Registrar Abuse Contact
A registrar abuse contact is a mandatory, publicly accessible email address and phone number that every ICANN-accredited [[registrar]] must maintain under the 2013 [[raa|Registrar Accreditation Agreement]]. Registrars are required to acknowledge abuse complaints within 24 hours of receipt and maintain the contact in the [[whois|WHOIS]] record for each domain. The abuse contact is the designated channel for reporting [[domain-abuse|domain abuse]] including phishing, malware distribution, spam operations, and [[cybersquatting|cybersquatting]]. ICANN compliance staff monitor registrar responsiveness and can impose escalating penalties — including suspension of [[registrar-accreditation|accreditation]] — for systemic failure to respond to abuse reports.
Example
When a phishing page is hosted at malicious-bank.com, the victim's IT team looks up the registrar's abuse contact from WHOIS (e.g., [email protected]) and files a complaint; the registrar is required to acknowledge within 24 hours.