Spam Capital of the World: How Tokelau’s Digital Dream Turned Into a Nightmare

In the saga of the “Tokelau .tk domain controversy,” Tokelau learned the digital age equivalent of “no such thing as a free lunch.” After leasing its .tk domain, it became the global spam capital, thanks to cybercriminals. Now, it’s like a landlord scrubbing party residue…

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Well, this is a classic case of "be careful what you wish for". Tokelau, a tiny territory in the Pacific, wanted to be part of the digital age, so it leased its country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) - .tk - to a Dutch entrepreneur. Fast forward a few years, and the .tk domain had more users than any other country's. The only problem? Most of them were spammers, phishers, and cybercriminals. Now, poor Tokelau is trying to shake off its reputation as the global capital of spam. It’s like renting your house to what you thought was a nice, quiet couple, only to find out they've turned it into the neighborhood's most notorious party pad.

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