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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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

CEO fraud: cybercriminals seem to be going after smaller targets

Fewer disclosed incidents involving governments and corporates, more involving SMEs and individuals

Close-up of man with problems
  • Tuesday 14 January 2025

In 2023, a number of high-profile CEO frauds grabbed attention, as cybercriminals managed to scam government entities out of hundreds of thousands of euros. One of the most notable was an incident involving the City of Alkmaar. A cybercriminal posing as a city executive managed to trick a staff member into making an urgent €236,000 funds transfer. Alkmaar was the latest disclosed addition to a growing list of local authorities defrauded by internet scammers. At the time of that incident, many people were worried about the prospects for the year ahead. And with good reason: not only did it seem that cybercriminals had acquired a taste for such scams, but they also had at their disposal an array of new AI tools to help them perpetrate much more sophisticated and large-scale heists. However, 2024 proved to be a quiet year for similar frauds in both the public and private sectors. So, should we conclude that the danger has passed?

Number of fraud attempts still rising globally

The absence of high-profile incidents certainly isn't due to a downturn in criminal enterprise. In the middle of 2024, security consultants VIPRE reported that the total number of CEO fraud e-mails sent globally was 20 per cent up, year on year. Notably, however, more 'small' frauds were making the news. Instead of concentrating on corporates, as in the past, it seemed that cybercrooks had started targeting SMEs and private individuals as well. Particular notoriety was acquired by real estate scams, where fraudsters pose as banks or estate agents to trick people into paying them money, thinking it's a deposit on a property they want to buy.

AI plays a major role in new types of CEO fraud

One driver behind the shift of focus to smaller targets is probably the availability of AI tools that make it possible to tailor scams on a large scale, instead of having to prepare them individually. VIPRE reported that, by the middle of 2024, 40 per cent of all CEO-fraud e-mails were already being written with the aid of AI tooling to make them more credible. If messages don't need to be manually adapted to suit each individual target, it's much easier to go after a large number of small targets, rather than trying to scam large organisations, which are often better protected.

Civil servants unconcerned

In the public sector, the low fraud incidence is reflected in the attitude to cybersecurity. Of 273 civil servants who took part in a survey by Ipsos in October, 76 per cent were not concerned about their organisations' cybersecurity. They were also more confident about their own understanding of cybersecurity matters than their counterparts a year earlier. However, two thirds of those questioned didn't actually know what CEO fraud was. One wonders, therefore, whether the absence of major incidents in 2024 may be promoting a false sense of security.

Large organisations need to remain alert

So, can corporates and public sector organisations look forward to relatively quiet times? Sadly not. Cybersecurity incident reports show that they remain susceptible to ransomware and supply-chain vulnerabilities. Threats of those kinds often still involve the use of typo-domains. One common trick is to use a typo-domain to make a URL look legitimate at first glance, so that an office worker visits a website where malware is smuggled onto their machine. Alertness and monitoring of the environment therefore remain vital in 2025.

Want to know more?

SIDN can provide organisations with early warnings about potentially malicious domain name registrations. Visit sidn.nl and subscribe to our security newsletter for more information.