This afternoon, ICANN sent out an email news alert to inform recipients about a scam that the organization recently learned about. Apparently, there are entities trying to sell fraudulent certificates with the ICANN logo on them that supposedly “are required to protect generic top-level domain names.” I am unsure about who the target audience for the scam is, but I want you to be aware of this.
I also recommend signing up for the ICANN newsletters, which will keep you in the loop about ICANN activities, meetings, and updates.
Here’s the full news alert that was sent to ICANN newsletter subscribers warning of this unauthorized activity:
Fraudulent ICANN Domain Name Certificates
15 July 2014
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
