If you own a domain (website address), there's a chance you'll get either an email or a letter stating something like the following:

"Attention: Important Notice,

DOMAIN SERVICE NOTICE
Domain Name: somewebsite.com  
ATT: Bob Smith
somewebiste.com

Response Requested By 2 - Oct. - 2015 

PART I: REVIEW NOTICE   Attn: Bob Smith

As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that it's time to send in your registration.

Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.

Privatization allows the consumer a choice when registering. Search engine registration includes domain name search engine submission. Do not discard, this notice is not an invoice it is a courtesy reminder to register your domain name search engine listing so your customers can locate you on the web. This Notice for: ronandrenee.com will expire at 11:59PM EST, 2 - Oct. - 2015

Act now!   Select Package: http://www.websitesubmit.biz/?domain=thisisatotalscam.com  

Payment by Credit/Debit Card  

Select the term using the link above by 2 - Oct. - 2015 http://somewebsite.com"

Why is this a scam? This company, and many others like it, pose as your legitimate domain name company, and using lots of urgent language to scare you into paying them lots of money to renew your domain name or submit your domain to search engines. To give an analogy, it's like some stranger walking up to your door and yelling at you that your house mortgage payment us due 3 weeks earlier than it would normally be, and demanding 3 times the normal monthly mortgage payment to keep your mortgage current.

Typically these companies will offer to do one of two things (or both in some cases): They will either scare you into switching your domain registration management to their company for 3 to 4 times the cost of your original company OR they will offer to submit your website to major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Domain registration costs should hang out right around $15.00 per year. If it costs much more than that, your alarm bells should go off.

Submitting your website to search engines is very often completely unnecessary, but, if you do want to tell Google about your new website, you can do so for free. The same goes for Bing and Yahoo.

When you receive these sorts of scammy emails or letters, delete them, trash them, or shred them. But don't contact these companies. They aren't looking out for you.