DNSBelgium : The importance of correct Whois Details

DNSBelgium, the company behind .BE extension released recently an article about the importance of correct whois details.

You can read the article after the jump :

“When you register a domain name, we ask you to provide a valid e-mail address. This is very important, because this is the address we use for essential communication regarding your domain name. When these details are not up to date, you not only run the risk of missing out on important information. In some cases, the consequences can be far worse!

To avoid abuse, we only send a transfer code to the e-mail address that you as registrant have provided. That is why it’s important that this is a correct e-mail address to which you have access. A recent case illustrates this once more.

A registrant contacted us as he was having issues with his .be domain name. It was immediately clear that his domain name was since transferred to another party. The original registrant was not aware of this and certainly never gave his permission for the transfer.

He did change his internet provider some time ago, and with it his e-mail address. Unfortunately he did not ask his registrar to replace his old e-mail address in the WHOIS details. The previous provider will keep an old e-mail address in use for you for a few months, even when you are no longer a client, but afterwards that e-mail address is released again. The other party noticed this and was able to register the e-mail address that was still mentioned in the WHOIS details for the domain name in question. This allowed the other party to request a transfer code to the e-mail address now owned by him, and to complete the transfer.

After an intervention by DNS Belgium, the other party luckily agreed to transfer the domain name back to the original owner. This example, however, clearly shows the importance of keeping your WHOIS details up to date!
Where can you check and update your WHOIS details?

You can look up your domain name using the search box on the centre of our homepage. On the results page, you can click on ‘WHOIS’ behind your domain name. This brings you to an overview of all the details we have for you as the registrant. Check these thoroughly to see if they are (still) correct.

When you notice that some of these details are not correct, you need to contact your registrar to update those. The contact details of your registrar are shown in the overview of the WHOIS details as well.”