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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

ScamCheck lets you see how trustworthy a website is

"Our mission is to protect internet users in the Netherlands"

Illustration of a laptop with a warning pop-up on the screen
  • Tuesday 26 July 2022

Every year in the Netherlands, a total of roughly €2.75 billion is lost to fraud, say researchers at the University of Twente. The victim survey underpinning that figure also found that most scams now happen online. Given that the Netherlands has one of the highest rates of internet use in the world, digital resilience and online security are particularly and increasingly important. ECP | Platform for the Information Society and Thuiswinkel.org have therefore forged an alliance with various partners, including SIDN, to launch ScamCheck. Available on veiliginternetten.nl, ScamCheck is an online tool that lets internet users see whether a website is legitimate. Jorij Abraham, CEO of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and ScamAdviser, explains: "Our mission is to protect internet users in the Netherlands. Working closely with partners enables us to share knowledge and make the internet safer." Jorij Abraham and Esther Mieremet, ECP's Project Advisor and veiliginternetten.nl Project Leader, talk about this summer's ScamCheck pilot, the initiative's rollout and the search for potential partners.

A safer internet is a stronger internet

"At ECP, we work to promote a resilient, opportunity-rich digital society. Online safety is very much part of that," explains Esther. "One way we pursue that goal is by giving practical information and advice on our website, about online privacy and how to use the internet safely. Our new ScamCheck tool is aimed at Dutch internet users, trade associations, tradespeople and businesses. You enter a URL into the search box, and ScamCheck checks whether the website is a phishing site, a scam site, or legitimate. Completely free of charge. The checked website is given a Trust Score on the basis of data provided by various Dutch organisations. For example, you can see whether the website is registered with the Chamber of Commerce, whether its SSL certificate is valid and whether it's been reported as a phishing site. The organisations we get the data from include ScamAdviser, Thuiswinkel.org and the Chamber of Commerce. As well as being ScamCheck's developer, ScamAdviser is a key input provider. They identify logical relationships between data sources to arrive at a Trust Score for each scanned site. That's done using a special algorithm that's under continuous refinement. If a website has a low Trust Score, it's up to the internet user whether they go ahead and visit. We give advice, but leave the decision-making to the user."

Portrait of Jorij Abraham, General Manager at Global Anti-Scam Alliance and ScamAdviser
Jorij Abraham, General Manager at Global Anti-Scam Alliance and ScamAdviser

"All websites start with a high Trust Score," adds Jorij. "Any negative pointers identified by ScamCheck then bring the score down. The Trust Score also reflects positive pointers, such as certification of a website by the Chamber of Commerce or Thuiswinkel.org. Tradespeople, businesses and trade associations can use the Trust Score to show that their websites, payment methods or software products are safe. If a website has a low score, it's up to the owner to make the improvements needed to bring the score up." Esther continues: "ScamCheck shows where the information behind a score comes from. So a site owner can approach the organisations involved to find out why their score is low. After all, websites are sometimes used for phishing without the owners realising. Once the problem is drawn to their attention, the owner can often sort it out within hours."

Valuable industry-wide partnerships

"The partnerships we've built with a number of organisations have proved extremely valuable. Everyone has pulled together and committed wholeheartedly and selflessly to tackling cybercrime in the Netherlands. One of the organisations allied to the initiative is SIDN, who let us launch ScamCheck at SIDN Inspire 2022," says Esther. "Our work dovetails perfectly with SIDN's mission to promote problem-free, opportunity-rich digital living for everyone." Jorij adds, "SIDN has a lot of valuable know-how about tackling malicious domain names. They work with partners in the Netherlands and other countries to minimise cybercrime. We too firmly believe that joining forces nationally and internationally is the best way to achieve results."

Portrait of Esther Mieremet, project advisor of ECP and project leader of Veiliginternetten.nl
Esther Mieremet, project advisor of ECP and project leader of Veiliginternetten.nl

Driving down cybercrime

"We're piloting ScamCheck over the summer," says Esther. "During the pilot phase, we'll look at things such as how user-friendly the tool is, and who is coming onboard. On the basis of the results, we'll make any necessary adjustments to the way we communicate with the target audience. Then, in October, which is Cybersecurity Month, we'll start a major campaign to promote ScamCheck. Details of the campaign will be worked out in the period ahead. We've already developed a toolkit containing a press release, illustrations and model texts for use on social media, so that our partners and others can share information about ScamCheck with their networks." Jorij clarifies that, although ScamCheck is already a fully functional tool, it is being refined all the time. "We need to be sure that the tool remains legal and technically up to date. So we're currently developing an environment for GDPR-compliant central storage of all the information we have about scams. That's challenging, because cybercriminals operate internationally. Meanwhile, we're already looking beyond the Netherlands and working to roll out ScamCheck in the UK and Portugal. Just as we've done at home, we're working with local partners in those countries to develop versions of ScamCheck adapted to the national internet user population."

"Cybersecurity remains a burning issue, which is attracting more and more political interest. In the future, we can expect the digital space to keep on growing, and cybercriminals to get smarter. So it's vital to press ahead with initiatives such as ScamCheck. Then hopefully we can halt the rise in cybercrime and help make the internet safer for everyone," concludes Jorij.

Sharing data and using ScamCheck enables us to identify more scam websites and increase our impact. If you're interested in becoming a ScamCheck partner like us, mail info@ecp.nl or report@scamadviser.com.