Domain Renewal Email: Real or a Scam?

A domain renewal email is genuine only if it comes from the company you registered the domain with, and you can prove that without using anything in the email. Do not click its links and do not pay from it. Log in to your own account instead, or look the registrar up yourself. This guide is for an owner holding a renewal notice from a company they do not quite recognise.

How do I tell if a domain renewal email is genuine?

Check who you actually pay for the domain, using a route you found yourself. A domain is your web address, such as yourbusiness.co.uk, and you rent it from a registrar, which is the company that registers it for you. Renewal reminders should come from that company, because it holds your account and your card details.

Work through these checks in order:

• Find your real registrar first. Look through your inbox for the original receipt or welcome email from when you bought the domain. If a web designer bought it for you, ask them.
• Compare the names. Does the sender match the company on that receipt? A similar name, or a notice that talks about your domain without naming where you registered it, is not a match.
• Ignore the links and phone numbers in the email. Type the registrar's address into your browser or open its app, and look at the renewal date there.
• Look at what is being sold. A genuine renewal asks you to renew the domain you already have. A "notification service", a transfer to a new company or a similar-looking domain is a different product, and you can decline all three.
• Check the amount against your own records. If the price is far above what your last receipt says, treat the notice with suspicion.

These are common-sense checks, not a legal test, and a notice can fail one and still be honest, such as a reseller you forgot you used. The account login is the proof that counts.

Does the registry email me directly about renewals?

For a .uk domain, yes, but only after the expiry date has passed and only if no renewal has been received. Nominet, which runs the .uk registry, says it sends reminders to the registrant starting one day after expiry, with a further warning at 23 days that the domain will be suspended in seven days. It then sends a notice at 30 days that the domain has been suspended, and a cancellation warning at 83 days. According to Nominet's renewal reminder page, those emails tell you to contact your registrar to arrange renewal, and they name that registrar and give its public web address.

That gives you a useful test. A real registry reminder points you back to the company you already pay and does not ask you to pay someone new. Nominet also says registrars can opt out of sending most of these reminders, so not getting one proves nothing either way.

What should I do before I pay anything?

Pay nothing from the email, then confirm the renewal date in your registrar account. If the domain is already set to renew, or has a date months away, the notice was asking for money you did not need to spend.

If the notice is a scam or just misleading, delete it and leave it there. If you want to report one, your local Trading Standards service and Action Fraud are the usual places. Do not reply to the sender or ring the number on it.

A worked example

Say a trader bought a .co.uk domain years ago and now gets a notice for an amount well above what they remember. They find the original receipt, which names their registrar, and log in there. The renewal is set for next spring at the usual price, so the notice came from a different company and they ignore it. Nothing in that notice needed paying.

Where to go next

Knowing who holds your domain matters beyond one email. Our guide to who owns your website explains how to find out and why it should be in your name. The running costs guide lists what a domain renewal should cost to keep, and the business email guide covers what happens to your email if a domain lapses. More decisions like this are in website costs and choices.

At ByRender we build your whole website for free, you look round it, and you only pay if you want to keep it, with setup from £495 and then from £69 a month. You register your own domain, so the account and the renewal emails stay with you. If you want a look, the contact page is the place.

Frequently asked questions

What if I already paid the wrong company?

Ask your bank or card provider about the payment straight away, and keep the notice and any receipt. Then check with your real registrar that your domain is still renewing there. Paying an unrelated company does not renew your domain, so the renewal still needs sorting.

What if I ignore the email and it was genuine?

A genuine reminder comes from the company you registered with, so you would still be able to log in to that account and renew. Check the account before you decide, because a missed renewal is the one outcome that costs you the address.

I cannot remember who I registered my domain with. What now?

Ask whoever set up your website or email, and search your inbox for the original receipt. The guide to who owns your website below explains how to find out who holds the keys.