advice Domain Name Hijacked?

If this was a domain expiring today, then: Drop catch, automatic registrations etc. Happens on a daily basis to me. Nothing special, I suspect someone was simply quicker to get it.

It was a new domain. Never registered previously. Whois registration time and date matches exactly when I tried to buy on Namecheap.

manicminer said:

It was a new domain. Never registered previously. Whois registration time and date matches exactly when I tried to buy on Namecheap.

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This happened to me in the past with another registrar that I'm not using anymore. It's called domain front running. While it is hard to tell exactly why and almost impossible to prove and/or do anything about it, it definitely does happen. For me was quite rare, although very annoying. Sometimes it might also be someone who has a backdoor in your computer, or a "friend" looking over your shoulder, who knows.

Again this is a generic answer, I'm not using Namecheap, so I can't comment about the registrar itself. Can be anything.

It can also be a situation when there's a sudden trend so multiple people jump at once based on some news or another event generating the trend. I see this sometimes with domain sales for example.

Thanks,

I agree that it sounds unlikely that I'll fix it. The registration time on Whois is precise, to-the-minute, to when I hit the payment button on Namecheap, which failed. The only conclusion is that Namecheap's system, somehow registered it with Dynadot.

Namecheap's online help immediately recommended I put in an offer for it...(not a chance!).

as a rule. I use ICANN to check whois. never any website online.

either that or I simply type in the url to address bar.

see if it's live or not. then check icann. this is easiier for me. and safest. always get the feeling if I use other websites they are almost always "sharing" data as "suggestions" to registrar users.

most sites the give free whois look up or registrars themselves that are associated with each other or are big registrars resellers.

9 times outta 10 the data you input is shared.

so basically YOU because the "AI" for registrars.

Ever wonder where some registrars get some "Great ideas" similar to your own domain registrations when your domain is not available?

BOOM there you go!

so either use address bar or ICANN's whois

Sounds about right! Lesson learned!

WhoaDomain.com said:

Ever wonder where some registrars get some "Great ideas" similar to your own domain registrations when your domain is not available?

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I'm inclined to believe that in most of these instances, what's generated is based more on an algorithm related to the individual characters/terms/keywords entered, as well as some thesaurus-like function to find related names, and then just applying different extensions--and even then, the extensions could be based off of characters that make up those same terms.

Not saying you're completely wrong, but just giving my thoughts on the subject.

I agree that using a browser search bar to see whether or not a site/domain is live/has a lander is probably better than using a registrar's search (unless your machine/browser is compromised by malware, that is...) I sometimes do that, myself, but I usually search via a terminal using the whois command (Linux).

@manicminer: Any idea how much time elapsed from when you first entered the domain in their search field, and was it a domain/term that you had ever searched before?

@manicminer Since the domain is lost - why don't you advise the name. All things might not be as perceived.

Let us all try to get to the bottom of this.

This thread is worthless, without providing the name.

@Bertrell

I'd searched for the domain the previous day on Namecheap.

I guess what I find odd is that the timestamp on the Dynadot registration on Whois is exactly the same time I hit the purchase button on Namecheap.

Ja Kai said:

Since the domain is lost - why don't you advise the name. All things might not be as you have relayed.

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I'd rather keep the name on the qt. I did manage to get the .co.uk - it's just the .com that failed, and got somehow pinched.

Namecheap's customer service ignored my request to investigate the uncanny closeness of the Dynadot registration timestamp on Whois with my purchase time on Namecheap, and just kept repeating that the domain had been registered with someone else and that I could now make an offer (how kind) to buy it!

"Front running" is the term. If you think you have a great name do not sit and wait using appraisal tools etc. Get it in your cart and pay for it. I don't even buy names in bulk because half are gone on checkout over the time.
"Front runners" watch to see ideas not purchased in given time frame. Timed out of cart.