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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

Business name abuse is a growing problem

Money lost to fraud triples in first six weeks of 2022

Entrepreneur looking worried at his laptop
  • Tuesday 8 March 2022

In the first six weeks of 2022, scams costing a total of ten million euros were reported to the Fraud Help Desk, the Dutch national report desk for deceptive sales practices. That compares with just three million in the same period of 2021. Most of the reported cases involved the abuse of company names for CEO fraud, scam calling and the like. The upsurge provides further evidence of the need for better online security.

What is CEO fraud?

CEO fraud gets its name from the fact that, in the early days, it typically involved crooks pretending to be the chief executives of big businesses. They would contact a member of staff and instruct them to arrange a large transaction, sending money to the scammer's bank account. Another name for the practice is business e-mail compromise (BEC) fraud. Perhaps the best-known CEO fraud in the Netherlands was the Pathé case. The crooks behind such frauds invest considerable time and money in preparing each attempted scam, so they aim high with the transaction values.

Rotterdam steel company tricked out of eleven million

Just how high the fraudsters aim was emphasised last month, when we learnt that Rotterdam steel company Jewometaal had lost eleven million euros to someone posing as CEO of the firm's German parent company. The scam was carefully timed for the day after the Chief Financial Officer had gone on holiday.

More victims

In recent times, it's become apparent that fraudsters are casting their nets more widely. Other sectors of the economy and other types of organisation are being targeted. Student associations whose officers change every year, for example. And political parties' campaign offices. Crooks have also trained their sights on wholesalers, recognising that a lot of big wholesale transactions are arranged informally, sometimes without robust verification procedures.

CEO fraud and domain names

We often see that CEO frauds are carried out using e-mail addresses at specially created domains, such as https://naamleverancier-facturen.nl. The domain names in question give the fake invoices a bona fide look and encourage the recipient's trust. Fortunately, many malicious domain registrations can be picked up early using SIDN BrandGuard.

E-mail security standards

Another tactic favoured by cybercriminals is mail spoofing. That's where a weakness in an insecure mail system is exploited to make it look as if an e-mail comes from a legitimate address. Standards are now available that make it possible to check whether an e-mail address is genuine. Sadly, however, many organisations have yet to adopt the mail protocols in question.

Want to know more?

We regularly share information on sidn.nl about CEO fraud and how to protect against it. For all the latest news direct to your mailbox, subscribe to our Domain names, security and brands newsletter.