Spam alert: Email from DomainOrderExpiring.com

So earlier this month I received an unsolicited email from a company called DomainOrderExpiring.com, with an offer to renew a domain name that I own through GoDaddy but haven't actively used. Today I was going through emails that had gotten buried and took a really good look at it, hence this public service announcement.

Their "offer" is that for a cool $75, I can renew the domain name for one year with them, rather than with GoDaddy, which charges me a whopping $16 each year. In fact, DomainOrderExpiring.com is so sure I won't want to pass up this golden opportunity that the email itself is an invoice complete with due date and payment terms.

Pardon the slopping editing. They had my home address on it, which didn't make me happy at all.

Oh, and another thing: This domain name doesn't actually expire until next April. So in addition to paying way more than GoDaddy charges, if I was gullible enough to take this offer, I'd be double-paying for the domain name for almost six months. Or so I initially thought.

Because as it turns out, the email only looks like a domain renewal. Check out the fine print:

So I decided to go to their website to check out DomainOrderExpiring.com and see what their deal is. Maybe their site will clarify their "services" and explain why they're soliciting me as a customer. So I typed in the URL and this is what I got:

This is literally the only thing on the screen.

Well that's not terribly helpful. But I think that's the point.

The sad thing is that they've probably ripped off countless people with this scam. Here's some links I was able to find about these and similar schemes from GigaLaw, Scam Detector, SangFroid Web Design, Hen's Teeth Network, and Domain Name Wire. A quick search will doubtless turn up many more.