Domain name scams

When your .com.au domain name licence becomes due, a renewal notice will be forwarded to you by our office. Domain Registration Services' customers should be vigilant and wary of responding to anything that resembles an invoice that is not generated by our company. 

In the past, a party with no connection to our company whatsoever have sent mass mail-outs to .COM.AU registrants in an attempt to solicit .COM.AU or .NET.AU registration business. 

Many people were tricked by the scam and allowed their domains to be transferred from our services and other registrars to the party in question without being aware that was what they were doing.

The auDA, the Australian body vested with the responsibility of operating and overseeing the .au extension, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took legal action against the company on the basis that the representations were false, and were therefore misleading and deceptive, in contravention of section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

While that company is no longer in operation, we still hear of cases from time to time where similar ploys are used - so domain registrants should always be wary of such communications.

Some of these companies send out unsolicited renewal notices up to 10 months before your domain name is due to be renewed.

Should you have any concerns about a letter, phone call or email you have received and would like to determine if it's a legitimate communication from our services, please feel free to contact us.

If you believe you have received unsolicited marketing material with regards to your domain name renewal, or been misled about your domain renewal, you should also contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) 

The importance of correct and current contact details

There have been cases where registrants have lost their domain name to a competitor because they failed to renew the licence. The cause? They didn't renew because they did not receive the renewal notice due to their contact details not being up to date. If your domain name was registered through our service and you change your postal or email address, it is of critical importance that you update your details via our domain management interface or advise us immediately by emailing admin@domainregistration.com.au.

Domain name passwords (previously called Registry Keys)

A domain name "password" is the password or PIN number used to control access to changes in the operation and management of your domain name. It is issued by the domain name registry at the time the name is first registered.

The password can be used to:

• check the expiry date of your domain name
• change the Internet location reached by people using your web address or email address
• change the contact details associated with your domain name
• change the company authorised by you to make the changes above on your behalf

Bogus "renewal advice" notices as detailed above also often imply that the registrant must supply their password in order to renew their domain name. Please note that this is NOT correct and is a flag that the "renewal advice" is indeed a scam.

Your registry key/password is NOT required if you renew your domain name with the company currently listed with the registry as providing your domain name services. 

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