are sent. Make sure you note where you purchased your domains, and where you need to login to renew them. Its easier if you keep all of your domains with the same registry. Don't be too concerned about losing a domain name if you don't renew on time - registrars will suspend the domain for at least a month (normally 3 months) if the renewal payment isn't made. You'd soon know about this as your email and website using that domain would stop working. No one else can register the domain until after this period expires. It's very difficult to accidentally let a domain expire long enough for someone else to register it.

2. Fake Trademark Protection

Scenario

You are contacted by a company claiming to be a domain name registrar (often in the Far East). They inform you that someone has applied to register domains similar to your own, often regional variations with .cn (China), .hk (Hong Kong), etc. They claim that they are required to first inform you to give you the option to register them yourself.

The Scam

There is no one else trying to register the domains. Their aim is to get you to purchase domains you otherwise would not have purchased, usually for inflated fees.

How to Avoid

For all but the largest companies it isn't possible to register every regional variation of a domain name. Even if someone else was to register domains similar to yours, they would be next to useless as they have no incoming links and traffic that you've built to your domain. They aren't going to be stealing traffic from you. You can ignore these emails.

3. Directory scam

Scenario

You receive an email or form in the mail asking you to confirm your business details for free inclusion into a business directory. Since it seems like additional marketing at no cost you complete the form and submit it.

The Scam

Hidden away on the form (often in the terms and conditions) is something along the lines of "please send me a copy of the directory for $999" or a similarly outrageous amount. You are asked to tick to agree to the conditions (which are in small print which no one reads) so you've unwittingly agreed to purchase the directory at the exorbitant price. You'll then be followed up with legal threats and sometimes calls from fake debt collectors.

How to Avoid

Its not always possible to read all small print, but if you've not heard of a directory, its a good idea to Google it first. If you have made the mistake of submitting the form you shouldn't be too worried about the prospect of legal action. These companies rarely if ever take people to court (as they are aware their scams are not regarded too highly). In many jurisdictions there are protections from such misleading selling.

4. The "You have a virus" Scam

Scenario

You receive a call claiming to be from either Microsoft or your internet service provider. Often they'll ask if you've noticed that your computer is running more slowly than it used to, or whether you've had any errors or crashes (most people experience at least some of these occasionally). They'll inform you that you have a virus, and that they can help you remove it. Sometimes there will be a threat that your internet access will be cut off if you don't let them fix the issue. They may talk you through some actions such as opening "task manager", where they will ask if you can see certain named processes running. If you can, they'll inform you that these are viruses.

Variations of the scam use popup adverts that look like warnings from your PC, telling you that it has detected a virus infection.

The Scam

The scammer will attempt to get you to download a "fix" for the virus. In fact this software is likely to compromise the PC and leave it open for the scammer to hack it. They may also attempt to charge you for the software/services they've provided.

How to Avoid

Microsoft or ISPs don't call customers in this manner, so you can ignore any such calls. Often its more fun to play along with them and frustrate them (so long as you don't download any of their software). It wastes their time, and prevents them using that time to attack a more gullible victim.

5. SEO scams

Scenario

You receive an email from SEO "experts" offering to get you "number one position on google". Normally the email is from a spammy gmail address rather than a company domain. Typically they will ask for $200 or so to carry out SEO work and promise incredible results. The email may be very poorly written as they usually originate overseas.

The Scam

SEO (search engine optimization) is a legitimate web marketing discipline that attempts to optimize websites to increase relevant traffic from search engines. There are many legitimate companies in this field.

Modern effective SEO concentrates on creating good informative content, and making sure websites are fast, bug free and easy to use (including on smart phones). Most of the scam companies provide services that are at best outdated and ineffective, and at worst could get your site penalized by search engines as an attempt to game the system. They often involve "link building" by creating spammy links on blogs and forums (known as "comment spam"). These techniques might have worked many years ago, but today nearly all forums and blog comment areas make use of "no follow" tags to instruct search engines not to give any weight to the links (and therefore deter spammers from creating them).

How to Avoid

Ask yourself "if these guys are so good at SEO, why are they having to resort to finding clients by spamming?"

The claim of "top position in Google" is meaningless - one can only be top for a specific search phrase. Its much easier to rank in top position for a very specific phrase (eg your company name) than a general term like "local plumber" or "web designers in {your town}". In fact you probably already rank very close to top for the search phrase of your company name plus location.

If you are tempted to use their services, ask for a few references from other businesses that you can contact for feedback.

Summary

Scams (like some less reputable sales pitches) usually try to instill a sense of urgency and fear into the recipient, so that they have less time to question the veracity of what they've been told. The anonymity and global reach of the Internet makes it an ideal platform for the scammer. Some of these are modern variations on scams that go back decades and have been given new life on the Internet. But we now have better information at our fingertips than ever before. If you receive an unsolicited email or other communication that is suspicious, a quick search of Google should easily reveal whether its legitimate or not.