In this post, I am going to talk about another scam that has just started. This is an email that came in today and the purpose of these posts is to inform and educate our customers, plus put minds at ease. We do the homework to figure out what is a scam and then help by disseminating that information to the masses.

SEO Renewal Email Scam

First received by us: September 21, 2019

I received this email today which was asking me to go online and “renew” my SEO plan.I read through the very vague email and knew instantly that this was a scam. I then deleted the email after taking a screenshot for this post.

How did I know this was a scam?

• It was not from a company I know or trust
• It was “urgent” and asked that I renew in 48 hours or less
• I never signed up for an SEO plan, so how could I renew one
• The domain name is not a company, rather a description

Here is what the email looked like (with parts blacked out for privacy):

What is important about this and ANY email or phone call you think is a scam. DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINKS. DO not call the number in an email or left on a voicemail. Do not believe anything anyone tells you. Frankly, unless you clearly know you have a service from a purported company, simply delete and ignore the email or voicemail.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO:

• Never click on ANY link in the email, including the one that may say “take me off your list”
• DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING
• Return a phone call
• Block the number unless it is continuously calling you (they typically use different phone numbers and spoof numbers, so you could actually be blocking a real company or person)

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:

• Delete the email or voicemail
• Block the number if it is repeatedly calling you
• If they say it is a fraud alert or something about an account you have, call the number on the actual account you have (for instance, call the number on the back of your credit card)
• Do not try to “get off a list” – that is clicking links, just don’t do it
• DO not call the number back, ever

How do these people get my information?

In this case, it referred to a domain. It is very easy to garner domain names and contact emails from GoDaddy and the like. A contact email address is REQUIRED on all domain name registrations. So grabbing a domain name, contact information and an email address is all that is needed for this SCAM. Just because someone has your information does not mean they can be trusted or you should believe that they are real.

There are actually bots (computer programs that run) that scan the internet for data and information all the time. They can easily attain the information for domain names quickly, amassing millions of contacts and then sending out this scam. Will some folks fall for this? Yes. And they will be out whatever money the person requested. So don’t fall for it. The information they have is public (in this case, other times they hacked to get it).

Can I do anything to stop getting these?

Sure, you could certainly in this case use PRIVATE DOMAIN registration. Why? Your information will not be shown on the internet so a bot would not get it. Instead, the “privacy seller” would have their information listed. It looks like this:

domain name privacy example showing hidden data

A Story About Phone Numbers

One day, my phone rang and an irate man was screaming at me. He said stop calling me and take me off your &^%$ list. I tried to inform the man that in fact I had not been calling him and that scammers often spoof phone numbers and call back numbers. Unfortunately, he hung up as fast as he berated me. Had he stayed on the line a second, I would have educated him on the dangers of calling numbers back. In this case, it was spoofed, so all he received was me. Next time, it could be a number that redirects him to a paid line that charges him for use.

Summary of SEO Renewal SCAM from Email

In summary, this is just an FYI on some SPAM that is going around. We hope you will benefit from us letting you know about these things on a regular basis. If you find any SPAM or have examples, forward them to us and we can show others.