8 ms·

Namecheap. Surprise. They seem to be the preferred DNS provider for this sort of thing.

by mnd999 5y ago

yunohn 5y ago
In what world can a DNS provider verify every single domain purchaser’s intent and activities post-sale? I don’t understand your argument at all…
- zinekeller 5y ago
  They're surprisingly lax with verification, even on ccTLDs with requires actual verification of details they just rubber-stamp what you've said is your contact details.
  - TheFreim 5y ago
    I've never had real identity verification on various domain sites, including namecheap.
    - zinekeller 5y ago
      Probably because you're only registering domains within lax TLDs. Certain TLDs (like those under .uk, .cn, .jp, or .sg for example) requires more documents in theory - and at least with other domain name providers like Gandi, they asked for my ID and a letter from my company stating that I indeed was authorised to be a representative for that company, plus proof that the company exists (it's easy in the UK because it's already in a public database anyway, so we just send our company number and proof that we're that company), to verify that it is indeed me, authorised by my company, when registering at .uk (and similar arrangements for ccTLDs with similar requirements). Namecheap on the other hand... well, they just trust you, period.
    - yunohn 5y ago
      Even if they were to verify such details, that doesn’t preclude the purchaser from committing fraud or scamming others. There’s no way for a seller (namecheap) to ensure their product (domain) is not associated with misuse, just like any other real world sales.
- detaro 5y ago
  in what world is that the only possible thing a provider could do against abuse? Scam domains always are on a timer, a big part of it is if a registrar is responsive to abuse reports or not.
- edent 5y ago
  I've written a little bit about why NameCheap is so beloved by scammers. See https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/05/why-do-scammers-love-namecheap/ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/05/why-do-scammers-love-namech... They allow anonymous payments and they're slow to respond to takedown requests. They've started monitoring registrations now - so you can't register domains like `hsbc-co-uk.biz` without going through some extra checks.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    >They allow anonymous payments and they're slow to respond to takedown requests. things that might also be liked by non-scammers.
    - TheFreim 5y ago
      I love being able to use anonymous payments and I don't do anything malicious.
    - wpietri 5y ago
      Non-scammers is a pretty broad set of people, most of whom are not interested in that. Who specifically do you have in mind?
      - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
        people who set up websites that they don't want tracked back to them - historically speaking gay people might want to be anonymous in all sorts of scenarios and for all sorts of reasons. I'm working helping out an artistic collective in which the various members are anonymous to various degrees. There may need to be anonymity in paying for services - this is an obvious necessity nowadays - for example the whole recent situation over the 'I sexually identify as an attack Helicopter' story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sexually_Identify_as_an_Attack_Helicopter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sexually_Identify_as_an_Atta... so - off the top of my head: often abused or oppressed minorities. artists. on edit: obv. slow to takedown is important for artists or controversial people as well.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  It's not that sales slip through, it's that they refuse takedowns even when provided with legal cases and police reports against dead obvious scam sites.
Macha 5y ago
From HN threads about registrars, they seem to be a preferred registrar in general - it's not hugely surprising that scammers share similar preferences.
pwned1 5y ago
99% of the phishing domains that target my company's site come from Namecheap. I don't know why they can't get their act together when it comes to fraudulent domain registration.
- GrinningFool 5y ago
  What would you expect them to do to stop it? Also, what makes it fraudulent? It may be registered with fraudulent intent, but the business transaction used to register it is likely perfectly legitimate.

Namecheap. Surprise. They seem to be the preferred DNS provider for this sort of thing.

by mnd999 5y ago

Namecheap. Surprise. They seem to be the preferred DNS provider for this sort of thing.

In what world can a DNS provider verify every single domain purchaser’s intent and activities post-sale? I don’t understand your argument at all…

zinekeller 5y ago
They're surprisingly lax with verification, even on ccTLDs with requires actual verification of details they just rubber-stamp what you've said is your contact details.
- TheFreim 5y ago
  I've never had real identity verification on various domain sites, including namecheap.
  - zinekeller 5y ago
    Probably because you're only registering domains within lax TLDs. Certain TLDs (like those under .uk, .cn, .jp, or .sg for example) requires more documents in theory - and at least with other domain name providers like Gandi, they asked for my ID and a letter from my company stating that I indeed was authorised to be a representative for that company, plus proof that the company exists (it's easy in the UK because it's already in a public database anyway, so we just send our company number and proof that we're that company), to verify that it is indeed me, authorised by my company, when registering at .uk (and similar arrangements for ccTLDs with similar requirements). Namecheap on the other hand... well, they just trust you, period.
  - yunohn 5y ago
    Even if they were to verify such details, that doesn’t preclude the purchaser from committing fraud or scamming others. There’s no way for a seller (namecheap) to ensure their product (domain) is not associated with misuse, just like any other real world sales.
detaro 5y ago
in what world is that the only possible thing a provider could do against abuse? Scam domains always are on a timer, a big part of it is if a registrar is responsive to abuse reports or not.
edent 5y ago
I've written a little bit about why NameCheap is so beloved by scammers. See https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/05/why-do-scammers-love-namecheap/ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/05/why-do-scammers-love-namech... They allow anonymous payments and they're slow to respond to takedown requests. They've started monitoring registrations now - so you can't register domains like `hsbc-co-uk.biz` without going through some extra checks.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  >They allow anonymous payments and they're slow to respond to takedown requests. things that might also be liked by non-scammers.
  - TheFreim 5y ago
    I love being able to use anonymous payments and I don't do anything malicious.
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Non-scammers is a pretty broad set of people, most of whom are not interested in that. Who specifically do you have in mind?
    - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      people who set up websites that they don't want tracked back to them - historically speaking gay people might want to be anonymous in all sorts of scenarios and for all sorts of reasons. I'm working helping out an artistic collective in which the various members are anonymous to various degrees. There may need to be anonymity in paying for services - this is an obvious necessity nowadays - for example the whole recent situation over the 'I sexually identify as an attack Helicopter' story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sexually_Identify_as_an_Attack_Helicopter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sexually_Identify_as_an_Atta... so - off the top of my head: often abused or oppressed minorities. artists. on edit: obv. slow to takedown is important for artists or controversial people as well.
vorpalhex 5y ago
It's not that sales slip through, it's that they refuse takedowns even when provided with legal cases and police reports against dead obvious scam sites.

Macha 5y ago

From HN threads about registrars, they seem to be a preferred registrar in general - it's not hugely surprising that scammers share similar preferences.

pwned1 5y ago

99% of the phishing domains that target my company's site come from Namecheap. I don't know why they can't get their act together when it comes to fraudulent domain registration.

GrinningFool 5y ago
What would you expect them to do to stop it? Also, what makes it fraudulent? It may be registered with fraudulent intent, but the business transaction used to register it is likely perfectly legitimate.