A carefree surfing experience to .be websites is extremely important to DNS Belgium. The problem though is that some domain names are registered with bad intentions. To get hold of your data or even steal money from you, fake webshops are launched or copied websites are used to deceive you.
As many domain names as possible that have been registered for fraudulent purposes are tracked down. Based on objective criteria, we want to remove them from the zone proactively and reactively.
Our prevention mechanisms
We inspect registrant data before activation
As soon as a domain name is active, the website linked to it can cause damage immediately: fake webshops collect credit card data, phishing websites send false messages to deceive you and direct you to a fake site. That's why we introduced Registrant Verification, to intervene proactively, i.e. before the domain name is active.
How does Registrant verification work?
- During the registration of a domain name, our automated system checks the holder details. This is done on the basis of a number of parameters, supplemented by Machine Learning. When a number of parameters determine that something is wrong with the data, the domain name is not yet activated.
- The registrant and registrar receive a mail from DNS Belgium requesting to confirm the registrant's identity.
- The registrant can verify his details online or provide us with proof of identity.
Our control mechanisms
We manually screen registrant data after activation
- We also subject all newly registered domain names to manual screening. Even if the registrant has verified his data with Registrant Verification.
- If the registrant's data are not correct or complete, we contact the registrant to change the data. If the registrant hasn't changed the data within 14 days, we deactivate the domain name. After another 14 days, we revoke the domain name, and it enters quarantine.
- If this domain name is also on a list with fraudulent domain names, we take action sooner because we don't want the fraudulent website cause a lot of damage. The domain name no longer points to the website, making it inaccessible. The holder gets a total of 4 weeks to respond.
Notification of incorrect contact details
Have you noticed that the contact details or e-mail address of a domain name are not correct? Lodge a complaint on the page with the registration details of this domain name or via the contact form.
We report abuse of your domain name
DNS Belgium works together with a number of security firms and browser developers to keep the .be domain sound and reliable. When they discover abuse at a certain .be domain name, we automatically send a message to the registrant and his registrar.
It is the registrant’s task to remove the fraudulent pages.
When you notice that your domain name is misused or your website is not accessible in the normal way, it is in your best interest to take action as rapidly as possible.
We take unsafe .be websites offline
Whether it's fake webshops, illegal gambling, prohibited products or serious privacy violations: we make sure such .be websites are taken offline quickly. Thanks to our collaboration with several official authorities, we protect millions of internet users every day.
When a competent authority notifies us that a .be domain name is violating the law, we deactivate that domain name. Visitors are then redirected to a warning page so they are no longer at risk.
These are the authorities we work with:
- FPS Economy: tackles fake webshops and fraudulent online practices. Based on these fraudulent e‑commerce sites, we have developed our own algorithm to detect similar websites.
- Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA): cooperation on privacy breaches and data protection.
- Gaming Commission: acts against illegal gambling and violations of the gambling legislation.
- FPS Public Health: combating illegal or prohibited tobacco and similar products, cosmetics, alcohol, animal by-products and genetically modified organisms.
This is how we ensure that the .be zone remains a safe and reliable online environment for both consumers and entrepreneurs.
