Search Registration Scams

My blog entry about Chinese Domain Name Scams has been inundated with comments from people who have been targeted by crooks, and not always from China. Earlier this week however I was targeted by a different scam: The Search Registration Scam. Read on for more information about what it is and what you need to do about it.

Search Registration Scams

Earlier this week I registered a domain name. Nothing new there, I register new domains every other day, but this time I received an email a couple of days later:

Matt Lowe (Account #67128):

This email is being sent out to you because search registration for virtual-festival.com is pending.
Please register this domain to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.

Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.

You can register your domain clicking here.

We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.
Sincerely,
The Search Registry

SearchRegistry . org
1787 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1025
Washington DC, 20006
Or by Email:
info @ SearchRegistry.org

Please, if you receive an email telling you that you need to register your website with the search engines through them then simply ignore it.

Registering a website with the search engines is free.

The easiest way to register a website with the search engines is to create a sitemap.xml file and then submit it to the search engines through their webmaster tools. This is something that your web developer can help you with, or if you don’t have a developer then we can help you. Submitting the sitemap to Google is completely free.

Another easy way to get Google indexing your WordPress website is to use Yoast’s excellent WordPress SEO plugin, and setting it to “ping” Google when a page is updated. This will generate the sitemap for you too.

Avoid late fees

There are no fees for registering a website, and thus no late fees. Remember: Google, Bing and Yahoo all allow you to submit your website to their search engines free of charge.

An Analysis Of SearchRegistry.Org

The website in question is little more than a holding page with a contact form. The email address that the email comes from goes straight back to the company that handles their spamming “email marketing”. The email address info@searchregistry.org, listed at the bottom of their email, does not work (I suspect the hosting company has terminated it due to their spamming antics).

At the bottom of the website is this nugget (emphasis added for ease of reading):

DISCLAIMER: The information contained on this mailer and advertising material is for your general information and/or advertisement purposes only. SearchRegistry ( SearchRegistry.org) is a one time service to customers, whereby SearchRegistry will submit customer’s registered domain to search engines to get customer’s website listed on various search engines. Thank you for being our customer and we strive to provide you the best service we can. While we believe in the submission process, our product and how it can help your website listing on the search engines, we can legally and ethically make no guarantee or promise of how the search engines will handle each specific submission sent in using our service. SearchRegistry website, marketing materials and search engine submission service is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and the performance of the SearchRegistry website, marketing materials and search engine submission service is assumed by the user, and in no event will SearchRegistry be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages suffered in the course of using the SearchRegistry website or our search engine submission service. This service is not required, and as our customer, you voluntarily enter into any contract for services with SearchRegistry. SearchRegistry gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the results or success of the search engine submissions. All reliance on the service is at your own risk and discretion. Prices are subject to change, and refunds will only be processed according to the Terms of Service. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss to damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data, profits arising out of, or in connection with the use of this service. Your use of any or all service must be based on your own due diligence.

They admit fully in their own promotional material that “This service is not required”, and basically push all risk onto the user.

Sadly it’s not possible to get any information on the company or individual(s) behind the website as they are using a Whois privacy protection tool.

I tried using their sign-up process to see what I could learn about their nefarious business.

Would You Like A Discount?

The first thing you will come across on this site, should you put your details into the form on the home page, is a page asking you to enter your discount voucher (if you have received one). Well I can’t say I was sent one, but hold on, what’s this? There’s already a discount code entered for me. Oh joy! “SPECIAL75” has already been entered, with a message stating “Congratulations, you have our highest valued coupon!”

Would you like a discount?

Well there’s a stroke of luck.

If I click the “Redeem Now” button to carry on through to the next page it does, sure enough, apply the discount with the message “Congratulations! Special 75% Discount Coupon Applied.”

Domain name search engine registration scam coupon applied for a dubious 75% off

HOW MUCH?!

And now the clincher, just how much is this going to hurt my wallet? Well it would have cost me $397.00, so not much right? But with my fantastic discount the price gets knocked down to a mere $97.00!! That’s an incredible price to pay compared to $397.00, but let’s not forget that submitting to Google, Bing and Yahoo costs NOTHING. $97.00 compared to nothing doesn’t sound quite so great.

$97 to submit your website to Google, Bing and Yahoo is ... well, a scam

You WILL Have A Discount

Well if you weren’t convinced it’s a scam by this point then there are some more fun things you can do with this site. I figured I’d have a play around and see if I could get to the checkout page without the discount being applied. Why shouldn’t I pay full price if I want to? I went back to the discounts page and deleted the text and submitted the page again. I tried changing it to some gibberish I made up. I tried entering just spaces. I tried following the “Continue without entering a coupon code” link. Every single time it accepted it as the SPECIAL75 voucher and applied the discount.

There is no way to not have a discount. Why? Because $97 sounds a lot more palatable when compared to $397.00, and the scammers know that all too well. They’re trying to trick the mark into thinking they’re subverting the system by receiving a voucher they shouldn’t have received.

Here, Have MORE Discounts!

Having obtained the information I needed in order to write this article I closed the window. Or at least I tried to, I was met with an annoying “Confirm Navigation” box warning me that my website was at risk as I’d still not registered it in Google.

How do they know?!

Now, in their desperation to scam me, they are offering a further discount on top of the 75% they have already knocked off the price. Now they want to halve the $97.00 down to a mere $47.00 with the new voucher code of “TODAY47”, but the offer is ONLY valid today. WOW! But wait, $47.00 is still a lot more than “free”, right?

A mere $45 to do something that's free!

A mere $45 to do something that's free!

And can I use this new voucher directly on the voucher page? Nope. Entering this supposed voucher code still applies the SPECIAL75 code, so I think it’s fair to say there’s no such thing as an actual voucher code on this website.

Do I Need To Register With The Search Engines?

Nope.

Oh you wanted more than that?

Well generally speaking it’s not necessary to submit a website to the search engines. The best way to get your website noticed by Google, Bing and Yahoo is to simply create great content and get other people to link to you from their website. It’s the only strategy for getting high up in the search engines. If you’re looking for a simple set-and-forget option then you’re going to be disappointed.

There’s no inherent harm in telling Google that your website is out there, but if that’s your only intended way of attracting visitors then I can assure you that your website WILL fail.

So Just What DO These Companies Do?

Essentially by using their service you are requesting that this company takes your web address (e.g. mywizzynewwebsite.com) and copy and paste it into the form on this page (you’ll need to be logged into Google to see the form). That’s it.

Would you pay somebody $45 to do that? No? How about $97? No? How about $397?

Obviously this is an outrageous cost for something you can do yourself for free that will probably be of no benefit to you or your customers, so please keep your money in your pocket and don’t let these scammers take you for a ride. Stay safe out there.


p.s. If you receive something fishy that you suspect to be a scam then please get in touch, I enjoy exposing the Internet scum!

About Matt Lowe

Matt Lowe is a WordPress web designer / developer based in Newbury, Berkshire. After 8 years of doing the nine-to-five for other companies and watching them make the same mistakes over and over he set out in business on his own, forming Squelch Design to help businesses get online and make money.

27 comments on “Search Registration Scams

  1. Hi Matt.

    Exactly the same thing just happened to me, I registered a new domain through just host.com and received the email about 4 days later.

    A couple of months ago I also received the phoney Chinese domain registration strong-arm tactic in full.

    Thanks for your posts, they’ve helped me identify these as frauds.

    Keep it up!

    Bud

    • Hi matt, thanks so much you really are a legend. I got the email from godaddy and since my website has been down i completely believed it but glad I read a bit more before I paid them! Does this email have nothing to do with the reason my website is down then as I had emailed godaddy amd this seemed to be the response? Confused.. Nadia :)

    • Hi Nadia,

      This email shouldn’t have anything to do with your website being unavailable. Also I just visited your site and it seemed to be up for me …?

  2. Thank you for posting this.

    When I got that particular email message in my junk folder I had a pretty big red flag it was spam. I figured I check it out just in case I was about to commit a site registration nooby mistake by simply deleting.

    I feel informed instead of vaguely apprehensive.

  3. Hey Matt

    Thanks for highlighting this, I got one of these soon after registering a domain with WHOIS privacy (to stop spam), I nearly fell for it, here are my findings:

    They use two domains, the fake

    SearchRegistry.org

    which uses a fake TrustE and verisign logo

    and a domain called

    buyerfollowup.com

    which is used to send the spam message using hacked Interspire software hosted on spammer friendly OVH (I report a lot of spam and these guys are a name I see over and over).

    So what should you do if you get a message from these scum?

    1. Do not click on any links or activate any images

    2. Report the message to Spamcop and Spamhaus

    3. Tell your domain registrar, they are powerful and can of course blacklist these people

    4. Report the domains used as follows:

    for SearchRegistry.org report to

    http://www.enom.com/help/abusepolicy.aspx

    or email legal@enom.com and tell them you are holding them responsible for the Phish and starting a class action.

    For buyerfollowup.com email abuse@name.com

    If these scammers change the domains used (which they will), just use who.is to find the actual registrar (shown at the top in Registrar Info) then find the website of that company and use their abuse policy.

    buyerfollowup.com does not have WHOIS protection and is registered with name.com here are the (probably fake) details:

    Registrant Name: smitha pradhan
    Registrant Organization: smitha pradhan
    Registrant Street: 13 zason road,kama roti road.
    Registrant City: New Delhi
    Registrant State/Province: delhi
    Registrant Postal Code: 110016
    Registrant Country: IN
    Registrant Phone: +1.09968234538
    Registrant email sujatadda@gmail.com

    5. Report any fake logos they use, e.g. TrustE and Verisign

    6. If you are feeling particularly annoyed take their email address and use it to subscribe to some “unusual” sites newsletters. You might Google sexual fetish newsletter or sex addict newsletter and use their email (sujatadda@gmail.com or info@SearchRegistry.org to subscribe)

  4. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I almost fell for it, read your article and backed out of the initial screen.

  5. Thank you for sharing this information. I just received the exactly same spam mail after I registered a new domain last week. However, it is coming from a different domain (siekekd.com). This new spammer domain is also registered by enom.com about 12 days ago and I have reported to them about the abuse.

    I was a bit confused when I first read about the email. I am a web developer and I have never heard about such a thing. Like you said in your post, they ARE ALL FREE! I was going to call GoDaddy(my domain registrant) to ask about this and found your post before that.

  6. I too received one today. Appreciate this post, thanks.

    Hi there Sakthi vel,

    Domain Name: anachronism.org (Account #65327)
    This email is being sent out to you because search registration for anachronism.org is pending.
    Please register these domains to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.

    Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.

    You can register your domain at: here

    We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.

    Remember… If you do not register your domain with the search engines, it may not appear in the search engine listing when people are looking for you. Failure to complete your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may make it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web. Complete your search engine registration today at: www . searchregistry . org

    Sincerely,

    Search Engine Registry
    1787 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1025
    Washington DC, 20006

  7. Here’s the government link to report everything that’s a scam/phishing email, etc. I use it on all with sexual content… without fail… and any of those LIKE THIS ONE I REC’D TODAY too. I automatically hit FORWARD and start to type, and good old Outlook fills it in for me.

    Nice to see your other links for reporting improper use of logos, etc.

    HERE’S A LINK EVERYONE CAN USE. WE HAVE TO TRY TO STOP THESE THIEVES, EVEN THOUGH IT’S NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE!
    Spam Report: spam@uce.gov

    Thanks,
    Angie

  8. These scumbags are trying hard at the moment, I am seeing a large increase in the number of registration scam emails coming through, even for domains that were registered years ago! Here are three more emails that I have received in the past 24 HOURS ALONE:

    From: Domain Network
    Subject: Hi Matt Lowe – www.******************.com has not been completely registered

    Newly Registered Domain ******************.com

    Matt Lowe
    Griffins Court 24-32 London Road
    Newbury Berkshire RG14 1JX

    Telephone Number: 4.41636E+11

    Hi Matt Lowe

    My name is Bernard and I will be your Account Manager for your free 2 week advertising campaign listing on 2.5 million websites. This is an exclusive to newly registered domain owners only. Click here: http:// www . newlyregisterdomain . com /exclusive/free-advertising3777x.html

    Did you know that 95% of people use search engines to find what they are looking for? Right now, your website cannot be located on many search engines.

    We’ll help your website ******************.com succeed by making your website known across the entire Internet. We will get you listed virtually everywhere. This includes Yahoo, Bing, Google, Ask, and almost every known search engine, classified network, blogs, FFA link websites, directories, e-zines, download submissions and much more.

    You can redeem your free advertising here:
    http:// www . newlyregisterdomain . com /exclusive/free-advertising3777x.html

    Let me know if you have any problems.

    Best Regards

    Bernard Oneal
    Personal Account Manager
    Domain Submit

    P.S

    Remember, this exclusive free advertising is for a limited time and can expire at any time.

    Your Exclusive Link is: http:// www . newlyregisterdomain . com /exclusive/free-advertising3777x.html

    This email was sent from Domain Submit, 700 Commerce Dr, Suite 500, Oak Brook, IL 60523

    From: Newly Registered Domains
    Subject: Attention Required – Important information regarding www.*********.com

    Newly Registered Domain at: *********.com

    Registered on:

    Matt Lowe
    Griffins Court 24-32 London Road
    Newbury Berkshire RG14 1JX

    Telephone Number: 4.41636E+11

    Hi Matt Lowe

    My name is Bernard and I will be your Account Manager for your free advertising campaign listing on 2.5 million websites. This is an exclusive to newly registered domain owners only. 7 days of free promotion.

    We’ll help your website *********.com succeed by making your website known across the entire Internet. We will get you listed virtually everywhere. This includes Yahoo, Bing, Google, Ask, and almost every known search engine, classified network, blogs, FFA link websites, directories, e-zines, download submissions and much more. You can redeem your free advertising here:
    http:// www . newlyregisterdomain . org /opt-exclusive/free-advertising3777x.html

    Above is an exclusive link for you only Matt Lowe for free advertising toward your website *********.com

    Remember all websites must be promoted online to be successful.

    Let me know if you have any problems.

    Best Regards

    Bernard Oneal
    Personal Account Manager
    Domain Submit

    P.S

    Remember, this exclusive free advertising is for a limited time and can expire at any time.

    Your Exclusive Link is: http:// www . newlyregisterdomain . org /opt-exclusive/free-advertising3777x.html

    This email was sent from Domain Submit, 700 Commerce Dr, Suite 500, Oak Brook, IL 60523

    From: Domain Registration
    Subject: REMINDER: Search Engine Registration for Your Domain *********.com is pending

    Hi there Matt Lowe,

    Domain Name: *********.com (Account #65327)
    This email is being sent out to you because search registration for *********.com is pending.
    Please register these domains to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.

    Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.

    You can register your domain at: here

    We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.

    Remember… If you do not register your domain with the search engines, it may not appear in the search engine listing when people are looking for you. Failure to complete your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may make it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web. Complete your search engine registration today at: www . searchregistry . org

    Sincerely,

    Search Engine Registry
    1787 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1025
    Washington DC, 20006

  9. Got an email from searchregistry.org today, i registered a new domain name a few days ago through Netfirms. These guys had my full name which means they are either hacking into Netfirms system or have people working for them at these domain registrars.
    went to tneir search registry page and realized it was a scam.
    Thanks for having this article on them, not everyone bothers to research info and i bet are giving these criminals lots of money.

    marie

  10. I had a feeling this was a scam, so I did a google search and found your post. Thanks for the heads up Matt! I will be sharing this post on all of my social platforms.

    -Austin

  11. Hi,

    after domain-registrations, I’m getting more and more of these f***ing mails:

    ############

    Hi there *******

    Domain Name: ******.com (Account #******)

    This email is being sent out to you because search registration for ********.com is pending.

    Please register these domains to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.

    Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.

    You can register your domain at: here

    We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.

    Registering your website with the three major search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo, is a critical step in your online success. Did you know that 95% of people use search engines to find what they are looking for? Right now, your website cannot be located. You can still correct this by immediately completing your registration here

    Our services typically cost $397.00, but don’t worry – the offer I described to you is still available (but only for 2 more days)! Use the coupon SPECIAL9 and register *********.com for only $9.

    Sincerely,

    Search Engine Submission

    1787 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1025

    Washington DC, 20006

    You may Unsubscribe here

    #########

    The question is for me:
    – Why do they know that I’ve registered a new domain wtf?
    – Should I always set my domain-handles to private..would that help?

    Any mail to these boring spammers will result in more of the same mails and will never be answered, so be careful.

    Did someone tried to call them?
    Is there a phone-number somewhere?

  12. Thanks Matt, for this article! I am no web designer, but created my own page and wanted to look into ways to optimize search. Stumbled on your article just as I was putting searchengine.org into the browser address.

    You mention that you can help with creating a sitemap.xml file to submit to the search engines through their webmaster tools. How do I do that? I already submitted my site address to Google’s Webmaster Tool via the link you provide at the end of the article.

    ~Dessi

    • Hi Dessi, sorry for the slow reply. If you want us to create you a sitemap.xml file then I recommend emailing me (email address is at the top of the page)!

  13. i am so happy i ran across this page. I got the exact email about three weeks ago and unfortunately i could not find my bank card. it had said its been reduced from $397 and it would only cost me 9 dollars. of course that definitely sounds like a bargain. I tried to register using a friend’s card and it would somehow not process and then i jut decided to give up. i finally got my new card and i tried to go on the website just two days ago but it said the website was down. i was getting so devastated ab out incurring any late fees so i started googling what to do and i came across this.i believe God saved me from a big big bullet and thank you so much for this article

  14. Just got this today. Very scammy!!
    —————————————–
    Hi there ………

    Domain Name: …………..org (Account #668293019)

    This email is being sent out to you because search registration for …………org is pending.

    Please register these domains to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.

    Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.

    You can register your domain at link given below :

    http:// registerwithsearch . com / index.php?………………….

    We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.

    Remember… If you do not register your domain with the search engines, it may not appear in the search engine listing when people are looking for you. Failure to complete your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may make it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web. Complete your search engine registration today.

    Sincerely,

    Search Register

    110 Middle Road,

    #07-03A Chiat Hong Building,

    Singapore 188968.

  15. I am really glad that you share this important information with us, it’s really important that we share this type of scams info publicly and because of this everyone aware of these scams and fraudsters. Problem is everybody wants to make money in an easy way and that is the biggest reason to fall for these scams and the senior citizens are the best and easy target for these scammers. These scammers wants only and only your money because this is one of the easiest way to make money. You work your whole life and make money by doing lots of hard work and sacrifices and they just took all of it within one night and banished.
    There is only one way to secure yourself that never share your account or important document info with a stranger and don’t fall for fake and unbelievable schemes.
    Be aware.

  16. I received an job offer in Canada from dr Xavier Hill of Xavier Hill Farm.
    Just want to wether it is a fraud.
    Thank you.

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