Be on the look out for domain renewal scams! During this episode of Marketing Chairside, Jonathan and Nicole talk about some of the scams out there that dentists need to be aware of to avoid losing access to their domain or having their website hacked or taken offline.
Transcript
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
Hi, everybody. Thanks for stopping into the Pro Impressions YouTube channel. We’ve got a little quick tip for you about your domain security. Your domain is your dot com or what have you that helps people get to your website and you probably have it registered through a site like GoDaddy or Network Solutions, but there are some scams that can come up. And to help me explain this to you, I’m going to welcome our first guest on the Pro Impressions YouTube channel, Nicole Napoleon. She is one of our account managers. Hi, Nicole. Thanks for joining me.
Nicole Napoleon:
Hello. You are very welcome.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
Normally I have to make these videos by myself and you decided to give me some support. I appreciate it.
Nicole Napoleon:
Yes, this is very necessary, had to take the time out to record it.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
Thank you, so tell me a little bit about what’s been going on lately.
Nicole Napoleon:
So recently we’ve received numerous emails to our clients and they’ve kind of forward them to us, but they’re threatening everything from copyright lawsuits to more recently, this domain expiration that you talked about, and they’re asking for payment immediately, download this file immediately. And as you can imagine, that kind of wording and that tone can create a fear and a panic when somebody gets it because there’s uncertainty and the urgency in the messages. It can be hard to decipher if it’s legitimate or not, but we wanted to make this video primarily to assure all of our clients, at Pro Impressions especially, that we take all necessary measures. We have all necessary ownerships for content, as well as we keep a direct log of domain renewal dates and under no circumstances, will you actually get a real domain renewal notification through your website. Anybody that has to reach you regarding that will have access to your personal email. They won’t have to reach you through your website.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
Right and so through the website, it looks like this where they’ve got their, I mean your emails, if you’re not a Pro Impressions client, your emails through the website might look a little different, but the contact form, this person has just filled this out or this robot or this person in some other country is just copying and pasting again and again, saying, “Hey, if we don’t receive payment, your domain will be terminated.” I’ve had some clients, unfortunately fall prey to these and then their domain is held hostage and the website’s offline and the client is panicking because they don’t know what to do and we’ve got to go through their nasty channels where you don’t quite know whether or not you’re ever going to see your domain again, whether you pay or not, it’s scary.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
You don’t want to go there. And this is not a new thing. I mean, sometimes they’ll send them with these old school letters via snail mail. I mean, Pro Impressions, believe it or not has even received these where it’s like, “Business Name, Pro Impressions, You’re going to lose your domain if you don’t pay us 200 bucks.” And I’m like, “You do know who you’re mailing, right? We do this for a living. We’re not going to …”
Nicole Napoleon:
This is what we do.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
Wow. But I mean, I wouldn’t at all blame you, the viewer, if you’re a dentist, you’ve got all these things to keep track of, like Nicole’s saying, copyright on your images and these domain renewals and all the stuff you shouldn’t have to keep track of it all. And if you are a member with Pro Impressions, this is something that we are partnering with you to the best of our ability. We always make sure that you are copying or have added Pro Impressions as a contact in your registrar account and again, that’s the company that you pay to have your dot com. I mean, those you do have to pay money for, but it’s … Nicole’s right, they’ll be emailing you in your own inbox rather than through your website and it’ll be branded. And that’s something that we help all of our members keep track of. And so if that’s not something that you feel comfortable with, or you’re like, “Yeah, I’ve been wondering why in the world I have to do all of this.”
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
We can hook you up with an account manager who can help you keep track of it all, help your marketing move forward, because you should be doing dentistry. You should be focusing in on what you’re best at and we just love to partner with our clients long-term, because they can trust us. We operate transparently and then that way, they’re able to offload some of these challenges and extra responsibilities and stop wasting time and money on marketing that doesn’t work. So if that sounds good, you can give us a call at 970-672-1212, or go to and put a message through our contact form. That’s allowed. Those are emails we like to get. All right, Nicole. Well, thank you very much for joining us and thank you viewers out there. We’ll come … Nicole, we’ll have to figure out another thing that we can hop on video and embarrass ourselves with.
Nicole Napoleon:
Sounds good. I’ll be ready.
Jonathan Fashbaugh:
All right. Thanks.
