If you own a domain name that’s registered to your small business, you’re already on a con artist’s list. If they haven’t contacted you yet, just wait. They will.

The letter you receive from the con artist will look legitimate enough. It will come to your business address. It will have the name of one or more domains that you own. And it will notify you, correctly, of the date that your registration for that domain name expires.

It will even give you honest information on how important it is to renew a domain name and what happens if you don’t.

How, then, is this a con?

Because the letter either implies that you originally registered the domain name through the sender, or says it will offer you great savings to switch and renew your domain name through them.

Both cases are highly unlikely.

I received dozens of such letters every year. The one that arrived today is unusual in that it comes from a sender honest enough to admit that I did not originally register my domains through them. They claim only that I will receive a substantial savings by renewing through them.

The “savings” they offer me? I can renew a domain registration through them for one year for the sum of $30.

If I renew through the company I use for all my domain registrations, GoDaddy, I’ll pay pennies over $10. And because GoDaddy always has coupon codes available, I’m more likely to pay less than $8 to renew a domain registration for one year.

The sender of the letter is offering to charge me an extra $22 for the same service. That’s money I don’t have any reason to spend. And that’s why I call them a con artist.

These con artists know that, as a small business owner, you’re too busy and have too many details to keep track of. They hope you won’t remember who you registered with and won’t check.

Don’t let them take advantage of you. You should always know where your domain names are registered. That’s the best way to be completely sure that the domain names are correctly registered to you, and not to someone you relied on for help, such as a web designer or hosting service.

If you’re not certain where your domain names are registered, go to http://www.whois.net. By entering your domain name in their search bar, you’ll be shown all the information about that URL, including where it was registered.

When your domain names are about to expire, you will receive an email from the registration service you originally used. You will not be notified by ground mail.

A ground mail contact is a clear signal that the expiration notice you’ve received is some sort of scam.

Your domain name is an important business asset. Keep control of it in your own hands. Know where it is registered. Know that it is registered in your name only. And don’t unwittingly sign over registration rights to anyone else.