Phone Phishing Scam from Domain Registry Support

A few minutes ago, I received a phone call, and the number came up as “Unavailable.” I’m not one of those crazy types who screens their phone calls, so I picked up.

On the other end was a man with a thick Indian accent. He claimed to be calling from “Domain Registry Support for my domain,” in regards to a domain I recently purchased. His slow, labored pronunciation of the name was almost painful, and I suddenly felt sorry for all those people in Italy who had to put up with me constantly butchering their beautiful language.

And then he reads me my current address, and asks me to confirm the information. I was a bit shocked, since random cold callers don’t usually have such detailed information, but suddenly it was clear that I was in the midst of an attempt to either hijack one of my domain or scam me into giving them a credit card number. In short, I was being phished over the phone! (I guess that’s technically just Plain Old Telephone Fraud, but Phone Phishing sounds so much buzzier.)

Since I’m not one to fall that easily for a scam, I asked him why he needs this information, and he merely repeated that he is from “Domain Registry Support for my domain.” A few more questions yielded much the same answer, so finally I became mildly belligerent. I explained that I had never heard of his corporation and had never done business with his corporation, and then I asked why should I give him any information whatsoever.

He quickly thanked me and hung up.

A few minutes on Google were enough to confirm my suspicions that Domain Registry Support is a scam. Here’s another a link to another blog with yet another experience, again concluding that Domain Registry Support is a scam. Finally, they appear to be using some Caller ID masking and morphing tools, so while there seems to be a phone number associated with the Domain Registry Support scams, it may or may not lead back to the offenders. Some people have also gotten some other good information about the scam.

Finally, in a very interesting coincidence, my good friend Greg who owns Collective Software, and runs the The Procrastinators Club, received the same call this very morning! We both use the same registrar, so I wonder if that’s the connection.