I regularly receive emails from domain registrars I use asking me to confirm my email address to stay in line with ICANN requirements. Typically, I either ignore these emails if I know my information is up to date, or I will click the email to confirm when I know the email is legitimate. For instance, I regularly receive Whois update emails from Network Solutions following NameJet auction wins.
None of these types of emails request a payment of any kind, and they are always (as far as I can recall) from the domain registrar of record rather than ICANN.
Yesterday afternoon, I received the first email like this purporting to be from ICANN. The email instructed me to confirm my email and make a payment. It had the ICANN logo on the top of the email, but the email was clearly not from ICANN.
I received an additional email this morning, and someone else sent me an email he received this morning related to a domain name registered at a different domain registrar. It appears this email and similar emails like it are making the rounds right now.
ICANN does have requirements about keeping Whois information accurate, but the organization would not send an email to domain registrants requiring them to pay an additional fee to keep their domain name active.
