Fines for 5 international domain name registrars in Vietnam

80 - 90% of websites commit fraud and violate the law by using international domain names.

Recently, illegal acts have occurred on the Internet related to the use of international domain names such as: fraud; providing false information;bank fraud, impersonating press agencies; providing unlicensed electronic games, gambling games; setting up unlicensed general information websites, social networks; violating public morals... happen quite often.

In particular, the situation of fraud via text messages impersonating banks continues to occur at a constant level and frequency. According to the feedback from many people to the system receiving feedback on spam messages and spam calls via the number 5656 managed by the Information Security Department, the phenomenon of spreading messages to trick users into accessing fake websites of banks has recently recurred.

Notably, scammers not only use multiple mobile numbers but also use Fake SMS Brandname (fake brand messages) to send fake messages to carry out fraud. Many users, due to lack of vigilance, have followed the instructions of bad actors and have fallen into the scam trap. According to the Vietnam Information Security Warning Portal of the Ministry of Information and Communications, in 2022, nearly 13,000 cases of online fraud were recorded, of which financial fraud accounted for 76%.

Website shows signs of violating the law on using international domain names. Illustration: Internet.

Websites impersonating the bank's electronic information pages used by scammers to trick users into accessing them have domain names such as online.acbvnx.com, online.acbonliine.com, acb.vn-ul.top, scb.vn-kr.xyz, scb.vn-scb.xyz, scb.vn-scb.top, scb.vn-eg.xyz, scb.vn-zt.xyz, scb.vn-co.top, scb.vn-cb.xyz, scb.vn-vp.xyz, scb.vn-zl.xyz, techcombank.vn-lt.xyz, vpbank.vn-sc.top, vpbank.vn-ic.top, vpbank.vn-ty.top, vpbank.vn-ty.info...

According to VNNIC (Vietnam Internet Center), 80-90% of websites that commit fraud, violate the law, etc. are websites that use international domain names.

A report by security firm Cyradar shows that, with the aim of taking advantage of financial needs during Tet, scammers have significantly increased the number of malicious websites, up about 10% compared to the previous month. The common method of criminals is to build websites with domain names and interfaces similar to reputable agencies and banks and find ways to spread them to users.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, founder and CEO of Cyradar said: "In 2022, more than 13 million malicious domains were created to attack users. On average, more than 1.1 million domains are created every month, attacking every day, continuously, not just during the holidays".

Penalty for 05 international domain name registrars in Vietnam

Recently, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications has conducted an inspection of the compliance with legal regulations in the provision of international domain name registration and maintenance services in Vietnam for 05 international domain name registrars in Vietnam. Through the inspection, administrative violations were detected and handled against 05 registrars with a total administrative fine of 340 million VND.

Accordingly, 05 providers of international domain name registration and maintenance services in Vietnam were penalized: PA Vietnam Company Limited and Mat Bao Joint Stock Company (located in Ho Chi Minh City); GMO-Z.com Runsystem Joint Stock Company, Nhan Hoa Software Company Limited and iNET Software Company Limited (located in Hanoi).

iNET Software Company Limited is one of five international domain name registration and maintenance service providers in Vietnam that were administratively sanctioned.

To promptly rectify violations related to the provision of services for registration and maintenance of international domain names in Vietnam, promptly prevent violations of the law occurring in the online environment related to the use of international domain names such as: fraud; providing false information; impersonating banks, impersonating press agencies; providing unlicensed electronic games, gambling games; establishing unlicensed general information websites, social networks; violating public morality...

The Ministry of Information and Communications has issued Official Dispatch No. 67/BTTTT-TTra dated January 9, 2023 requesting international domain name registrars in Vietnam, in the process of providing international domain name registration and maintenance services, to implement the following contents: Fully and accurately store customer information, domain name registration profile information, and customer information change profiles for which they provide domain name registration and maintenance services; Proactively review domain names with signs of using domain names to commit illegal acts and send them to competent authorities for consideration and settlement; Strictly comply with legal regulations on domain name management...

As for users, it is necessary to raise their vigilance; before accessing, it is necessary to carefully check their web addresses. When detecting signs of fraud, users need to immediately report to the authorities and reflect at the address https://canhbao.khonggianmang.vn.