Don’t Pay Over the Odds for a Name

Northumberland County Council Trading Standards Department is warning local businesses to be wary of unsolicited telephone calls from companies who purport to be in the business of selling domain names on the internet. A domain name is a website address i.e. yourwebsite.co.uk etc. The company will contact a business with a known website address. They will then state that another business in the local area is trying to buy a similar domain name with the intention of masquerading as the first company and taking their internet business. The domain name is then offered for sale at an inflated price to the concerned party and high pressure sales techniques are used to try to secure a sale.

Mick King, County Trading Standards Officer, says: “I would advise any small business to be particularly wary of phone calls of this nature. Such a call is likely to be a sales pitch from a marketing company and businesses should not feel pressurised into buying domain names at such short notice. If you want a domain name, whether for use now or in the future, shop around to find an Internet Service Provider who will register and look after it for you at a price you are willing to pay.”