Attempted domain hijacking at Name.com

[pooky]

Here's the sequence of events:

I bought an expired domain at another registrar six months back and transferred it to my Name.com account a couple of weeks later.
(I don't use whois privacy much, so the domain whois is public information.)

This is a 2-word domain, very valuable (not just my opinion). Not even close to being trademarked etc., just generic keywords.

Out of the blue, yesterday (Saturday) morning @ 3 A.M, I receive the following email from Name.com Abuse:

[Request received] 1st Notice: Transfer Dispute - *************.com

Hello,

Name.com has recently received a complaint that the domain name referenced in the subject line of this email, has been fraudulently transferred from a Name.com account.

This domain name is currently located in your Name.com account. Name.com has also noticed that the contact details assigned to your Name.com account are incomplete or inaccurate.

After our initial review, it appears the complaint we have received is valid. We have closed your Name.com accounts until we have had a chance to review this issue in greater detail.

If you could provide complete documentary evidence proving your legitimate ownership of this domain, as well as your purchase of these domains from the previous registrants, we would be happy to review the documentation in further detail.

A PDF scan of your government issued photo ID. This can take the form of your drivers license or your passport. Please note this is an important piece of information we require for our investigation. It allows us to verify your identity and confirm your ownership of the domain. If possible we ask that you submit an scan of your identification that contains an English translation of your name.


We are also curious as to how the domain came to be in your Name.com account, did you purchase this domain?

If so can you provide us a receipt of sale or a purchase agreement in which both parties in question signed to authorize the domains transfer?

It appears the domain recently transferred to Name.com, can you provide evidence of your bona fide acquisition of the domain (sales receipt / purchase agreement)? Along with an explanation as to how the domain came to be in your account?

If we receive no information from you regarding this domain within the next 2 days, Name.com may be forced to transfer this domain name back to the original registrant of this domain.

Thank you,

Thank you,
Name.com Abuse


At first I though this was another one of those spam/phishing mails, but the account control panel for the domain shows this:

Domain is Disabled
Warning! This domain has been disabled due to a breach of our registration agreement.
Please contact [email protected] for further details.


What disturbs me most about this:

Name.com has recently received a complaint that the domain name referenced in the subject line of this email, has been fraudulently transferred from a Name.com account.
After our initial review, it appears the complaint we have received is valid. We have closed your Name.com accounts until we have had a chance to review this issue in greater detail.

The domain literally could not have been "fraudulently transferred from a Name.com account", since it was at another non-related registrar for at least a few years, prior to expiring there. I transferred it to my Name.com account six months ago and the contacts have not been modified since.
How Name.com has come to this conclusion is beyond me.

Not surprisingly, the identity of the complainant has not been shared with me.


This domain name is currently located in your Name.com account. Name.com has also noticed that the contact details assigned to your Name.com account are incomplete or inaccurate.

My whois contacts for this domain are crystal clear and always have been. There's nothing more I can add, remove or modify.


If we receive no information from you regarding this domain within the next 2 days, Name.com may be forced to transfer this domain name back to the original registrant of this domain.

They sent me this notice on a Saturday morning (which is not a problem for me). However, their support is off for the weekend and they will probably see my reply only on Monday morning.
We had a cyclone pass thru the city last month, with internet connections down for 3-4 days. I shudder to think I could lose any domain I have at Name.com to a thief if I don't login to my email for a couple of days.


I have also raised a complaint with ICANN regarding their practices.

This seems to be an attempt at registrar-assisted theft of my domain.

I have sent them the purchase receipt, my ID proof and even screenshots of the domain purchase, along with a detailed explanation of the history of the domain, within hours of receiving their notice.

They have not contacted me back as of this posting.

 

[Rob Monster]

@pooky

All is well that ends well. Regrettable that it required public drama, but glad to see it was resolved amicably.

Regards,
Rob

 

[usernamex]

Update from Name.com:. . . there is no evidence of fraudulent activity. Thank you, Name.com Abuse
Following that, I have received an email from the complainant wanting to buy the domain.

zomg, that's hysterical. My opinion is that doubles your selling price instantly. : grin :

PS was the complainant revealed after it was determined you were the rightful owner or did they confess when they sent their offer?

 

[Domains - Wanted]

...Following that, I have received an email from the complainant wanting to buy the domain.

As in: if you can't steal it, then buy it?!

 

[urlurl]

triple the price +++++++

 

[pooky]

@usernamex They had mentioned in their reply that "Name.com received a complaint from an individual claiming to be the previous owner of the domain from contacts previously associated with the domain.".

The email offering to buy was directly from the earlier owner/complainant - no mention of the complaint.

Lessons learned from this episode:

• If you have a Name.com account, either watch your domains and email very carefully because of their current stated 2-day policy for the domain owner to reply or lose OR consider moving out your domains to safer registrars with better anti-abuse policies. That's sad because I actually liked their account interface.

• Also, the transfer dispute notice and subsequent emails from Name.com regarding this were sent from support+id17727 AT compliancehelp.zendesk.com, not abuse AT name.com. As mentioned earlier, if I hadn't logged in to my account and found the 'Domain Disabled' message, I would have ignored it as spam.

 

[eurorealtor]

@pooky, if you want to keep the previous owner off of your hair, stick to name.com

 

[Cdomains]

My guess is the person or company forgot to renew the name and when they found out they went searching for it. Finding it at name.com they just assumed it was stolen.

I can see that happening, especially from someone outside the domain industry who doesn't understand how this all works.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[pooky]

...stick to name.com :)

That's what I intend to do, at least for this domain, for now.

 

[HotKey]

So sick of this guilty until proven innocent bs...it's rampant

But anyhow, great outcome 4 u, even though it should never have been an issue to begin with. Amazing what a complaint can trigger.

 

[urlurl]

let us know if they give you a nice juicy offer for the name