How to report abuse to Hetzner
Report counterfeit, phishing, and brand-abuse servers hosted on Hetzner.
Where to report
Report abuse to Hetzner at abuse.hetzner.com (choose the abuse type, attach evidence, add your contact details) or email abuse@hetzner.com. Hetzner publishes no SLA; it forwards the report to the customer with a deadline and locks the IP if they do not respond.
- Abuse report form
- abuse.hetzner.com
- Abuse email
- abuse@hetzner.com
Include in your report
- The abuse type selected from the form's list (one form per separate case)
- The exact URLs or IP addresses, plus timestamps with time zone for activity-based abuse
- Evidence: screenshots, log excerpts, or the copyrighted work being infringed
- For copyright: identification of the work, your authority to act, and good-faith and accuracy statements
- Your contact information so Hetzner can send the customer's response or ask for more detail
Hetzner hosts or serves the content, so it can remove the infringing page or store. If the domain itself is the abuse (a typosquat or lookalike), report it to the registrar as well.
Hetzner Online is a German dedicated-server and cloud provider with large data centers in Germany, Finland, and the United States. It rents raw servers rather than managed sites, so it does not touch customer content directly; instead, its abuse team forwards the report to the customer and locks the server's IP if they do not respond. Hetzner offers an abuse form in English and German and an abuse email.
A Hetzner abuse report can remove the infringing page or store. If the domain itself is the abuse (a typosquat or lookalike), report it to the domain registrar as well. For a cloned storefront, see how to remove a fake website. Payment processors are often faster than hosts — payment takedown guides cover that layer. Free takedown templates cover the wording.
Why brand-abuse sites show up on Hetzner
Hetzner's cheap, unmanaged servers attract everything from legitimate SaaS to counterfeit shops, scraper networks, and phishing kits. Because Hetzner does not access customer data, it cannot delete a single page; the lever is the customer's obligation to respond by a deadline, after which the whole IP can be blocked. Reports therefore need to be precise enough for the customer to act and strong enough for Hetzner to escalate.
What a Hetzner abuse report can cover
- Counterfeit ecommerce sites on unmanaged Hetzner cloud servers
- Phishing kits and credential-harvesting pages
- Scraper and bot infrastructure targeting brand sites
- Copyright-infringing download and streaming hosts
- Brand-impersonation sites moved to Hetzner after a takedown elsewhere
How to file a Hetzner abuse report
- 1
Identify the Hetzner IP and confirm ownership
Resolve the domain, strip any CDN in front of it, and confirm the origin IP is in a Hetzner range via WHOIS. The RIPE record for Hetzner IPs lists abuse@hetzner.com as the abuse mailbox.
- 2
File one form per case at abuse.hetzner.com
The form has three steps: type of violation, evidence, and your contact details. Hetzner asks that you file separately for each distinct case so it can process them faster.
- 3
Give the customer something actionable
Hetzner forwards your report to the customer and asks them to remove the content and reply. Exact URLs and clear rights proof make it harder for the customer to argue the report was in error.
- 4
Escalate if the deadline passes
If the customer does not respond, Hetzner sends an automated reminder and its abuse team can lock the IP after manual verification. If the site is still live well after filing, reply on the same case with that fact.
When a Hetzner abuse report is not enough
Hosting complaints remove the page, not the domain. A suspended site can reappear on a new host under the same URL within hours. If the domain itself is the abuse, file with the registrar as well. Stolen photos and copy are usually faster as a DMCA notice than as a trademark complaint — see the DMCA takedown guide.
How IPzest speeds up Hetzner enforcement
- Origin-server identification behind CDNs so Hetzner cases are filed against the right IP
- Continuous monitoring for brand-abuse sites that migrate to Hetzner after other takedowns
- Evidence packaging in Hetzner's three-step form structure with per-case separation
- Coordinated filing to Hetzner, the registrar, and any CDN when a single operator spans several providers
Frequently asked questions
How do I report abuse to Hetzner?
Use the form at https://abuse.hetzner.com/ (available in English and German) or email abuse@hetzner.com. Hetzner's documentation confirms abuse@hetzner.com is the abuse contact for all of its IP addresses.
Does Hetzner remove content or only forward the complaint?
Hetzner forwards it. Its Digital Services Act page explains that it informs the customer of the reported content, requests immediate removal, sets a reasonable deadline, sends a reminder, and can lock the IP address after manual review until the customer removes the content or provides an explanation.
What is Hetzner's DMCA agent?
Hetzner is a German company and does not publish a US DMCA designated agent. Copyright complaints go through the same abuse form or abuse@hetzner.com and are handled under German and EU law, including the Digital Services Act.
How long does Hetzner take to act?
No SLA is published. Hetzner says its team responds as soon as possible, and the customer's response deadline is described only as reasonable and aligned with legal requirements.
Other hosting providers
All hosting providers we cover
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) abuse report
- Amazon Web Services abuse report
- Bluehost abuse report
- Cloudflare (CDN) abuse report
- DigitalOcean abuse report
- Google Cloud abuse report
- Hostinger abuse report
- Microsoft Azure abuse report
- Netlify abuse report
- OVHcloud abuse report
- Shopify abuse report
- Vercel abuse report
- Vultr abuse report
- Wix abuse report
- WordPress.com abuse report
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