Domain Abuse: 2020
- Overview
- Definitions Matter
- Registrar Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (All Domains)
- Registrar Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
- Domain Endings Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-31 (All Domains)
- Domain Endings Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
- .co.za ccTLD Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (All Domains)
- .co.za ccTLD Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
- Note to registrars, registries and law enforcement
Overview
The below statistics shows the advance fee fraud related domain abuse per quarter for 2020 as recorded by Artists Against 419. This documents abuse by registrar and ccTLD, exposing the registrars and registries that are problematic and where malicious domains find a foothold to target internet consumers.
The details are broken down by Registrar and TLD/ccTLDs/free sub-domains (the previous Domain Endings in our reports). We do a comparison of malicious domains. We list All Domains per entity vs Active Domains for 2020. It’s our contention that no consumer facing registrar can stop their services being abused. However they most certainly can, and should, mitigate malicious domains. As such the All vs Active comparison is indicative of a Registrar or Registry’s tolerance for fraud.
We include a cumulative malicious domain count column in the Active Domains, showing how many malicious domains were active in total at each Registrar / Registry by the end of 2020.
In 2020, the South African co.za ccTLD saw much abuse causing gross consumer harm. This saw it becoming the second highest abused TLD/ccTLD. As such we break down this anomaly by registrar.
Definitions Matter
The Artists Against 419 definition of a malicious domain is in line with the ICANN GAC and ICANN CCT definitions. We only list a domain name as malicious in incidents where the domain name was deliberately registered to defraud consumers.
ICANN GAC says the following in the ICANN 46 Beijing Communique:
the domain name registration is being used to facilitate or promote malware, operation of botnets, phishing, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement, fraudulent or deceptive practices, counterfeiting or otherwise engaging in activity contrary to applicable law.
https://gac.icann.org/advice/communiques/public/gac-46-beijing-communique.pdf
ICANN GAC also has this to say in a Sept 2019 statement on DNS Abuse:
Noting that ICANN community findings demonstrated that “consensus exists on what constitutes DNS Security Abuse, or DNS Security Abuse of DNS infrastructure,” the CCT Review Team referred to DNS Abuse as “intentionally deceptive, conniving, or unsolicited activities that actively make use of the DNS and/or the procedures used to register domain names.”
https://gac.icann.org/file-asset/public/gac-statement-dns-abuse-final-18sep19.pdf
Despite these clear plain language definitions, some registrars fail to honor these definitions, instead trying to define their own (rather self serving) abuse definitions. In turn this gaming leads to much consumer harm with such registrars facilitating cyber crime and money laundering through inaction, further overwhelming already constrained law enforcement resources.
Abuse by Registrar
Registrar Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (All Domains)
| Registrar | Q1:Total | Q2:Total | Q3:Total | Q4:Total | Period:Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAMECHEAP, INC. | 260 | 392 | 348 | 488 | 1488 |
| PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM | 354 | 256 | 194 | 241 | 1045 |
| NAMESILO, LLC | 329 | 210 | 205 | 230 | 974 |
| GODADDY.COM, LLC | 28 | 184 | 78 | 67 | 357 |
| REGISTRAR OF DOMAIN NAMES REG.RU | 11 | 8 | 164 | 24 | 207 |
| HOSTINGER, UAB | 30 | 56 | 23 | 45 | 154 |
| 1API GMBH | 14 | 24 | 47 | 42 | 127 |
| HOSTING CONCEPTS B.V. DBA OPENPROVIDER | 51 | 39 | 22 | 12 | 124 |
| ENOM, INC. | 16 | 9 | 50 | 38 | 113 |
| UPPERLINK LIMITED | 6 | 32 | 62 | 12 | 112 |
| LIGNE WEB SERVICES SARL DBA LWS | 57 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 93 |
| SHINJIRU MSC SDN BHD | 24 | 31 | 25 | 11 | 91 |
| INTERNET DOMAIN SERVICE BS CORP | 13 | 4 | 58 | 6 | 81 |
| DOMAINS.CO.ZA | 4 | 44 | 11 | 15 | 74 |
| NETEARTH ONE INC. D/B/A NETEARTH | 7 | 10 | 41 | 14 | 72 |
| HOSTKING.CO.ZA | 3 | 12 | 23 | 31 | 69 |
| WEB COMMERCE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED DBA WEBNIC.CC | 11 | 25 | 13 | 20 | 69 |
| FREE SUBDOMAIN | 11 | 9 | 22 | 21 | 63 |
| NAME.COM, INC. | 1 | 13 | 27 | 21 | 62 |
| TUCOWS DOMAINS INC. | 16 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 47 |
| OWNREGISTRAR, INC. | 4 | 5 | 15 | 22 | 46 |
| TLDS L.L.C. D/B/A SRSPLUS | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| INNOVADEUS PVT. LTD. | 36 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 37 |
| BIGROCK SOLUTIONS LTD | 13 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 27 |
| LAUNCHPAD.COM, INC. | 4 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 22 |
| FASTDOMAIN INC. | 2 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 21 |
| WIX.COM LTD. | 4 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 21 |
| WEB4AFRICA INC. | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 20 |
| PORKBUN, LLC | 1 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 19 |
| DOMAINSHYPE.COM, INC | 0 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 18 |
| 1&1 INTERNET | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| EPAG DOMAINSERVICES GMBH | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| ALIBABA CLOUD | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| DIAMATRIX C.C. | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| GOOGLE LLC | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| GRANSY S.R.O. D/B/A SUBREG.CZ | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| PSI-USA, INC. DBA DOMAIN ROBOT | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| DANESCO TRADING LTD. | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 101DOMAIN GRS LIMITED | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| IN2NET NETWORK INC. | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| SA WEBHOSTS | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| CNOBIN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LIMITED | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| ONE.COM A/S | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| WILD WEST DOMAINS, LLC | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| ZA DOMAINS | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| DYNADOT, LLC | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| NETIM SARL | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| ONLINENIC, INC. | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| URL SOLUTIONS, INC. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| DOMAIN.COM, LLC | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| FREE DOMAIN | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| AXXESS DSL | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| HOSTAFRICA | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| INSTRA CORPORATION PTY LTD. | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| ONLINE SAS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| AFRIHOST | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| DENIC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| DOMAINPEOPLE, INC. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| ERANET INTERNATIONAL LIMITED | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| MONIKER ONLINE SERVICES LLC | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| NOTFOUND | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| OPENTLD B.V. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| P.A. VIET NAM COMPANY LIMITED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| TURNCOMMERCE, INC. DBA NAMEBRIGHT.COM | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| WEBSPACEBAR | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| CRAZY DOMAINS FZ-LLC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| DNC HOLDINGS, INC. | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| OVH SAS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| REGIONAL NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER, JSC DBA RU-CENTER | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| REGISTER DOMAIN SA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| REGISTER.COM, INC. | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| TLD REGISTRAR SOLUTIONS LTD. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| AUTOMATTIC INC. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| CRONON AG | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| FRIKKADEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| GANDI SAS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| GKG.NET, INC. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| SA DOMAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| STALLION HOSTING | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| WEBAFRICA NETWORKS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| XNEELO (PTY) LTD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 123-REG LIMITED T/A 123-REG | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| AB NAME ISP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| AMPLEHOSTING | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ATAK DOMAIN HOSTING INTERNET VE BILGI TEKNOLOJILERI LIMITED SIRKETI D/B/A ATAK TEKNOLOJI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BEGET LLC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CENTER OF UKRAINIAN INTERNET NAMES DBA UKRNAMES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| CV. JOGJACAMP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CV. RUMAHWEB INDONESIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CYBERSMART LTD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DREAMHOST, LLC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| EXABYTES NETWORK SDN BHD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| HOSTING.UA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| LEDL.NET GMBH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MESH DIGITAL LIMITED | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| NAME SRS AB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| NAMEKING.COM INC. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| PT ARDH GLOBAL INDONESIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| RADIX DOMAINS D/B/A RADIX.NG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| REALTIME REGISTER B.V. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| REGTIME LTD. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| RIPE NETWORK COORDINATION CENTRE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SOLUCIONES CORPORATIVAS IP, SL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SYNERGY WHOLESALE PTY LTD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| TEXO WEB HOSTING | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| VAUTRON RECHENZENTRUM AG | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| VEHOST.CO.ZA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Registrar Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
| Registrar | Q1:Active | Q2:Active | Q3:Active | Q4:Active | Period:Active | Cumulative Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAMECHEAP, INC. | 156 | 288 | 286 | 456 | 1186 | 1461 |
| NAMESILO, LLC | 70 | 45 | 59 | 93 | 267 | 334 |
| GODADDY.COM, LLC | 14 | 124 | 57 | 61 | 256 | 313 |
| REGISTRAR OF DOMAIN NAMES REG.RU | 5 | 3 | 139 | 22 | 169 | 198 |
| HOSTINGER, UAB | 14 | 40 | 22 | 42 | 118 | 143 |
| 1API GMBH | 3 | 22 | 41 | 41 | 107 | 114 |
| ENOM, INC. | 12 | 5 | 43 | 36 | 96 | 166 |
| HOSTING CONCEPTS B.V. DBA OPENPROVIDER | 27 | 27 | 20 | 11 | 85 | 88 |
| LIGNE WEB SERVICES SARL DBA LWS | 47 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 83 | 119 |
| SHINJIRU MSC SDN BHD | 15 | 26 | 19 | 11 | 71 | 97 |
| INTERNET DOMAIN SERVICE BS CORP | 7 | 4 | 53 | 5 | 69 | 81 |
| UPPERLINK LIMITED | 3 | 15 | 38 | 11 | 67 | 77 |
| WEB COMMERCE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED DBA WEBNIC.CC | 10 | 20 | 12 | 19 | 61 | 68 |
| HOSTKING.CO.ZA | 1 | 7 | 19 | 29 | 56 | 59 |
| NAME.COM, INC. | 0 | 10 | 26 | 20 | 56 | 71 |
| NETEARTH ONE INC. D/B/A NETEARTH | 2 | 2 | 34 | 14 | 52 | 59 |
| FREE SUBDOMAIN | 8 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 49 | 219 |
| DOMAINS.CO.ZA | 1 | 27 | 3 | 15 | 46 | 49 |
| OWNREGISTRAR, INC. | 1 | 1 | 11 | 21 | 34 | 39 |
| TUCOWS DOMAINS INC. | 6 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 72 |
| LAUNCHPAD.COM, INC. | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 21 | 22 |
| TLDS L.L.C. D/B/A SRSPLUS | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| WIX.COM LTD. | 3 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 18 |
| FASTDOMAIN INC. | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 20 |
| WEB4AFRICA INC. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 21 |
| PORKBUN, LLC | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 14 |
| EPAG DOMAINSERVICES GMBH | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
| PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 14 |
| 1&1 INTERNET | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 65 |
| ALIBABA CLOUD | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| INNOVADEUS PVT. LTD. | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 20 |
| GRANSY S.R.O. D/B/A SUBREG.CZ | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| PSI-USA, INC. DBA DOMAIN ROBOT | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| DIAMATRIX C.C. | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| GOOGLE LLC | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| IN2NET NETWORK INC. | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| ZA DOMAINS | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 101DOMAIN GRS LIMITED | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| BIGROCK SOLUTIONS LTD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| DANESCO TRADING LTD. | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| DYNADOT, LLC | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 19 |
| WILD WEST DOMAINS, LLC | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
| ONE.COM A/S | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| ONLINENIC, INC. | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| URL SOLUTIONS, INC. | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| DOMAINPEOPLE, INC. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| ONLINE SAS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| P.A. VIET NAM COMPANY LIMITED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| AFRIHOST | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| AXXESS DSL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| CNOBIN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LIMITED | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| DENIC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| DOMAIN.COM, LLC | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| ERANET INTERNATIONAL LIMITED | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| HOSTAFRICA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| MONIKER ONLINE SERVICES LLC | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| OPENTLD B.V. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| TLD REGISTRAR SOLUTIONS LTD. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| CRONON AG | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| DNC HOLDINGS, INC. | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| FRIKKADEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| GKG.NET, INC. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| OVH SAS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| REGIONAL NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER, JSC DBA RU-CENTER | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| REGISTER DOMAIN SA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| REGISTER.COM, INC. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| SA DOMAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| TURNCOMMERCE, INC. DBA NAMEBRIGHT.COM | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| WEBAFRICA NETWORKS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| WEBSPACEBAR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| XNEELO (PTY) LTD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| AB NAME ISP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| AMPLEHOSTING | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| ATAK DOMAIN HOSTING INTERNET VE BILGI TEKNOLOJILERI LIMITED SIRKETI D/B/A ATAK TEKNOLOJI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| AUTOMATTIC INC. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| BEGET LLC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CRAZY DOMAINS FZ-LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| CV. JOGJACAMP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| CV. RUMAHWEB INDONESIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CYBERSMART LTD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| DOMAINSHYPE.COM, INC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| DREAMHOST, LLC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| EXABYTES NETWORK SDN BHD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| FREE DOMAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| GANDI SAS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| INSTRA CORPORATION PTY LTD. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| NAME SRS AB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| NAMEKING.COM INC. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| NETIM SARL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| PT ARDH GLOBAL INDONESIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| REALTIME REGISTER B.V. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| RIPE NETWORK COORDINATION CENTRE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SA WEBHOSTS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| SOLUCIONES CORPORATIVAS IP, SL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| STALLION HOSTING | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SYNERGY WHOLESALE PTY LTD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 123-REG LIMITED T/A 123-REG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CENTER OF UKRAINIAN INTERNET NAMES DBA UKRNAMES | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| HOSTING.UA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LEDL.NET GMBH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MESH DIGITAL LIMITED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| NOTFOUND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RADIX DOMAINS D/B/A RADIX.NG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| REGTIME LTD. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEXO WEB HOSTING | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VAUTRON RECHENZENTRUM AG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHOST.CO.ZA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Abuse by TLD, ccTLD and Free Sub-Domain
Domains by TLD: Quarterly 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (All Domains)
| Domain End | Q1:Total | Q2:Total | Q3:Total | Q4:Total | Period:Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| com | 1217 | 1279 | 1253 | 1174 | 4923 |
| co.za | 33 | 82 | 106 | 103 | 324 |
| org | 26 | 23 | 48 | 38 | 135 |
| net | 19 | 31 | 42 | 32 | 124 |
| us | 4 | 50 | 29 | 16 | 99 |
| online | 9 | 19 | 11 | 41 | 80 |
| info | 15 | 20 | 20 | 9 | 64 |
| co.uk | 20 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 41 |
| eu | 8 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 26 |
| co | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| site | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| uk | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| wixsite.com | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| wordpress.com | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| biz | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| pe.hu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| services | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| best | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| blogspot.com | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| ltd | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| pw | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| site123.me | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| store | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| zohosites.com | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| cc | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| de | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| in | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| xyz | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| business.site | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| cf | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| nl | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| org.za | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| pl | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| ca | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| club | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| co.ua | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| com.au | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| glitch.me | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| in.net | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| me | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| page.tl | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| shop | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| webs.com | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| world | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 000webhostapp.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 220.2.141 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3-a.net | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| agency | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| asia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| btempurl.com | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| cash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| center | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| com.my | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| com.ng | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| com.nu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| com.ua | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| contact.page | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| delivery | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| dtempurl.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| dx.am | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| es | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| farm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| ga | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| gallery | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| giize.com | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| gq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| health | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| home.blog | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| icu | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| live | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| my | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| press | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| pro | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| rf.gd | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| simdif.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| tk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| top | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| vps.ovh.ca | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| webnode.com | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| webself.net | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| website | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| websites.co.in | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| weebly.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| yolasite.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Domains by TLD: Quarterly 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
| Domain End | Q1:Active | Q2:Active | Q3:Active | Q4:Active | Period:Active | Cumulative Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| com | 386 | 662 | 794 | 831 | 2673 | 3488 |
| co.za | 13 | 53 | 77 | 96 | 239 | 267 |
| org | 9 | 13 | 35 | 27 | 84 | 111 |
| net | 6 | 19 | 31 | 25 | 81 | 118 |
| us | 1 | 26 | 16 | 13 | 56 | 60 |
| co.uk | 8 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 31 |
| eu | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 27 |
| info | 7 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 25 |
| co | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 11 |
| wixsite.com | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 39 |
| online | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| pe.hu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| best | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| blogspot.com | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 31 |
| zohosites.com | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| biz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| uk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| wordpress.com | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| de | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| nl | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| org.za | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| pl | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| site123.me | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| business.site | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| co.ua | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| ltd | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| me | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| page.tl | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| pw | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| shop | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| site | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| store | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| webs.com | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 220.2.141 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3-a.net | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| agency | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| asia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ca | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| cc | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| center | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| club | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| com.au | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| com.my | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| contact.page | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| delivery | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| dtempurl.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| dx.am | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| es | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| farm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ga | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| health | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| home.blog | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| my | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| rf.gd | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| services | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| vps.ovh.ca | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| webnode.com | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| webself.net | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| websites.co.in | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| weebly.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| xyz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| yolasite.com | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 000webhostapp.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| btempurl.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| cash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| com.ng | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| com.nu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| com.ua | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| gallery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| giize.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| glitch.me | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| gq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| icu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| in | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| in.net | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| live | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| press | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| pro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| simdif.com | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| tk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| top | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| trade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| website | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| world | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
com: Excludes blogspot.com webs.com wixsite.com zohosites.com webnode.com wordpress.com btempurl.com giize.com yolasite.com weebly.com simdif.com dtempurl.com 000webhostapp.com
net: Excludes 3-a.net webself.net in.net
uk: Excludes co.uk
me: Excludes glitch.me site123.me
site: Excludes business.site
ca: Excludes vps.ovh.ca
my: Excludes com.my
in: Excludes websites.co.in
The co.za ccTLD Abuse
In 2020, the .co.za was the most the second most abused TLD/ccTLD after .com. These statistics show where the abuse occurred.
.co.za ccTLD Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (All Domains)
| Registrar | Q1:Total | Q2:Total | Q3:Total | Q4:Total | Period:Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1API GMBH | 13 | 10 | 39 | 41 | 103 |
| DOMAINS.CO.ZA | 4 | 44 | 11 | 15 | 74 |
| HOSTKING.CO.ZA | 3 | 12 | 22 | 31 | 68 |
| EPAG DOMAINSERVICES GMBH | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| SA WEBHOSTS | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| ZA DOMAINS | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| AXXESS DSL | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| HOSTAFRICA | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| HOSTING CONCEPTS B.V. DBA OPENPROVIDER | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 101DOMAIN GRS LIMITED | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| AFRIHOST | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| WEBSPACEBAR | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| NOTFOUND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| REGISTER DOMAIN SA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| FRIKKADEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| SA DOMAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| STALLION HOSTING | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| WEBAFRICA NETWORKS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| XNEELO (PTY) LTD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| AMPLEHOSTING | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CYBERSMART LTD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| NETIM SARL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEXO WEB HOSTING | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| VEHOST.CO.ZA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| WEB4AFRICA INC. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
.co.za ccTLD Quarterly: 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31 (Active Domains)
| Registrar | Q1:Active | Q2:Active | Q3:Active | Q4:Active | Period:Active | Cumulative Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1API GMBH | 3 | 8 | 34 | 40 | 85 | 91 |
| HOSTKING.CO.ZA | 1 | 7 | 18 | 29 | 55 | 58 |
| DOMAINS.CO.ZA | 1 | 27 | 3 | 15 | 46 | 49 |
| EPAG DOMAINSERVICES GMBH | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 14 |
| ZA DOMAINS | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| HOSTING CONCEPTS B.V. DBA OPENPROVIDER | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 101DOMAIN GRS LIMITED | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| AFRIHOST | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| AXXESS DSL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| HOSTAFRICA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| FRIKKADEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| REGISTER DOMAIN SA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| SA DOMAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| WEBAFRICA NETWORKS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| WEBSPACEBAR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| XNEELO (PTY) LTD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| AMPLEHOSTING | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| CYBERSMART LTD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SA WEBHOSTS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| STALLION HOSTING | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| WEB4AFRICA INC. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| NETIM SARL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NOTFOUND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEXO WEB HOSTING | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHOST.CO.ZA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note to registrars, registries and law enforcement
Artists Against 419 does not just say it, we can also prove it. We record numerous attributes for each entry in our database. While some of these are publicly visible at https://db.aa419.org, we record additional evidence of maliciousness. These includes website snapshots with embedded EXIF data, source code of interesting pages, email headers and/or linking data.
We appreciate outreach from any registrar and registry alike where they are keen to understand the nature of this maliciousness and wish to mitigate. You are the parties either abused or used as an entry point for this fraud on the web. The choice is yours to be part of the solution or the problem. Remember, these domains are purchased with the proceeds of fraud to facilitate further fraud.
We may mitigate till the cows come home to protect consumers, but you are the parties that ultimately stop this illegal abuse.
We do not charge any fees for such cooperation.