Internet Name Group, the Melbourne-based domain name registrar that was placed in "voluntary administration", has reached out from beyond the grave to hassle more New Zealand name holders.
ING, which also traded as Internet Name Protection, closed its doors in August following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) taking the company to court alleging "misleading and deceptive conduct".
Now a Melbourne debt collection agency assigned to tidy up ING's books has faxed at least one New Zealand domain name holder claiming she owes ING $500.
Earlier this year the owner of http://www.loganboats.co.nz was told by ING she had to register www.loganboats.com to "protect" her online presence. The woman's son, Richard Paul -- who didn't want his mother named -- advised her to bin the notice, which he described as "a load of rubbish".
"I'd received one myself so that's how I knew."
That was the last either heard from ING until earlier this week when a fax arrived from Citibureau Collections claiming she owed $500 for registering domain names.
"I rang Citibureau and asked for a copy of the original invoice but I've yet to receive a copy."
Calls to ING went unanswered and the ING website says the site is "under construction".
A Citibureau spokeswoman, who did not wish to be named, says she will follow up the matter with the administrator, although she declined to say which company is handling the affair.
"All I can do is go back to my client and say that this business doesn't have any business dealings with my client, and get them to chase it up from there."
The spokeswoman was unaware of the history of ING or the legal case against it for sending out misleading renewal notices that looked like invoices.
"I'll pass on the information and we'll keep everything on hold till we learn more."
Meanwhile, Paul says he's advised his mother not to pay anything to Citibureau or to ING until he's seen the original invoice.