Domain Hijacking ? GoDaddy Resellers Denies Existance of Domain a Auth Code

[dom]

Domain Hijacking ? GoDaddy Resellers Denies Existance of Domain and Auth Code

A friend of mine registered a few years ago a domain with a reseller of Godaddy that also provided him with hosting. He have a family business and they are completely dependant in the website. He wanted to move to a different hosting and tried to make the transfer of the domain to another hosting. As he did not know much, he did not have access to any control panel in the original registrar and was going to do the same in the second one. Of course the right thing was to have a Godaddy account and then simply change the dns, with any transfer of domain.

The original registrar sent to my friend a Auth Code and Id for the transfer, that sent to the new hosting that will to do the transfer. The transfer failed as Godaddy said the Codes where not correct. May be it was a mistake.

After asking to GoDaddy they replied "You appear to have a bad authorization code. You will need a new code. The authorization code can only be acquired at the current registrar. You will need to contact them and have them give you the authorization code. Unfortunately, they are the only ones who can give you that code. They are required by rule to give you the code within 5 days of your request. We have no means to cause that to happen."

We talked with the webmaster (he was very naive and selfish) and also the manager of the original registrar (reseller GoDaddy) and they insisted that the domain it is not in their account and have nothing to do with the transfer or the domain any more. But after checking the whois (updated 2 days ago and the resused transfer was 3 days ago) it identifies the registrar as the reseller. Not only that, when trying the "account retrival" there is a message that they will verify the mail and mentioned something like *********@omail.com, that surprisingly we know as a matter of fact it is of the owner of the business (reseller). The webmaster said that that email address it is "fictious". Of course they offered to "rescue the domain" for about US$300 cash in about 3-6 days, depending how long takes to do so to Godaddy.

What can really do about this denial of providing the transfer code in the requested 5 days time from part of the Godaddy reseller?. The domain must to be renewed in april and they are afraid to loose it. Then no way to rescue the domain from the original Registrar.

Furthermore, in the whois appears a wrong email address. I will not mention here the exact domain name, but the contact name of the domain in whois is now something like [email protected] instead of [email protected]. The loosing webmaster and the receiving denies any change of the mails. My friend contacted GoDaddy, they were kind and requested some documents, that it is OK. Unfortunately, the name was registered using (without the knowledge of my friend) as a company name something like "www.iloveyou.com" and GoDaddy requested proof of use in business, and he got that and sent them, but now they ask to send legalized translations (from spanish to english) of all the papers (most of them in english) and that means to travel about 1.600 miles in each way to the only one consulate of the US in the country.

Any suggestions about what to do ?. My friend do not want to pay but I think it is the only one way to get the domain back to him, of course now with his own account. He learned the hard way the difference between registering domains and hosting.

Many thanks

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Situations like this give me a headache.

When GoDaddy says it needs "legal" translations, they did give you any idea of where you could get such translations in your area?

Here's the reason why I ask: when I lived overseas, to get a visa so that I could remain in country for an extended time, I had to have my documents (Birth Certificate and wedding certificate) translated into the local language by an "official" translator, much like a Notary (one who witnesses official signatures on a document). It may that your friend will not have to travel 1,600 miles.

Also, I don't think the US Consulate does translations for ordinary citizens. The best they would do is give your friend a list of official translators, so I recommend that your friend tries to get that info from the Consulate via email or even snail mail.

I also suggest that your friend call GoDaddy again and ask what they mean by an official translation and how your friend can get one locally. If it's an international call, use Skype or Net2Phone (both VOip)--MUCH cheaper than ordinary international calls. Some countries have Net2Phone stores, where you can make make calls from a phone booth.

Your friend may need to insist on speaking to a manager. In the end, GoDaddy is responsible for the behavior of its resellers and should be willing to help sort out this mess and possibly do an investigation on the reseller's behavior. Certainly, they would not want such a rogue acting in their behalf (bad business).

If your friend can't get any satisfaction from GoDaddy, maybe he should file a complaint with ICANN. Check their website for details:

http://icann.org/

There is a "contact" button on the upper right.

If your friend gets his domain back, he should keep it in his name, not the new host's name.

I wish you and your friend well and hope this situation gets resolved in his favor.

*

A friend of mine registered a few years ago a domain with a reseller of Godaddy that also provided him with hosting. He have a family business and they are completely dependant in the website. He wanted to move to a different hosting and tried to make the transfer of the domain to another hosting. As he did not know much, he did not have access to any control panel in the original registrar and was going to do the same in the second one. Of course the right thing was to have a Godaddy account and then simply change the dns, with any transfer of domain.

The original registrar sent to my friend a Auth Code and Id for the transfer, that sent to the new hosting that will to do the transfer. The transfer failed as Godaddy said the Codes where not correct. May be it was a mistake.

After asking to GoDaddy they replied "You appear to have a bad authorization code. You will need a new code. The authorization code can only be acquired at the current registrar. You will need to contact them and have them give you the authorization code. Unfortunately, they are the only ones who can give you that code. They are required by rule to give you the code within 5 days of your request. We have no means to cause that to happen."

We talked with the webmaster (he was very naive and selfish) and also the manager of the original registrar (reseller GoDaddy) and they insisted that the domain it is not in their account and have nothing to do with the transfer or the domain any more. But after checking the whois (updated 2 days ago and the resused transfer was 3 days ago) it identifies the registrar as the reseller. Not only that, when trying the "account retrival" there is a message that they will verify the mail and mentioned something like *********@omail.com, that surprisingly we know as a matter of fact it is of the owner of the business (reseller). The webmaster said that that email address it is "fictious". Of course they offered to "rescue the domain" for about US$300 cash in about 3-6 days, depending how long takes to do so to Godaddy.

What can really do about this denial of providing the transfer code in the requested 5 days time from part of the Godaddy reseller?. The domain must to be renewed in april and they are afraid to loose it. Then no way to rescue the domain from the original Registrar.

Furthermore, in the whois appears a wrong email address. I will not mention here the exact domain name, but the contact name of the domain in whois is now something like [email protected] instead of [email protected]. The loosing webmaster and the receiving denies any change of the mails. My friend contacted GoDaddy, they were kind and requested some documents, that it is OK. Unfortunately, the name was registered using (without the knowledge of my friend) as a company name something like "www.iloveyou.com" and GoDaddy requested proof of use in business, and he got that and sent them, but now they ask to send legalized translations (from spanish to english) of all the papers (most of them in english) and that means to travel about 1.600 miles in each way to the only one consulate of the US in the country.

Any suggestions about what to do ?. My friend do not want to pay but I think it is the only one way to get the domain back to him, of course now with his own account. He learned the hard way the difference between registering domains and hosting.

Many thanks

 

[co2]

Contact ICANN.org and complain like hell !.

 

[Domagon]

See if the wrong email address is available on gmail - if it is, open a new email account - verify it's working, and then try requesting the authcode, etc again.

GoDaddy, like most registrars, rely on the admin email address - so if you can get the "wrong" email working, your friend can likely bypass all the "legal" paperwork stuff.

On a related note, even an expired domain can be transferred out ... not something one should rely on, but in this instance, that extra time may be needed.

And finally, if all else fails, perhaps negotiate a deal to pay $100 or whatever to the reseller to "fix" the problem ... it's basically extortion, but sometimes, it's easier to pay then dealing with the hassles of the alternatives.

Hope this helps.

Ron

 

[dom]

Thank you all.

Finally my friend decided to pay the US$280 of "hijacking fee" to the reseller of Godaddy; and they do not have any warranty to get it back, that means, more money, I hope not. They badly need the domain as they are loosing business while the times passes by. After having the domain safely then he will complain. My friend do no speaks english, and then I call to Godaddy.

No, in fact GoDaddy act like automatic answering system. They give as alternative to provide documents used for US registered companies, that they know it is not the case. We understand that only a "Certified English Translation" have legal value in the US; we will write Godaddy for that alternative (with a notary) as you suggest. To be really legally binding in the US need to be translated by a translator registered at the US Consulate and then go to the consulate Notary. Godaddy wrote: "1. A Certified English translation of business ID for the Company listed as current registrant.(Please send one of the following)-A copy of business license-Tax certificate (number alone is not acceptable)-Doing Business As documentation-Fictitious Name documentation-IRS 501(C)3 “Determination Letter”-State issued certificate of tax exemption showing charitable status

GoDaddy of course is responsible about the behaviour of their resellers, but they just wash their hands. Even a operator of Godaddy suggested go straight to Icann (she replied that when I asked for a mail of Godaddy to inform them the situation), and that it is what is going to do later.

By my side now I know that I will never register a domain using a reseller.

Many thanks for all the suggestion given to us. When the domain it is transfered I will let you know the name of the reseller.

The first that we saw, was to check if the address was available, but it was not.

Finally my friend decides to pay the extorsion fee. I think at this point it is the best that he can do.

Thank for all

See if the wrong email address is available on gmail - if it is, open a new email account - verify it's working, and then try requesting the authcode, etc again.

GoDaddy, like most registrars, rely on the admin email address - so if you can get the "wrong" email working, your friend can likely bypass all the "legal" paperwork stuff.

On a related note, even an expired domain can be transferred out ... not something one should rely on, but in this instance, that extra time may be needed.

And finally, if all else fails, perhaps negotiate a deal to pay $100 or whatever to the reseller to "fix" the problem ... it's basically extortion, but sometimes, it's easier to pay then dealing with the hassles of the alternatives.

Hope this helps.

Ron

 

[tinner666]

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