Don’t Fall for Domainnetworks.com Fake Invoice Scam

Watch out for letters claiming to be from Domain Networks requesting payment of up to $289 for listing maintenance. This company is engaged in a fraudulent invoice scheme scam. They send paper invoices for “Annual Website Domain Listings” for domains with no connection to you or them.

Several of our readers contacted us today asking if the mail they received from this company was legit.

As a Cybersecurity Analyst, I’ve taken my time to investigate Domainnetworks.com. This post will answer all the queries related to this scam and other important details you need to know about.

How The Domain Networks Scam Works

Domainnetworks is based in New Mexico, USA, but offers its services to businesses all across North America and is the same operator as Domain Listings. Their purpose is to send out what they label as “offers for domain directory listings”, but have designed to look like an invoice for existing domain ownership services. 

As mentioned in my intro, the scam involves sending fake domain renewal notices, which look like bills, invoices to try and trick business owners into thinking they are paying for their domain registration. 

When you read the letter carefully, it states “THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.”

The letter also says that its a business listing on their network “domainnetworks.com” so basically your paying them to list your name on their directory. The company just hopes businesses will pay them without knowing they don’t actually owe them any money.

Why You Are Receiving Unsolicited Mails From Domain Networks.com

The company is sending these letters to anyone with a registered domain and business address hosted in Google. But just to verify, I looked up a couple names in the business listings on their site and did a Google search (restricting search to their domain). Their listings aren’t even indexed by Google! 

Red Flags That Scream Scam

1. Fake Bill: They send fake bills in the mail claiming you owe a lot of money for renewing your website domain.
2. Tricky Documents: The papers they send look like bills for renewing your domain, but they’re actually trying to get you to buy a listing on their website.
3. Can’t Unsubscribe: Even if you try to unsubscribe, you still get their junk mail all the time. They may have purposely added a glitch to the “Do Not Contact” process. When you go to their Do Not Contact page on their website to add your business, it asks for your “Unique ID Number.
4. Confusing ID Numbers: The numbers they ask for when you try to unsubscribe don’t match up, making it harder to stop getting their mail.
5. Bad Writing: Besides the hassle of dealing with attempted removal from their mailings; reading their website is actually painful. Proofreading exists for a reason and in the case of Domain Networks it is basically an emergency.
6. Bad Customer Service: People are mad because they feel tricked and can’t get the company to stop bothering them.
7. Urgent Tactics: The letter has a sense of urgency to it, which seems to imply “don’t let your website go down!”
8. They use your domain registrar’s name to make it seem official. You might think this is private info, but it’s actually public and can be found on sites like who.is.

Real People Share Their Experiences

We headed over to Trustpilot where this website currently has a rating of 1.3 from 58 reviews and discovered lots of complaints from people who received fake invoices from Domain Networks

Received invoice for $289 for “Annual Website Domain Listing” – There is no reason why we would list our domain name with this directory.

I already own my domain but they are telling me to pay them to renew it. Even if I paid them they would not have the ability to take ownership to renew. It’s a scam and they should be charged.

Total scam. They send you an invoice, but have nothing to offer. In small print, they say it is not a bill. 

Tape the stamped return envelope to a brick and send it back to them.

How To Protect Your Business from the Domainnetworks.com Scam?

1. Be careful with strange bills: Watch out for invoices that seem unfamiliar and teach your team to be cautious. Always check the fine print before paying.
2. Do some digging: Look into any suspicious mail or bills by checking if the company is real online. If you’re not sure about previous transactions, ask for proof that you’ve signed up with them.
3. Don’t rush payments: Avoid paying bills that seem fishy or that you don’t recognize. Take your time to make sure the sender and charges are legit.
4. Ask questions: If you’re not sure about an invoice, reach out to the company to get more info or proof that you’ve signed up with them.
5. Speak up: If you think something might be a scam, tell the authorities or consumer protection agencies so they can stop it from happening to others.

Our Verdict

Finally, after doing research, I found this company to be bogus based on the reviews from BBB websites. They send you a solicitation designed to look like an authentic bill hoping someone not being mindful pays it. It’s an advertisement that masquerades as an invoice, and it provides absolutely no value to your business. In fact, if they actually do anything for you it may hurt your search engine rankings.

We’ve found a bunch of deceptive mail scams, like Domainnetworks.com. They often pretend to be the real deal but they’re really just trying to trick people into giving away their personal info or money. Trademark Peak Scam Tactics, Trademark Zenesa Scam Tactics.