APNIC warns members to watch out for fake election phone calls

The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) – the regional web registry for 56 nations within the area – has warned that members could also be receiving fake phone calls from individuals purporting to be from the group forward of the election of members to the org’s government council.

A submit by the APNIC Secretariat titled “Callers impersonating APNIC: Election scam warning” states that the group “is aware of reports of Members receiving unsolicited telephone calls (‘cold calls’) to encourage voting for certain candidates in the upcoming EC election, and the calls are reported to be from persons claiming to represent APNIC.”

“These calls are NOT from APNIC. The APNIC Secretariat will never call Members to discuss EC election candidates,” the submit continues, earlier than asking members to report any such approaches.

The thread during which the above submit was made has notched up two replies, every alleging unsolicited calls totally different blocs of candidates. Another thread claims that one member has acquired unsolicited marketing campaign e mail from Lu Heng – a candidate who has acquired an endorsement from a Morocco-based group referred to as Number Resource Society (NRS) – and that the message included promoting for an IP deal with leasing service.

NRS is a Morocco-based group that advocates for reform of web registries “and opposing any bureaucratic practices that could hinder the stability of the internet.” It has no apparent connection to APNIC.

The Register subsequently contacted Lu Heng to ask if he is aware of why NRS selected to help his candidacy and people of others employed by Larus Limited – an organization he serves as CEO and which payments itself as ready to “Lease on-demand IP Addresses within 48 hours.”

Lu mentioned he believes NRS merely needs to enhance web governance and to lend its help to his candidacy.

However The Register can reveal a beforehand unreported hyperlink between Larus and NRS: an October 27, 2021, Wayback Machine snapshot of the NRS’s net web page lists the group’s deal with as “Flat A3, 11/F, TML Tower, Tsuen Wan, N.T, Hong Kong SAR.”

Larus Limited’s web site at present lists its deal with as “A3, 11/F, TML Tower, Tsuen Wan, N.T, Hong Kong SAR.”

The Register has requested Lu Heng to clarify the shared deal with. We have additionally requested NRS for touch upon its motivation for supporting candidates within the APNIC election, however haven’t acquired a response on the time of writing.

Lu Heng has additionally been recognized as CEO of an entity referred to as Cloud Innovation, which on its web site states that it “partners with LARUS” to delegate IP addresses.

The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is in litigation with Cloud Innovation.

Lu has additionally been criticized by the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), which has expressed concern about what it described as “misleading and inconsistent” conduct and of constructing “potentially false statements” to the group.

Concern concerning the NRS-aligned slate of candidates for the APNIC election emerged earlier this week when, as The Register reported, veteran telecoms engineer Karl Kloppenborg sought to invoke mechanisms that enable APNIC to change eligibility for the council after nominations for the vote have been confirmed.

• APNIC election sparks transfer for speedy rule adjustments to forestall council stacking
• Africa’s web physique in full-blown meltdown: ‘None of the above’ wins board protest vote
• Cogent reduce off from ARIN Whois after scraping web engineers’ contact particulars and sliding them to gross sales workers
• OK, this time it is for actual: The final out there IPv4 deal with block has gone

In dialog with The Register, Lu mentioned his solely curiosity in APNIC is to enhance its governance and construction, and by doing so to guarantee web entry for all.

He described all regional web registries as an oddly centralized supply of authority given the decentralized nature of the web, and argued that they’re successfully redundant and will subsequently be reformed.

When The Register pointed Lu to the criticisms of his previous actions talked about above, he mentioned they’re false and motivated by self-interest of registry workers and officers.

Voting in APNIC’s election commenced earlier this week, and closes on March 2. The Register is watching.

If you might be, too, or have any insights into the issues mentioned on this story, use this manner to contact The Register. ®