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ICANN uncovers fraudulent domain certificate scam…

Last week, ICANN, the global overseers of Internet web addresses announced that a new scam was taking place on the Internet, involving fraudulent domain name certificates.

Details of the scam were sent out to ICANN’s email list and posted on their blog.

“It has been brought to ICANN’s attention that some online entities have attempted to sell fraudulent ‘certificates’, which they claim are required to protect generic top-level domain names. The perpetrators of this scam threaten registrants on the protection service with the objective of securing a fee from the registrant. The ‘certificates’ look official and include an unauthorized use of the ICANN logo,” the email explained.

This unauthorized activity will seem strange to anyone who’s familiar with ICANN. This not-for-profit organisation doesn’t actually issue certificates to registrants, nor do they collect fees directly. ICANN is responsible for domain names, but coordinates the sale of these names by licensing resellers to act as registrars to deal directly with those registering for domains.

However, due to the aesthetic authenticity of the fake certificates, it would be easy for anyone new to the domain name industry to fall into the fraudsters’ trap.

So what can you do to avoid this scam?

ICANN stated in their email that they “recommend that any individual or legal entity wishing to register a domain name under a generic top-level domain name to do so using an ICANN-accredited registrar.” Uk2.net has been ICANN accrdited for the best part of two decades. You can double-check this on ICANN’s official list. We’re registered under the name UK2 Limited, which also covers accreditation for sister brands Midphase, WestHost and Resell.biz.

The email from ICANN also stated that they are currently investigating these strange ‘certificates’ and to report any similar incidents to ICANN immediately at compliance@icann.org

To get your own domain, through one of the most trusted companies around, visit the UK2.net website.