The Freename Forum

DNS Belgium, administrator of the Belgian country code extension .be, warns against misleading sales practices. Messages from a company called IS BNL are currently doing the rounds, in which owners of a .com domain are contacted and gently urged to register the .be variant of their domain. They claim that unknown third parties are interested in registering the domain and that they should pre-empt this in order to avoid damage to their image or loss of customers. In the case of IS BNL, a registration contract is to be concluded for a period of ten years - with correspondingly high fees. The registry points out that it had already warned against the same approach by DNS EU in December 2023; a court in Liège had also ruled that similar practices by IDS Belgium and DNS Benelux were misleading or even downright fraudulent. People should not accept the offer from IS BNL under any circumstances, but should instead contact their trusted domain registrar. Those affected can also contact FPS Economy and file a complaint there; the authority is responsible for investigating unfair business practices. In any case, domain name holders are asked to be vigilant.

Source: https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en/news/is-bnl