We received an official looking letter from an organisation called Internet Register Ireland a few weeks ago. Since the tone of the letter made them sound like the Irish domain registrar IEDR we paid a bit more attention to the letter, especially as they indicated that we needed to act in order to keep our registration with them up to date.
On closer reading however this turned out to be a scam. Internet Register Ireland is a German outfit with absolutely no affiliation with the Irish domain registry. They are a website that seems to have listed numerous Irish businesses and then contacted those businesses to ensure that their listings are up to date.
However, the catch is in the small print at the bottom of the form that they require you to return to update your details. By signing and sending back the form you are agreeing to pay €958 per year to this company for the next three years. The “order” is then extended each year indefinitely unless three months written notice is given to the company.
These folks have been at this lark for quite a few years now and so they must be having some success. Our own internal processes ensured that this landed on the right desk so that it could be assessed correctly. Hopefully others will see this and it will help to raise awareness of the scam.
FBD is currently listed on this website and this has been done without our knowledge. We have asked to be removed, so we’ll see what happens.
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RTE’s show ‘Buyer Beware’ ran a report on these guys about 14 months ago. They also interviewed some of the poor souls who were taken in by this scam and offered advice on anyone who have been effected. I’m sure any of the shows researchers would be happy to hear from anyone else by way of followup and provide a copy of the advice given at the time.