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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

Looks like a low-key Christmas for scammers too

But don't let down your guard

Man with credit card in hand does Christmas shopping on a tablet

Not long now until the Christmas holidays are with us again. Although pandemic-related restrictions may curtail the celebrations, retailers are expecting a spending spree, in the high street and online. Sadly, it's also become a tradition for internet criminals to target the festive period as a big opportunity. Scammers use phishing mail and fake webshops featuring popular brands' names, logos and designs to trick unsuspecting consumers out of their money.

Why the festive crime peak?

Over Christmas, scammers benefit from two factors:

  1. Volume In the run-up to the festivities, there's a flood of new retail sites, promotions, mailshots and online offers. So scams don't stand out as much. The hectic period begins on Black Friday and ends at Christmas.

  2. Psychology Many shoppers are looking for expensive, hard-to-find gifts, meaning they're more easily tempted by offers that might otherwise look too good to be true (e.g. branded toys €10 cheaper than in the big toyshops).

Around the world, those trends have long been recognised. In the US, the explosion of advertising linked to Black Friday represents the biggest opportunity for cybercrooks.

Fake Detector

Last year, our colleagues at SIDN Labs introduced a new tool for the detection of fake webshops, called the Fake Detector (FaDe). FaDe showed conclusively that cybercriminals are very focused on the festive period. A clear peak in malicious activity was visible, starting in November.

Figure 1: Monthly number of suspect domains flagged up by FaDe by the end of 2019. (Source: SIDN Labs)

2020: a meagre Christmas?

Against that background, we and others have been keeping a close eye on developments in 2020. And it seems that this year is following an unusual pattern. Over the last month, we've detected far fewer fake webshops than in the same period of 2019: a maximum of seventy, up to and including week 45, compared with 400 in 2019. It also looks as if retail brands are being abused less for phishing. Financial service providers, eBay, Marktplaats and Netflix are all higher in the phishing target list:

Target

Total

1

cryptocurrency

1,494

2

ING Netherlands

343

3

Microsoft

178

4

other

134

5

Rabobank

107

6

PayPal

79

7

RegioBank

78

8

ABN-AMRO

74

9

Marktplaats

70

10

SNS Bank

58

11

Netflix

41

Tabel 1: Main phishing scam targets in 2020 (source: SIDN Labs/Netcraft).

Yet the overall incidence of cybercrime for the year as a whole is up sharply. It's hard to know exactly why festive retail scams are down, but the virus-related restrictions are bound to play a role. High street shops haven't got involved in Black Friday, because large crowds are incompatible with social distancing. So there's been less online advertising to provide cover for scammers. Another factor is better fake webshop prevention. Tools such as SIDN Labs' FaDe enable rapid detection, probably making fraudulent retailing less attractive for crooks.

Don't let down your guard

Statistic of the month: fake webshop detections Visible abuse of big brand domain names is down

Although we haven't yet seen many webshop scams this year, that doesn't mean we won't. Data from 2019 shows that domain names for retail phishing sites are often registered only just before the fake shop goes live. It may be that this year's activity peak has simply been delayed. Another possibility is that scammers have switched from fake webshops, which are detectable, to mail-based fraud, which slips more easily under the radar. We highlighted that trend back in the summer.

Rapid action is vital

Speed vital in the fight against phishing

In order to prevent brand devaluation and reputation damage, we advise continuous online monitoring of brand names, coupled with immediate intervention when issues comes to light. More than three hundred brands are already protected by SIDN BrandGuard. It's now possible to scan for suspect content, logo use and other forms of abuse as well.

Want to know more? Visit https://www.sidn.nl/en/sidn-brandguard.

Article by:

Michiel Henneke

Michiel Henneke

Marketing Manager