The Office of the New York Attorney General (NYAG) is investigating the registration and use of coronavirus-related domains for the purposes of deceptive advertising, phishing schemes and malware dissemination. These activities may violate a number of laws, including but not limited to General Business Law § 349, Executive Law § 63(12), and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), as well as your terms of service for domain registration.
Download PDF (ny.gov) + Attached
In the course of its investigation, the NYAG has discovered that cybercriminals have been registering a significant number of domain names related to “coronavirus” in recent weeks and using those domains to conduct phishing campaigns and other attacks.
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In light of the above, the NYAG requests that you contact us as soon as possible to discuss how GoDaddy is protecting New Yorkers and others across the country from these scams. Some of the actions we would like to discuss with you are outlined below, but we would welcome a dialogue on the most effective steps to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the current crisis:
K. A. B. | Chief Bureau of Internet and Technology New York State Office of the Attorney General
Download PDF (ny.gov) + Attached
Download PDF (ny.gov) + Attached
In the course of its investigation, the NYAG has discovered that cybercriminals have been registering a significant number of domain names related to “coronavirus” in recent weeks and using those domains to conduct phishing campaigns and other attacks.
....
....
In light of the above, the NYAG requests that you contact us as soon as possible to discuss how GoDaddy is protecting New Yorkers and others across the country from these scams. Some of the actions we would like to discuss with you are outlined below, but we would welcome a dialogue on the most effective steps to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the current crisis:
- The use of automated and human review of domain name registration and traffic patterns to identify fraud;
- Human review of complaints from the public and law enforcement about fraudulent or illegal use of coronavirus domains, including creating special channels for such complaints;
- Revising your terms of service to reserve aggressive enforcement for the illegal use of coronavirus domains; and
- De-registration of the domains cited in the articles identified above that were registered at GoDaddy, and any holds in place on registering new domains related to coronavirus, or similar blockers that prevent rapid registration of coronavirus-related domains.
K. A. B. | Chief Bureau of Internet and Technology New York State Office of the Attorney General
Download PDF (ny.gov) + Attached