Like a lot of people who make their living on the internet I
own a lot of domains. Some are good and some are just throwaways that I have had
for several years. This is not the first time I have ever seen this scam or
several variations of it, but it is the first time I have bothered to spend a
calorie or two to talk about it.
Today I got a letter (USPS) delivered to my desk from the CFO,
of PageViews.com, who let it sit on her desk waiting to get paid for a while before she brought it to me.
It is an official looking piece of mail that is an invoice
from Domain Listing Service Corp. in Chicago IL. for “Annual Website Search Engine Listing” on one of my throw away domains. If it was not for it being for the throw away, it would have been paid. There is small print on the invoice: “This
internet listing offer is provided to millions of websites throughout the United States to enhance their website exposure. This is not a bill. This is a solicitation.
You are under no obligation to pay the amount stated unless you accept this
offer”.
Being in the Search engine optimization business I had to chuckle
at what they promise. Domain submission with 8 keywords / phrases to 25 major
search engines. Quarterly submissions. Complete details are available at their
website. This in it's self is a joke as it does no good to submit to the search engines without preparing the site.
The “bill” is for $65. Instructing me to send a check or to
pay online. I went online and found that there is no site at www dslcorp dot net. The online payment page is up
and active at: payments dot discorp dot
net. I entered the “customer number” and the amount on their form and it
brought me to a PayPal order form.
The domain Listing Service Corp. shows 27 N. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606 but a search at the Illinois Secretary
of state office for corporations http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/
reports: Your search for domain
listing service, did not match any records in the Corporation/LLC-GS Search
database.
The who is record for this company is dsl corporation
16420 Park Ten Place Suite 400 Houston, TX 77084
According to the Texas Comptroller of Public
Accounts, http://ecpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html
Business Name domain listing service
was not found.
It is sad that the SEO industry is filled with charlatans of
all types. This one is bad on several levels. First the false balling, then the
“service” the pretend offer and I fear, there may be some Phishing going on
also.
Today, this one got under my skin and I have donated a
couple of calories to the ether.
Great info. This will make everybody think twice before sending a check. A snippet of this good article is posted in milliondollardig dot com
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-faith-
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