Customers are receiving scam phone calls claiming a domain payment is past due and will be sent to collections court if not paid. The scammers are obtaining our vendor registrar names (Wild West Domains or NameCheap) by doing a WhoIs look up on their domain and getting their contact information by visiting their website. The scammers threaten to add hundreds of dollars in court fees if the past due amount is not paid.
Neither we nor our vendors will attempt to collect past due registration payments. When a domain's payment isn't made, it deactivates and enters a 30-day grace periood. If payment is made during the grace period, it is automatically reactivated. If payment is not made during the grace period, it a redemption period lasting another 30 days during which registrars do add an ICANN (Internet Consortium of Assigned Names and Numbers) recovery fee of approximately $80. After the redemption period ends, the registrant loses the domain and it becomes available for purchase by anyone. For additional details, please visit: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/domain-name-renewal-expiration-faqs-2018-12-07-en
