Warning: Fraudulent ICANN Domain Name Certificates

ICANN issued a warning today regarding some people trying to sell generic top-level domain (gTLD) centificates. These fraudulent certificates claim to protect registrants from something that I don’t quite understand. If you have received such an email please post it on the comments below.

The “certificates” look official and include an unauthorized use of the ICANN logo and the people making them are trying to extort money from registrants.

“ICANN is currently investigating these cases and advises registrants who encounter similar incidents to report to ICANN immediately via an email to Contractual Compliance at compliance@icann.org.”

ICANN recommends that anyone wishing to register a domain name under a generic top-level domain name to do so using an ICANN-accredited registrar. And if you want to buy an already registered domain in the secondary market then you should always use a secure escrow service such as escrow.com or eCop.com.

This is the official ICANN warning:

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 perpetuators 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.

Please note that ICANN does not issue certificates to registrants and does not collect fees from registrants directly.

ICANN is currently investigating these cases and advises registrants who encounter similar incidents to report to ICANN immediately via an email to Contractual Compliance at compliance@icann.org.

ICANN recommends 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. More information, including a list of all current ICANN-accredited registrars can be found here: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrars-0d-2012-02-25-en