What is the "Domain Ownership Revalidation Required" email scam

What kind of email is "Domain Ownership Revalidation Required"?

After reviewing this email, we determined that it is a phishing scam. The message poses as an official domain compliance notice, falsely claiming the recipient's domain must be revalidated under ICANN regulations. It is designed to lure recipients into visiting a fake webmail login page where their email credentials are stolen. This email should be ignored.

"Domain Ownership Revalidation Required" email scam overview

The email claims the recipient's domain has not been revalidated in 90 days and cites "ICANN Regulation 3.18." It threatens to suspend the email account for both incoming and outgoing mail within 7 days unless a verification step is completed.

Clicking the "Revalidate Domain Now" button redirects to a fake Roundcube Webmail login page hosted on Google's Firebase Storage service. The page pre-fills the recipient's email address and prompts them to enter their password to continue.

Any credentials entered on the fake page go directly to the scammers. With a stolen email account, criminals can read private messages, reset passwords on linked services, and use the mailbox to send further fraudulent emails to the victim's contacts.

It is worth noting that ICANN does not contact individual users about domain revalidation through unsolicited emails. No legitimate service asks for login verification via a link in an unexpected message. The sender entity "Global Domain Validation Center" has no affiliation with ICANN or any recognized domain authority.

Email scams in general

In conclusion, this email is a phishing scam disguised as an ICANN domain compliance notice. Its goal is to steal email account credentials through a fake webmail login page. Recipients should delete the message without clicking any links.

Similar scam emails are also sometimes used to deliver malware rather than redirect to phishing pages.

More examples of similar scam emails are Zoho Email Address Verification, Secure Document For Review, and Secure Document For Review.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors frequently deliver malware via email by attaching malicious files or embedding links to harmful websites. Common attachment types include executables, Office documents, archives such as ZIP or RAR files, PDFs, and scripts. Opening these files or enabling features like malicious macro commands can trigger an infection.

Emails may also contain links to websites that download malware automatically or prompt visitors to run a harmful file. In most cases, infection requires user interaction - opening a file, clicking a link, or enabling a feature - rather than occurring passively.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with emails from unknown senders, especially those containing attachments or links that urge immediate action. If a message seems suspicious, do not open any files it contains or click any links. Treat unexpected "urgent" notices with skepticism.

Download software only from official websites and trusted stores. Avoid pirated software, cracks, and key generators - these are a common source of malware. Keep your operating system and all installed applications up to date.

Use a reputable antivirus program and perform regular system scans. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Domain Ownership Revalidation Required" email letter:

Subject: ******** Domain Ownership Revalidation Required 6/7/2026 12:21:04 p.m.

******** Domain Ownership Revalidation Required

Dear ********,

Our records show that the domain ******** associated with your email account ******** has not been revalidated in the past 90 days. As part of our updated security protocols and ICANN compliance requirements, all domains must undergo periodic ownership verification.

Failure to complete this revalidation process within 7 calendar days will result in the temporary suspension of your email account. During suspension, incoming messages will be rejected, and outgoing mail will be blocked.

To maintain uninterrupted service on ********, please complete the domain revalidation process by clicking the button below. The process requires confirming your domain's DNS records or verifying ownership via administrative contact.
[Revalidate Domain Now]
This link will guide you through the 2-step verification process.

WHAT IS DOMAIN REVALIDATION? Revalidation confirms that you still own or control the domain ********. This prevents unauthorized domain transfers, phishing attacks, and domain hijacking attempts. The process is required by ICANN Regulation 3.18 and our internal security policy.

DEADLINE: You have until 6/7/2026 12:21:04 p.m. + 7 days to complete this verification. After this date, your email account ******** will be deactivated for incoming and outgoing mail. Reactivation after suspension requires manual support intervention and may take up to 48 hours.

NEED ASSISTANCE? If you are no longer the domain owner or believe this notice was sent in error, please contact your domain compliance team immediately at © ******** Domain Compliance | All Rights Reserved 2026

A fake Roundcube Webmail login page used in this scam:

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

• What is Domain Ownership Revalidation Required phishing scam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using  Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

These messages are distributed to large numbers of recipients at once. Scammers collect email addresses through data breaches, fake websites, and similar methods. In most cases, the emails are not personally targeted.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

Change any passwords that may have been exposed right away. If you entered your email account credentials, log in to that account immediately and update the password. For other sensitive information, such as banking details, contact the relevant institution without delay.

I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?

Executable files (such as .exe files) can compromise a device the moment they are opened. Document formats like PDFs or Word files typically require additional user interaction - such as enabling macros - before malware activates. The level of risk depends on the file type and how the user interacts with it.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Simply reading an email is harmless. A computer can only become infected when the user opens a malicious attachment, clicks a harmful link, or otherwise interacts with malicious content.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove a wide range of known malware. Running a full system scan is essential to maximize the chance of identifying and eliminating all threats, including those that may hide deep within the system.