When you register a domain with us, or change the owner's name or email address on it, the registry rules (set by ICANN) say the owner must confirm that email address. If it isn't confirmed within 15 days, the domain is suspended. Your website and email stop working until it is verified.
This has happened to a client's live site. The email is easy to miss, so please read below and watch for it.
What the email looks like
- From: dependentmedia.com <donotreply@name-services.com>
- Subject: IMMEDIATE VERIFICATION required for yourdomain.com
- Sent to: the Registrant (owner) email address on the domain, usually your own address, not ours
- It lists the owner's name, address and email, and has a link that says "Click here to verify your email address". The link goes to
raa.name-services.com.
It is legitimate. name-services.com is the registrar system (eNom/Tucows) that Dependent Media uses for domains. It is not phishing. Click the link once and you're done. You don't log in or pay anything.
Because it comes from a "donotreply" address, it often lands in Spam, Junk, Promotions or Updates. Search your mailbox for name-services.com.
Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live and MSN addresses
Microsoft's free email services often block this message completely. It doesn't show up in the inbox or in Junk. We've seen a Hotmail address never receive it, while the same email arrived right away once the domain's contact address was changed to Gmail.
- If your domain contact email ends in @hotmail.com, @outlook.com, @live.com or @msn.com, please give us a different address, such as Gmail or your business email, for the domain owner contact.
- Adding
donotreply@name-services.comto your Safe Senders list may help, but it doesn't always work, because Microsoft can reject the message before it reaches your mailbox.
When you'll get it
- When a new domain is registered
- When a domain is transferred to us
- When the owner's first name, last name or email address is changed
If you can't find the email or the link has expired
We can send a new one at any time:
- Open a support ticket or call us and ask us to resend the domain verification email. Include the domain name.
- We send it from the registrar control panel. A new message from
donotreply@name-services.comshould arrive within a few minutes. - Click the link in the newest email. Older links may not work anymore.
If your site is already suspended, visiting it will show a page that says "You have reached a domain that is pending ICANN verification." That page also has a Resend Verification Email button. Type the number shown in the image and press the button to get a new email yourself. Once you click the link, the site usually comes back within a few hours, and at most within 24 to 48 hours.
If the email address on file is wrong or you can't access it
Contact us. We'll update the owner email on the domain. That change will trigger a new verification email to the new address, so click the link when it arrives.
For our team (internal)
In the eNom control panel, open the domain. If verification is pending, a red banner reads "This domain is currently pending suspension… verify the Registrant contact email address by [date]. Resend Verification Email." Click Resend Verification Email; you'll see "The email notification has been successfully resent." Tell the client to look for donotreply@name-services.com and check spam.
