Oh, it’s only a pet scam …
In July 2020 Interpol mentioned Non-Delivery Fraud in a Purple Alert. Even puppies are mentioned.
People are quick to pass off pet scams as not so serious, so why is Interpol concerned?
Folks such as the Better Business Bureau are alerting the public to them. Scamwatch in Australia is also alerting about them. The warnings are being published all over.
Many registrars aren’t too concerned, not taking time to understand this phenomena. Some registrars are extremely popular with these criminals who use them as a shield in jurisdictional shifts. Some will even sponsor these domains knowing they are fraudulently registered, abusing the GDPR as an excuse to turn a blind eye. Likewise certain hosters have found these criminals to be a lucrative client base if they also turn a blind eye. Certain companies will gladly accept money to design websites and register domains for them, then publish and host these websites for them – perhaps even earn a few extra dollars to do SEO for these criminals. These are players in the Registrars’ so-called reseller channels.
Yet these parties are accepting stolen money, the proceeds of crime and money laundering. Some of these designer resellers do it knowingly, claim to be innocent because they are not committing the fraud with the websites they facilitate. In turn certain registrars are quick to make it a hosting provider problem, distancing themselves from the issue at hand, devolving it to a facilitating party. So much for ICANN 2013 distinguishing between Registrar and registrar and ultimate responsibility.
Make no mistake: stolen money, money laundering and a lack of accountability is fueling this segment of the industry at all levels, turning innocent consumers and businesses into victims.
The types of fraud Artists Against 419 fight is illegal globally, the product of the malicious domains ICANN GAC mentions, also mentioned by Interpol. In a responsible internet ecosystem we’d not even be discussing this, yet here we are.
So, what is Non-Delivery Fraud really?
Read Non-Delivery Fraud: Taxonomy for a high level explanation to see how the puppy scammers are more than just that, but rather part of an international organized crime spree against consumer and business!