4 domain names just got stolen!

[jtp866]

Well, this is how the story goes:

I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check my email messages. I went through my emails and then noticed I had message with the subject, “DOMAIN OWNERSHIP TRANSFER ->> [email protected]” from [email protected] (Go Daddy’s support website). Enclosed was a message stating that 4 of my domain names had been successfully transferred.

When I first read this I thought it was some kind of SPAM or some idiot’s idea of a bad joke. I have never transferred or sold any domain names from my Go Daddy account. Well, when I logged into my Go Daddy account and checked my domains, sure enough, the four domains the email message stated that had been transferred did not show up in the list of domains in my account.

I then did a WHOIS on the four domains, and let me tell you, I have never been so shocked before in my life when I noticed that the domain names were no longer in my name. My name is JT Phillips, and I live in Oregon, USA. Here is the new registry WHOIS info for my domains:

Registrant:
   Jack London
   NA
   233 Road Ave
   Berlin, 12434
   Germany
  
   Registered through: Go Daddy Software ([url]http://www.godaddy.com[/url])
   Domain Name: mydomain1.COM
   Created on: 22-Jun-02
   Expires on: 22-Jun-03
   Last Updated on: 22-Jun-02
  
   Administrative/Technical Contact:
   London, Jack [email][email protected][/email]
   NA
   233 Road Ave
   Berlin, 12434
   Germany
   32764273876 Fax –

I called Go Daddy immediately, and it took over 30 of waiting just to talk to someone about this issue. I was basically told that I am either stupid or lying because there was absolutely no way someone could log into my Go Daddy account without my user id and pass to transfer the domains. Well, I am not stupid, and someone has gone in and transferred my domains. I don’t know how they got my user id and pass, as I only use that user id and pass at Go Daddy. Fortunately, right now, the person who stole the domains has only changed the owner, technical, and administrative info, not the nameservers, so my sites are still working. If he changes the DNS to his servers, I am totally screwed.

What can I do about this? I have filed a “ticket” with Go Daddy, but it is going to take them forever to sort this out because they have to now contact whoever stole my domains to see if they were legally transferred. Well, since the transfer has already been approved, and completed, I highly doubt I will get my domain names back.

Has this happened to anyone else here? I would like to hear peoples opinions/experiences with incidents such as this.

Thanks
JT Phillips
ICQ: 85420109

 

[RON2]

It sounds like the thief was able to access your e-mail account to request a domain transfer. They don't have to always log into GoDaddy, just gain access to your e-mail address to approve the transfer.

Another member had this happen a couple of weeks ago with Go Daddy domains. You might want to browse the forum for that thread to find other ideas.

 

[Silverwire]

I'm confused as to why the whois record shows a last update in June if you are telling this story in the present tense?

Otherwise, I think you have a good chance of getting them back. I wouldn't settle for just a support ticket though, I'd go right to management.

 

[jtp866]

Originally posted by Silverwire
I'm confused as to why the whois record shows a last update in June if you are telling this story in the present tense?

You know, I never noticed that. However, the email message i got from go dady stated the domains had been transfered, and they are no longer listed in my go daddy account.

i will call them tomorrow morning and try to get someone in charge to help me out with this.

JT Phillips

 

[consumernet]

x

 

[Tippy]

The price has nothing to do with it, Godaddy isnt even the cheapest registrar out there.

Mike

 

[MarkMitford]

This is a problem that affects all registrars; the sign of a good registrar is how promptly and effectively they remedy the situation.

I hope you get your domains back.

Mark......

 

[consumernet]

P

 

[consumernet]

I

 

[Silverwire]

Originally posted by consumernet
People on here discuss registrars in terms of differences of something like $0.50 per year. Who cares? If you have a domain worth thousands of dollars the fact that one registrar charges $0.50 less per year is is not even a consideration in deciding who to use as a registrar.

Because people on here don't have one name worth thousands, they have thousands of names worth one.

 

[Tippy]

So I guess it must be real bad then if we are using an eNom reseller at $6.95 which we happen to own, to reg names, based on your thinking.

Price has nothing to do with it.

Mike

 

[Fearless]

There has been a rash of thefts recently. I made a deal with a seller to buy a name for $10K. I wired the money to Escrow.com.
The seller's partner in crime tells me the other guy is in the hospital. Then they put the name back up on Ebay and continue to try to sell at the site. I got a friend to make an offer. They replied they already had a $25K offer. I filed for a temporary restraining order on the owner and Godaddy to prevent the name from being transferred. They then changed the whois to reflect ownership in Slovenia instead of the previous Nevada. Once Godaddy received the official court order they put the ownership back to the way it was and locked the name. Turns out all the Nevada whois was fake and their lawyer acknowledged that. Then I discovered the name was stolen. I let the rightful owner take my place in the suit. Now these scumbags won't see a penny and they spent some money on a lawyer.

You should email [email protected] if you want action.

 

[jtp866]

Originally posted by BigFart

Just curious. What are the names? I would like to know why they went to so much trouble to take 4.

Well, this is what is odd, the 4 domains that were stolen were the only domains where I had sites up that made money.

JT Phillips

 

[dtobias]

Considering that some of the worst horror stories of domain hijackings are with Network Solutions as the registrar, I don't think there's any clear correlation between price and security.

 

[Fearless]

The majority of thefts occur at Network Solutions or what ever they're calling themselves now. Anyone that has names registered at Network Solutions is foolish.

 

[Ciqala]

Originally posted by dtobias
Considering that some of the worst horror stories of domain hijackings are with Network Solutions as the registrar, I don't think there's any clear correlation between price and security.

sure there is... anyone stupid enough to pay that much for their domain regs make easy targets for the thieves :laugh:

 

[NamePopper.com]

Ditto to what Greg and Ciq just posted.

 

[Luc]

The majority of thefts occur at Network Solutions or what ever they're calling themselves now. Anyone that has names registered at Network Solutions is foolish.

Agreed.

Consumernet. In many cases the difference is not .50 but
something close to $30 or more if one was to consider
going with Verisign or Register.com like you suggested.

When you bulk register, 10, 20, 50 domains at a time
the $30 DOES make a difference, hell, even $.50
makes a difference.

Finally, from personal experience and from dealing with
my clients I can safely say that Verisign's customer support
is complete garbage, and it usually takes them months to resolve
simple disputes.

Like Gregr said, most thefts occur at Verisign, so the price
does not necessarily go hand in hand with quality.

Luc L.

 

[Jeffb]

Price has nothing to do with it.

The trouble is that most registars' agreements limit their liability to the price the customer paid for the name, so they have less incentive to spend lots of effort trying to recover your stolen name.

 

[jtp866]

I called Go Daddy yesterday, and they told me that there was nothing they could do, that I should send an email to WIPO, and that I should contact the thief myself.

Sorry, WTF? What am I suppose to ask him, "Hi, can I have my domain names back please?"

Then I got even more pissed off when I realized that this thief downloaded the entire content of my sites, and saved them to his server. So now, he not only has four of my domains, but all the designs, content, images, HTML, and even the scripts I use for the sites.

I can not believe this.

If there is anyone out there that can help me with this I would greatly appreciate it.

JT Phillips
ICQ: 85420109
[email protected]