Unsolicited letters from Domain Name Group Pty Ltd and Domain Register Pty Ltd

Posted by on 9 May 2011

auDA has become aware that two companies, called Domain Name Group and Domain Register, are sending unsolicited letters to com.au registrants.

Both letters are headed “Domain Name Available”. The letter from Domain Name Group offers to arrange registration of the net.au equivalent of the registrant’s com.au domain name at a cost of $245.00 for 2 years registration. The letter from Domain Register offers to arrange registration of the .com equivalent of the registrant’s com.au domain name at a cost of $249.00 for 2 years registration. Some letters also promise a “free gift” if the offer is taken up before a set deadline.

auDA has received complaints which indicate that:

  1. the domain names are being registered with contact details belonging to Domain Name Group or Domain Register

  2. registrants are not receiving the promised “free gift”.

Based on the complaints received, auDA is concerned that the letters may mislead people into believing that they are renewing their existing com.au domain name when in fact they are paying for a new net.au or .com name.

Further, consumers should be aware that the prices being charged by these companies are significantly higher than prices charged by most registrars.  

If you have paid either of the companies, you should check that the domain name has been registered by doing a WHOIS search – www.ausregistry.com.au for net.au domain names, and whois.icann.org for .com domain names.

If the domain name has been registered to you, but the contact details belong to Domain Name Group or Domain Register, then you should contact the registrar of record shown on WHOIS and request them to update the contact details.

If you have not received the “free gift” and you wish to lodge a formal complaint, auDA advises that you contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) either by lodging an electronic complaint at www.accc.gov.au or by faxing it to their Canberra office on (02) 6243 1199. Alternatively you may wish to contact your State based fair trading or consumer affairs office.