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DropCatch.com account suspended without warning/notification

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AbdulBasit.com

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AbdulBasit.com
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Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

I logged into my DropCatch account yesterday and found it's been suspended! @DropCatch Support

Contacted them and asked why my account is suspended. Their response was:

"We have been auditing our accounts for failing to pay for domains and possible shill bidding. It's possible your account was suspended by mistake. We are researching the problem and onee of our technicians will reach out to you next week."

I wasn't happy with their poor act and responded that they should look into it and open my account without any delay. That seems really unfair. How can they suspend my account without any warning or notification. There hasn't been a single time delay in making payment since I started using them several years back.

They responded:

"I have escalated the issue to our security team and they have stated that if you can send us a current photo ID for your ID, we will unsuspend the account."

I haven't responded to their message yet due to time difference as I read it a while back. I can provide them my current photo as well as ID but the issue is how can they suspend my account and later ask for these documents. They could have asked for the same required things even without suspending my account.

How would you respond to their such nonsensical behavior?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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Reading between the lines: maybe this was an automated action.
I don't use them though, so not sure what the best course of action is.
I am reluctant to send ID because corporations all get hacked and your personal data could end up on a darknet market. One thing I do is to watermark the scanned image with the website address, so that it can't be reused for something else.
 
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Reading between the lines: maybe this was an automated action.
I don't use them though, so not sure what the best course of action is.
I am reluctant to send ID because corporations all get hacked and your personal data could end up on a darknet market. One thing I do is to watermark the scanned image with the website address, so that it can't be reused for something else.

Thanks for your feedback which is appreciated :)

I would be careful if I send them and will follow as per your suggestion.
 
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@Jeff Reberry @Rebies @DropCatch Support

I can send you what you require or even further documents if needed. But the problem is why at first you suspended my account? You should've informed or warned if there was any suspicious activity going on from my side. Did you found any suspicious activity or shill bidding happening from my account? If yes, give me the proof. If not, why at first my account got suspended?

I wanted to know the reason before I can provide you because I consider this an absolute insult that you go and suspend my account which is operational since 2014 and I've NEVER failed to delay in making payment ever!
 
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Maybe they had problems so they chose to suspend all accounts that fall under a certain criteria (like highly active with a lot of transactions), then work from there and filter who is good and who is bad.
One thing I do is to watermark the scanned image with the website address
A brilliant idea that I should have used since day one.
Now Im probably on darknet :)
 
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Agree with other posters, this seems to be automatic, maybe they are asking old members to verify their accounts per the revised terms. Now, all customers are required to verify their account, seems in the past they verified accounts in certain situations.

Agree with you, they should have notified you in advance, ask for the documents & only suspend your account if you don't provide the requested documents. However, personally I would just give them the documents and be done with it. I wouldn't be happy with any explanation/excuse.

See https://www.dropcatch.com/OtherInfo/TermsAndConditions

In 2014, terms

Identity Verification.
In certain situations DropCatch.com will require you to verify your identity in order to participate in auctions. Situations include high bid values, if you are placing lots of bids in the platform, or suspicion your bids are not valid or that you will be able to pay for an acquired domain name. DropCatch.com has no obligation to believe your identity based on information provided, but will do its best to verify your identity for the stability of DropCatch.com.

Revised 2018, terms

Account Verification.
All customers are required to verify their account before they can participate in any auction on the platform. Customers will be notified what exact verification requirements DropCatch will require during the sign-up process. Forms of verification may include, but are not limited to: phone number verification; email verification; high quality color scan or photo of an official government issued identification card, such as a passport or driver's license; a color "selfie" image of the customer holding their official government issued identification card; adding a valid credit card to their DropCatch or NameBright account; requiring a deposit via credit card or other form of payment; and any additional verifications as deemed necessary. DropCatch reserves the right to revoke verification on previously verified accounts and require the user to provide updated verification information and documentation (i.e., re-verification) at DropCatch's sole discretion. Account verification is not instantaneous and can take time to complete. DropCatch.com reserves the right to refuse verification to any customer in its sole discretion and DropCatch has the right to request additionally information and perform additional verification at any point in time as it deems necessary. Failure to comply with account verification requirements and requests may result in a denial of a verified account and/or account suspension. DropCatch has the right to delay or extend the verification process at DropCatch's sole discretion. While DropCatch states on its website that verifications can take up to 72-hours that time frame is not a guarantee and a verification may in fact take much longer due to any number of reasons. DropCatch does not guarantee an account will be verified in any specific amount of time nor does DropCatch guarantee that your account will pass verification in time to participate in any desired auctions.


One thing I do is to watermark the scanned image with the website address, so that it can't be reused for something else.

Thanks for the tip, going forward I will be doing this too
 
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Agree with other posters, this seems to be automatic, maybe they are asking old members to verify their accounts per the revised terms. Now, all customers are required to verify their account, seems in the past they verified accounts in certain situations.

Agree with you, they should have notified you in advance, ask for the documents & only suspend your account if you don't provide the requested documents. However, personally I would just give them the documents and be done with it. I wouldn't be happy with any explanation/excuse.

See https://www.dropcatch.com/OtherInfo/TermsAndConditions

In 2014, terms

Identity Verification.
In certain situations DropCatch.com will require you to verify your identity in order to participate in auctions. Situations include high bid values, if you are placing lots of bids in the platform, or suspicion your bids are not valid or that you will be able to pay for an acquired domain name. DropCatch.com has no obligation to believe your identity based on information provided, but will do its best to verify your identity for the stability of DropCatch.com.

Revised 2018, terms

Account Verification.
All customers are required to verify their account before they can participate in any auction on the platform. Customers will be notified what exact verification requirements DropCatch will require during the sign-up process. Forms of verification may include, but are not limited to: phone number verification; email verification; high quality color scan or photo of an official government issued identification card, such as a passport or driver's license; a color "selfie" image of the customer holding their official government issued identification card; adding a valid credit card to their DropCatch or NameBright account; requiring a deposit via credit card or other form of payment; and any additional verifications as deemed necessary. DropCatch reserves the right to revoke verification on previously verified accounts and require the user to provide updated verification information and documentation (i.e., re-verification) at DropCatch's sole discretion. Account verification is not instantaneous and can take time to complete. DropCatch.com reserves the right to refuse verification to any customer in its sole discretion and DropCatch has the right to request additionally information and perform additional verification at any point in time as it deems necessary. Failure to comply with account verification requirements and requests may result in a denial of a verified account and/or account suspension. DropCatch has the right to delay or extend the verification process at DropCatch's sole discretion. While DropCatch states on its website that verifications can take up to 72-hours that time frame is not a guarantee and a verification may in fact take much longer due to any number of reasons. DropCatch does not guarantee an account will be verified in any specific amount of time nor does DropCatch guarantee that your account will pass verification in time to participate in any desired auctions.




Thanks for the tip, going forward I will be doing this too


The only issue is they should've informed/asked for whatever verification required and I would be happy to provide it. If not given within specified time period, they could've suspended.

Also I was not informed that my account was suspended and I should provide what they asked for. I found my account suspended when I logged in.

Very bad practice IMO.
 
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As I posted some days back about my DropCatch account got suspended, they required document to verify my account which I provided. After which they reinstated my account by responding the following:

“Thank you for providing your ID. You are now able to place back-orders and bid in auctions. Your account was suspended because it was tied to four other accounts from Pakistan that were suspended in a short amount of time for failing to pay for domains won in auction. This behavior raised warning flages with us for possible shill bidding and so we took pre-emtive action.

In our terms of service we clearly state that we reserve the right to suspend any account for any reason. See sections .18 and .20 for full details. Also we are not obligated to provide warning before we suspend an account if we beleive our rules are being violated. https://www.dropcatch.com/OtherInfo/TermsAndConditions

We wish this wasn’t the case but there are people who try to game the system and they use all sorts of strategies to do so. We try to be as proactive and correct as possible, but in some cases we don’t always get it right. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we hope you can see our reasoning that we have to protect the platform and all of our customers, not just one individual.”

The reason for sharing this is it can happen with anyone at anytime as per their T&C. This in my opinion is really unfair that if there were 4 other accounts from Pakistan who were suspended for failing to pay for domains so my account got suspended as well. I can understand if it was automated or done for security reasons but they could’ve easily look into each account manually and reinstated my account as I’ve been buying domains through DropCatch since 2014 with no single time delay in making payment!

I’m very disappointed by their behavior and also when I published the same issue here at NamePros and tagged their support team members, I got no response whatsoever from them neither privately or publicly.
 
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How was your account tied with those 4 other accounts which got closed on the possibility of shill bidding as dropcatch suspects? How were you involved with those closed accounts?
 
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How was your account tied with those 4 other accounts which got closed on the possibility of shill bidding as dropcatch suspects? How were you involved with those closed accounts?

No other information provided by DropCatch but looking at their message, it wasn't tied with any of them other than being opened from Pakistan same like those 4 accounts. There was no involvement of mine whatsoever.
 
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Sounds really odd they would do this ?
 
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Sounds really odd they would do this ?

It is. And they did too. Weird T&Cs. Poor support. As far as automation is concerned, all goes well. One makes payment, domain gets delivered to NameBright account. If you need support, that's always poor and their T&Cs are much poorer than their support.

No official from DC bothered to respond here. Also by emails they constantly told me they're looking into the issue but never made things clear unless I provided what they asked for. After which they reinstated my account and sent the message I shared in my post above.

We've witnessed many companies after growing too big, they think of being the boss of the industry and can do whatever they want to.
 
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It is. And they did too. Weird T&Cs. Poor support. As far as automation is concerned, all goes well. One makes payment, domain gets delivered to NameBright account. If you need support, that's always poor and their T&Cs are much poorer than their support.

No official from DC bothered to respond here. Also by emails they constantly told me they're looking into the issue but never made things clear unless I provided what they asked for. After which they reinstated my account and sent the message I shared in my post above.

We've witnessed many companies after growing too big, they think of being the boss of the industry and can do whatever they want to.


Shocking really how they can do this puts me of using some of them now...
 
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Since you already provided your ID,now they going to sell your ID to the open market.
Or someone is going to hack into their servers and steal all the identities and info.

And best of all, someone working inside the company is going to steal all the IDs, it is always an inside job.
They outsource all the customer service to China, India, Russia and other 3rd world countries and they steal the info.
It all starts from the inside!!
 
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Since you already provided your ID,now they going to sell your ID to the open market.
Or someone is going to hack into their servers and steal all the identities and info.

And best of all, someone working inside the company is going to steal all the IDs, it is always an inside job.
They outsource all the customer service to China, India, Russia and other 3rd world countries and they steal the info.
It all starts from the inside!!

I already followed the advice of @Kate who said to do watermark on the scanned image which I did the same and provided them.
 
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Reading between the lines: maybe this was an automated action.
I don't use them though, so not sure what the best course of action is.
I am reluctant to send ID because corporations all get hacked and your personal data could end up on a darknet market. One thing I do is to watermark the scanned image with the website address, so that it can't be reused for something else.

Be careful. watermarks can be removed using Photoshop in less than 5 seconds. Watermark will never protect you. These government documents usually hacked from small companies like dropcatch very easily (most of the time without even they notice it!) and resold in the dark net. My concern is that it can be reused to open accounts for drug dealers and extremists.
 
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Be careful. watermarks can be removed using Photoshop in less than 5 seconds. Watermark will never protect you. These government documents usually hacked from small companies like dropcatch very easily (most of the time without even they notice it!) and resold in the dark net. My concern is that it can be reused to open accounts for drug dealers and extremists.

So what's the alternative solution for that?
 
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Be careful. watermarks can be removed using Photoshop in less than 5 seconds. Watermark will never protect you. These government documents usually hacked from small companies like dropcatch very easily (most of the time without even they notice it!) and resold in the dark net. My concern is that it can be reused to open accounts for drug dealers and extremists.
When they have a lot of documents to choose from they won't bother trying to remove watermarks from one.
They'll just skip you.
 
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My account also suspended 4 days ago. I had 1 order with them and the payment was made on time. I have sent the email to @DropCatch Support but no answer from them so far. . .
 
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My account also suspended 4 days ago. I had 1 order with them and the payment was made on time. I have sent the email to @DropCatch Support but no answer from them so far. . .

You need to send message via their contact page on DropCatch.com as the support via NamePros is dead.
 
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You need to send message via their contact page on DropCatch.com as the support via NamePros is dead.
Yes, I sent email to support email in their website since 26-Aug. Already 4 days, terrible slow support.
 
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That's strange. I've sent them several times to date and got response in 48 hours.
Try calling their support in busi hours may be?
 
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Maybe they don't want to do a small business with me haha...I have just sent them a reminder email.
 
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Just tried to register for DropCatch the first time, it's very perturbing that DC needs drivers licenses/passports in the first place. To what end? File small claims for not paying for a $500 bid or something? @ssmb you are absolutely right, what's going to happen if DC gets hacked and this information gets stolen? Free credit monitoring? If they even disclose it at all. Seems to violate basic IAPP guidelines on PII collection, since none of this documentation is ever required by a registrar (for example NameBright doesn't ask for copies of these materials).
 
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