Domain name overseer ICANN has warned against online entities that have tried to sell fraudulent ‘certificates’ in return for protection in gTLDs.
The scammers have apparently threatened registrants and attempted to secure a fee for their fake services.
ICANN said the ‘certificates’ look official and include an unauthorised use of the organisation’s logo.
“Please note that ICANN does not issue certificates to registrants and does not collect fees from registrants directly,” said a notice on its site.
ICANN, which is investigating the scammers, has advised registrants who encounter similar incidents to report them immediately via the email address compliance@icann.org.
The organisation said that any individual or legal entity (which could be a brand) wishing to register an address under a generic top-level domain should use only an ICANN-accredited registrar.
