Phishing Activity in Domain Registrars, May 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023

Phishers compose hostnames and URLs from domain names that they register purposely for phishing (malicious domain registrations), or from domain names that they have exploited in some way (e.g., by hijacking a domain registration account or by compromising a host such as a web site). They embed these URLs in the emails, texts, or social media posts that lure victims to phishing web sites.

To determine where gTLD domain names were purchased and managed, and where reported phishing domains are concentrated in gTLD registrars’ domain portfolios, we identify the domain name Registrar - the business entity that processed the domain name registration – of domain names reported for phishing activity from domain name registration data obtained via the Whois or RDAP services. Measurements of reported phishing domains can identify registrars where close analyses of business practices, account security, or pricing might prove useful.

We currently collect domain registration data for generic Top-level Domains only; thus, the tables on this page present gTLD domains under management for each registrar.

In the table below, we show the domain name Registrars with the highest number of reported phishing domains under management. A complete list of gTLD registrars where phishing was reported for the quarter can be downloaded in CSV format from the Records page.

Ranking of Domain Registrars by Phishing Domains (May to July 2023)

Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains and 25 phishing domains

Rank Registrar Registrar IANA_ID gTLD Domains
under Management
Phishing Domains ▼ Phishing Domain Score
1 PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com 303 4,205,319 18,525 44.05
2 NameSilo, LLC 1479 3,521,035 12,035 34.18
3 GoDaddy.com, LLC 146 64,115,816 11,308 1.76
4 NameCheap, Inc. 1068 13,051,112 9,336 7.15
5 eNom, LLC 48 4,008,803 5,639 14.07
6 GMO Internet Group, Inc. d/b/a Onamae.com 49 3,794,400 4,984 13.14
7 Google LLC 895 9,020,378 4,334 4.80
8 NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED 3765 49,925 4,299 861.09
9 Gname.com Pte. Ltd. 1923 3,066,248 3,788 12.35
10 Sav.com, LLC 609 1,226,401 3,687 30.06
11 HOSTINGER operations, UAB 1636 1,071,089 3,332 31.11
12 Tucows Domains Inc. 69 9,390,685 2,312 2.46
13 Dynadot Inc 472 2,652,055 2,276 8.58
14 PSI-USA, Inc. dba Domain Robot 151 1,044,452 2,052 19.65
15 Alibaba Cloud Computing Ltd. d/b/a HiChina (www.net.cn) 1599 1,747,446 1,734 9.92
16 Web Commerce Communications Limited dba WebNic.cc 460 706,026 1,706 24.16
17 OwnRegistrar, Inc. 1250 716,182 1,580 22.06
18 Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. 1556 991,322 1,578 15.92
19 Hosting Concepts B.V. d/b/a Registrar.eu 1647 1,080,725 1,560 14.43
20 Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC 1606 509,909 1,493 29.28

To allow comparison of large and small gTLD registrars, we rank registrars based on a metric, phishing domain score, which is calculated by dividing the number of domain names reported for phishing in a registrar by the number of domains delegated from that registrar.

gTLD registrar Phishing Score = (number of phishing domains/domains delegated from gTLD registrar) * 10,000

This score can highlight where high-volume phishers place multiple phish on one domain.

Table 2 presents the twenty gTLD registrars that had the highest phishing domain score.

Ranking of Domain Registrars by Phishing Domain Score (May to July 2023)

Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains and 25 phishing domains

Rank Registrar Registrar IANA_ID gTLD Domains
under Management
Phishing Domains Phishing Domain Score ▼
1 NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED 3765 49,925 4,299 861.09
2 TLD Registrar Solutions Ltd. 1564 51,038 244 47.81
3 PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com 303 4,205,319 18,525 44.05
4 NameSilo, LLC 1479 3,521,035 12,035 34.18
5 Beget LLC 3806 48,577 157 32.32
6 HOSTINGER operations, UAB 1636 1,071,089 3,332 31.11
7 Sav.com, LLC 609 1,226,401 3,687 30.06
8 Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC 1606 509,909 1,493 29.28
9 ALIBABA.COM SINGAPORE E-COMMERCE PRIVATE LIMITED 3775 542,106 1,493 27.54
10 NETIM SARL 1519 68,745 168 24.44
11 Internet Domain Service BS Corp 2487 400,546 971 24.24
12 Web Commerce Communications Limited dba WebNic.cc 460 706,026 1,706 24.16
13 OwnRegistrar, Inc. 1250 716,182 1,580 22.06
14 Cosmotown, Inc. 1509 221,762 466 21.01
15 PSI-USA, Inc. dba Domain Robot 151 1,044,452 2,052 19.65
16 Atak Domain Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş. 1601 258,645 480 18.56
17 CV. Jogjacamp 1478 140,136 227 16.20
18 Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. 1556 991,322 1,578 15.92
19 Hosting Concepts B.V. d/b/a Registrar.eu 1647 1,080,725 1,560 14.43
20 Hello Internet Corp. 1924 68,825 99 14.38

The final table ranks gTLD registrars by malicious domain registrations.

Ranking of Domain Registrars by Malicious Phishing Domains (May to July 2023)

Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains and 25 phishing domains

Rank Registrar Registrar IANA_ID gTLD Domains
under Management
Malicious Phishing
Domain Registrations ▼
Malicious Phishing
Domain Score
1 NameSilo, LLC 1479 3,521,035 8,743 24.83
2 PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com 303 4,205,319 8,557 20.35
3 NameCheap, Inc. 1068 13,051,112 5,279 4.04
4 GoDaddy.com, LLC 146 64,115,816 4,996 0.78
5 eNom, LLC 48 4,008,803 3,842 9.58
6 NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED 3765 49,925 3,276 656.18
7 GMO Internet Group, Inc. d/b/a Onamae.com 49 3,794,400 3,043 8.02
8 Google LLC 895 9,020,378 2,894 3.21
9 Sav.com, LLC 609 1,226,401 2,866 23.37
10 Gname.com Pte. Ltd. 1923 3,066,248 2,776 9.05
11 HOSTINGER operations, UAB 1636 1,071,089 2,038 19.03
12 PSI-USA, Inc. dba Domain Robot 151 1,044,452 1,942 18.59
13 Dynadot Inc 472 2,652,055 1,367 5.15
14 Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. 1556 991,322 1,300 13.11
15 Tucows Domains Inc. 69 9,390,685 1,217 1.30
16 Alibaba Cloud Computing Ltd. d/b/a HiChina (www.net.cn) 1599 1,747,446 1,066 6.10
17 ALIBABA.COM SINGAPORE E-COMMERCE PRIVATE LIMITED 3775 542,106 1,052 19.41
18 Hosting Concepts B.V. d/b/a Registrar.eu 1647 1,080,725 1,025 9.48
19 Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC 1606 509,909 988 19.38
20 OwnRegistrar, Inc. 1250 716,182 860 12.01

Quarterly Update:
Key Statistics
Quarterly Update:
Top Level Domains
Quarterly Update:
Registrars
Quarterly Update:
Hosting Networks
Quarter over Quarter:
Registrars