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Bogus Network Solutions (and other) email????

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by maxwell edison 3 views

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I've received the following email on more than one occasion, but have never followed the instructions. As many of you may know, I'm very skeptical of such things. I believe it's a bogus email sent by scoundrels attempting to gather my personal information.

>>>>>>>>>> Start of email <<<<<<<<<<

---------------------------------------------------------
In accordance with our Privacy Policy, we are
sending you this account notification.
---------------------------------------------------------

Dear Network Solutions(R) Customer,

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is the non-profit corporation responsible for accrediting domain name service providers. ICANN requires domain name registration customers to keep their account information current. Outdated contact information
can be grounds for domain name cancellation.

To comply with this ICANN requirement, please review all domain names you currently have registered with Network Solutions, and if necessary, update your account records. To confirm your current account information:

* Go to: http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/index.jhtml
* Click on WHOIS in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
* Type your domain name in the WHOIS Search box. Your domain name registration information will be displayed.

If you have added Private Registration to your domain name registration, alternate contact information for your e-mail address, postal address, and phone number will be displayed
in WHOIS. This information does not need to be updated.

If your information is not current, please log into Account Manager to make any needed updates.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Network Solutions Customer Support

------------------------------------------------------------

Please do not reply to this message, as we cannot issue a response. For any customer service inquiries, please contact customerservice@networksolutions.com.

If you would like to unsubscribe from certain e-mail promotions, click here.

Please note, in accordance with our Privacy Policy, we will continue to send you notices and other important information affecting your account or services in order to fulfill our
service obligations to you.

(C) 2004 Network Solutions, LLC. All rights reserved.

Network Solutions, 13200 Woodland Park Road, Department CCD,
Herndon, VA 20171

>>>>>>>>>> End of email <<<<<<<<<<

Yes, I know it looks official.

I've received similar "official looking" emails from Paypal and ebay as well, and I know for certain that they are bogus.

>>>>>>>>>> Bogus Paypal email <<<<<<<<<<

Dear PayPal User,

We regret to inform you but due to recent suspicious activity regarding your account we are forced to ask you to verify your identity for security purposes. In order to continue using your PayPal account normally and avoid any account restrictions please provide us with your full information within 24 hours of receiving this e-mail notification.

To submit your information please click on the link below:

http://paypal.billing-gateway.com

Sincerely,

Sean Wright
PayPal, Inc.

>>>>>>>>>> End of bogus Paypal email <<<<<<<<<<

No, I never follow up on such emails. Nor will I follow up on the one from the alleged "Network Solutions".

Comments?

4 replies

by guruofdos

You CAN have a domain cancelled if your contact info is out of date!! The problem is to do with IPv4 naming and the fact that many sites have been abandoned and need to be scrubbed to make way for other domain registrations. I telephoned Network Solutions, and the UK domain registration people and got a very detailed response.

What they are doing is tracking traffic in and out of domain name servers to see which domains are registered, but not in active use. As domain registration has a minimum of 2 years, and some people are just parking names or cybersquatting, they now chase up registrants of inactive domains to free up space and reallocate domains on the name servers. Failure to provide accurate contact information is one sign of an inactive site, and therefore an obvious target for early deletion. There may be a legitimate reason for parking a domain (commercial reasons, registering a business name, preventing others from using your name, etc.) and if your contact information IS up to date, this can be verified.

So yes, it IS a legitimate email. Whoever you buy your domain from (and I use LCN in the UK), ultimately every dot.com is registered through Network Solutions and therefore they (and not their agents or resellers) require the contact details.

IPV6 should cure the problem....it just doesn't work yet!

by guruofdos

The only send such email if contact by regular mail isn't possible. Naturally, properly registered domains are usually administered by webmasters who DO register company, personal or organisational details, including contact addresses and can therefore be contacted via regular mail in the first instance.

by thechas

Well Max,

They have been warning us that the Phishing schemes are getting more sophisticated.

What I do if I have any question is open up my browser and manually go to the website in question.

Often the text for the links in these emails hide the actual address of the hyper-link which will take you to a phishing site.

This is just another example of the element of society that looks to find ways to take advantage of others.

Much like SPAM, gambling and porn sites, until there is an international authority for policing the internet, there will be very little we can do to eliminate these miscreants.

Chas

by oz_media

I've actually received the same PayPal one before, it is crap because I don't use nor do I have a PayPal account.

As for the Domain registration email, yes I have seen SIMILAR from my domain registrar and it was legit as I also received snail mail from them.

Network Solutions is legit but whether or nto this particular email is legit I cannot say.
I would send a customer service request or place a phone call to them to confirm.

My 2cents Canadian, but that's squat in USD.

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