If you need to report a domain name, email address or IP address involved in any illegal or abusive activity,
here are some tips to follow to make this process easier.
In order to submit a support ticket, please visit our Support Center >> Submit
a ticket. Here you’ll provide the required evidence.
As always, please substantiate your allegations with concrete evidence and/or any other relevant information to
verify the abuse incident and help us take appropriate action. Keep in mind that depending on the type of the
issue you’d like to report, the evidence may vary.
The following list explains the most common types of abuse we investigate and the required evidence we expect
from you to support our investigation:
Type of Abuse and Description | Useful Evidence | Notes and Advice |
---|---|---|
Child Abuse is adult content depicting minors (someone under 18 years of age). |
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Click here to report this case to us. |
Copyright/DMCA is the content that is protected by copyright being published online with no
authorization rights. |
An official DMCA Takedown Notice that meets all the DMCA requirements set out in our Copyright and Trademark Policies. | Click here to report this case to us. |
Email Abuse / Spam is an unsolicited commercial bulk email. This also includes
“spamvertising,” i.e. advertising domains via spam sent from another network. Legitimate emails are those complying with the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act. |
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More details can be found in How does The Kinsmen investigate Suspected Email Abuse/Spam? Click here to report this case to us. |
Fraud is wrongful deception with the intent to gain a monetary benefit (also known as the scam) or other benefits (i.e. access to personal details). |
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If you believe you are the victim of an internet crime, or if you are aware of an attempted crime,
you can file a complaint through the Internet Crime
Complaint Center. You may contact your lawyer(s) or your local authorities in order to get
the issue resolved. Click here to report this case to us. |
Phishing is a type of fraud with the intent to acquire sensitive information (usernames,
passwords, PINs, credit card or bank account details) using fake websites that are almost identical
to legitimate ones. |
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If you clicked on a link or opened an attachment from a suspected phishing email, then you should
run a virus check on your computer just to be safe. Click here to report this case to us. |
Illegal Pharmacy is a website that sells or distributes medications with no valid
prescription, outdated, substituted or counterfeit medications, thus violating the law. |
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Click here to report this case to
us. |
Malware is a software used to disrupt computer operations, gather sensitive data, or gain
access to private computer systems. |
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Click here to report this case to
us. |
Hacking Activity is networking attacks such as port scanning, brute force, denial of service attacks, etc. with the intent to infect or exploit the victim’s resources, or for other illegal purposes. |
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Click here to report this case to
us. |
Trademark Infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in
connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or
mistake about the source of the goods and/or services. |
A formal notice of a trademark complaint that meets all the requirements set out in our Copyright and Trademark Policies. |
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Whois Inaccuracy implies inaccurate, outdated or false contact details listed in Whois. |
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Click here to report this case to
us. |
Abuse Reports stand for any other inappropriate content, including but not limited to:
identity theft, unauthorized redirect/frame/IP pointing, defamation, terrorism propaganda, HYIP,
warez, etc. |
|
Click here to report this case to
us. |
Multiple complaints regarding the same issue should be consolidated in a single support ticket, ensuring that
tickets are not duplicated. If you have a ticket opened with our Legal and Abuse Department and would like to
provide more details or have further questions, please continue this conversation via the ticket. This reduces
cross-referencing and confusion, contributing to an efficient and timely communication.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I check if a domain name is registered or hosted with The Kinsmen?
Before reporting your concern, please make sure that the domain name in question uses our services. To check
the domain name registration, go to the Whois lookup page. To define the IP address associated with the domain name, go to https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#A and subsequently check the returned IP
address at https://whois.domaintools.com to obtain
the contact details of the hosting provider.
- Does your investigation differ for registered and hosted domains?
Some types of abuse may not be verified from our side if we only act as a registrar and the abusive content
resides on third-party servers. Due to this, we will not take restrictive action in order to avoid
false-positive cases. This policy particularly affects copyright/DMCA, email abuse/spam, fraud, malware/hacking
activity, etc.
We would like to call to your attention that we will not be able to provide you with any contact information of
the domain name holder without expressed permission from the customer, except under limited circumstances such
as an official U.S. Court Order or Subpoena.
- What is your timeframe for processing tickets?
Our general ticket processing time is 72 hours, but it may vary for each specific case.
IMPORTANT: Ticket processing time may not indicate the timeframe in which the issue will be resolved. Depending on the particular case and the type of the issue, it may take a different amount of time for our investigation to be performed.
IMPORTANT: Ticket processing time may not indicate the timeframe in which the issue will be resolved. Depending on the particular case and the type of the issue, it may take a different amount of time for our investigation to be performed.
- Can I report urgent issues via Live Chat?
Most cases involve a more detailed investigation than our Live Chat operators are able to perform. In
addition, reporting them via Live Chat results in a longer delay as they will need to route the report to
our Legal and Abuse Department. Therefore, we recommend that urgent issues are reported by established
channels via our ticket system.
- When will I receive a response?
You may check the status of your ticket online. Here is the description of statuses that indicate the results of our investigation:
Abuse confirmed - the reported abusive activity was confirmed and is either in process of mitigation or is already mitigated.Abuse not confirmed - the reported abusive activity is not verified.Abuse partially confirmed - only some of the reported services are confirmed to be involved in abusive activity.
- I represent a law enforcement/government agency, is there a dedicated channel for reporting abuse to The Kinsmen?
NOTICE: This channel has been established as a dedicated channel for law enforcement agencies. If you do not act on behalf of a government agency/law enforcement, please do not use this email as reports from any non-law enforcement/government agency source will not be processed.
- Let's say I represent a security organization, who often sends a lot of abuse reports. Is there an
alternative way to report abuse to The Kinsmen?
As an alternative, if you intend to send multiple reports about illegal/abusive activities associated with our
company's services, please send an email directly to abuse@thekinsmen.net (for domain names registered
with us) or abuse@thekinsmen.net (for domain names hosted with us), and we will find an
efficient solution for you.
- Does your system accept any file type for attachment?
For security reasons, we only accept the following file types: csv, doc, docx, eml, jpeg, jpg, pdf, png, txt,
xls, xlsx. Thus, when attaching the evidence, please make sure to double-check whether the file is allowed by
our system.
Thank you for your cooperation!