Domain Theft

[Commerce]

Hard to believe after nearly 25 years, but I got hit by criminals who have stolen a number of my domains. Any insights beyond working with the registrar of record to resolve this quickly?

-Commerce

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Network solutions is a joke unreliable registrar. Why do people still use it?

 

[Samer]

ICANN’s too busy giving themselves’ raises to care.

 

[Mike Goodman]

Because it's where the SnapNames successful drops are homed. We don't have options. Time the authorities did take a look. They do have a duty of care for the public's property if they are allowed the role of caretaker.

 

[Samer]

Because it's where the SnapNames successful drops are homed. We don't have options. Time the authorities did take a look. They do have a duty of care for the public's property if they are allowed the role of caretaker.

This.Thank you my friend! so much. This ^^^
Network Solutions WORST Out of ALL REGISTRARS

 

[Satoshi's Domains]

Agreed, Network Solutions is the worst customer service experience I've ever had. Huge delays, bogus charges that take forever to get refunded, can't figure out where domains are held at times...the list goes on. They are basically what would happen if GoDaddy merged with the DMV.

 

[fleaking]

I have a similar situation with Network Solutions recently...
they stole my domain and sold it to someone else(might be due to their system's glitch),
and I have reported the issue to them for more than 10 days but still got no official response yet...
their VIP support always replied me that their Fraud / Legal team is investigating the issue now...
I feel very upset and depressed about the problem and I am thinking to take a legal action against Network Solutions, any lawyer here can help with? I just want to get my domain back...

ref: https://www.namepros.com/threads/my...o-namecheap-without-my-authorization.1224520/

 

[Samer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1354778895749419013

 

[Samer]

Probably, your best course of action;

https://twitter.com/x/status/1354782669935153152

i like @jberryhill, consider him the best.

Good luck, mate!!

 

[Zilla]

Network solutions is a joke unreliable registrar. Why do people still use it?

I will trust them if I did not read any story here just judge by first impression...no any other reason, but their nice name "Network Solution" make me feel they are professional...so...a case describe how name is important...may be this also a reason for ur question.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

I will trust them if I did not read any story here just judge by first impression...no any other reason, but their nice name "Network Solution" make me feel they are professional...so...a case describe how name is important...may be this also a reason for ur question.

agreed NetworkSolutions is a great business name but worst services.

Meanwhile most of the great domain registrars uses average brand names.

 

[alcy]

well that's the thing about 25 years of domaining... u are more likely to own at least some liquid names...

so no random attack.. planned based on name values etc.

I guess some account hacks can be random too.

it also cant be random that in most cases its ns. but until investigations there is no proof.

 

[AEProgram]

I thought the waiting for 3 days for an auth code solves all these issues //s

 

[Mike Goodman]

They must be learning something from their aggrieved customers. Late last night after reading (and responding to) this thread I decided to move the handful of domains I had with them for more than 60 days after drop and drop-auction wins. I had to contact support, who emailed the auth codes direct to my inbox using the email address they have on file for me.

It's a very cumbersome method but safe. They're bound to come up with something less labour intensive soon but until then I'll feel what I have left with them is more secure for now.

 

[Commerce]

Take a look https://www.icann.org/compliance/complaint

https://icannportal.force.com/compliance/s/transfer

Yes, thank you for that. Have been in touch with ICANN to establish the process needed, which will begin on Monday.

 

[james haw]

Working on it. Am told that certain really private information was used to convince the register of my identity.

So the registrar didn't do due diligence and email the address on the account? Or telephone your phone number? These are basic security checks in my opinion and unless they said they had lost their (your) email/telephone accounts there's no reason the registrar shouldn't have used one of these as a means of security checking.

"I don't have my email or telephone for you to check with and I want to transfer these expensive domains" - how did this not raise alarm bells?

 

[alcy]

Yes, thank you for that. Have been in touch with ICANN to establish the process needed, which will begin on Monday.

sorry if missed...how many names exactly?

 

[bulkdomainz]

Hope it gets resolved for you soon.

Actually several. But a little update. Having contacted the registrar support, I was advised to outline in detail the situation as an email to mail to their abuse, with an expectation of 24-48 hour response time. Ironically, their servers got back to me quite a bit faster... the message bounced. Hopefully, their legal team and my account manager will pick this up. Even so, I am going to reach out to their corporate group this morning. Based on the call, it was discovered that either forged or stolen physical credentials were used to convince them that the individual(s) were me. There is a little problem with their documentation I shall not share here. As you can imagine, I'm not pleased that along with some pretty strong names, they opted to go after my corporate identity.

The list of stolen domains discovered so far is as follows:

companies.net
experience.net
firstusa.net
ihba.com
ihba.net
ihba.org
isba.com
isba.net
pressclub.com
pressclub.net
schoolers.com
schoolers.net
clanmaitland.org
commercecompany.com
commercecompany.net
commercecompany.org
commerco.org
thecommercecompany.com
thecommercecompany.net
thecommercecompany.org

 

[Lil85]

I hope im not oot...but i was wondering, is it worth it to pay an advanced security for a domain (the one offered in the domain registry)? Will it prevent this incident?

 

[MapleDots]

I hope im not oot...but i was wondering, is it worth it to pay an advanced security for a domain (the one offered in the domain registry)? Will it prevent this incident?

Getting a good registrar and two factor security stops this.

When I phone godaddy they will not talk to me until I give them my generated code from my google authenticator.
It does not matter how much personal information I give them. It is because I asked for that service, even a simple support call needs that code so nobody can scam the support agent.

We are all human and with a lot of personal information it can look to the agent like he is talking to the domain owner.

The authenticator is your friend and even more secure than two factor with a text to your phone.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Is there an update on the status of the recovery?
Really hope you got it back promptly.

 

[Commerce]

Is there an update on the status of the recovery?
Really hope you got it back promptly.

Bob, thanks for the question. At this point, every message I am sending to the registrar is being bounced through their normal and recommended contact method per their emails. I'm starting to get more than a bit frustrated by a phenomenal lack of communication. As a thank you, my registrar actually has now blocked my account with them. Kind of outrageous behavior for a customer who has been with them for longer than their current owners have held them. I'll keep you posted as I figure out how to navigate the system and get things back. Hopefully some of my discoveries may help others who may go through a similar experience.

Based on voice discussions, I understand the abuse team is on it, however I was also told I should have expected a phone call today that never happened. Will update tomorrow evening.

 

[CraigD]

Getting a good registrar and two factor security stops this.

When I phone godaddy they will not talk to me until I give them my generated code from my google authenticator.
It does not matter how much personal information I give them. It is because I asked for that service, even a simple support call needs that code so nobody can scam the support agent.

We are all human and with a lot of personal information it can look to the agent like he is talking to the domain owner.

The authenticator is your friend and even more secure than two factor with a text to your phone.

GD already have PIN numbers in place for security. My concern with 2FA is that it introduces another level of authentication that can be hacked. eg. Your phone number could be ported or your phone could be stolen, or you could cancel your phone number for whatever reason.

Increasingly, the onus of security is being placed on the end-user or other 3rd party services.

 

[CraigD]

I hope im not oot...but i was wondering, is it worth it to pay an advanced security for a domain (the one offered in the domain registry)? Will it prevent this incident?

I don't think you should have to pay extra for security in principle. It should be assumed that security is tight under the current systems.

 

[Bertrell]

My concern with 2FA is that it introduces another level of authentication that can be hacked

That is the primary issue with a certain type of 2FA--SMS--which is better than none at all, but still vulnerable via the example you gave. It is much more difficult to hack when an authenticator app/program (TOTP) or a hardware device/key (U2F) is used.

Making sure your phone stays locked when not in use helps, as does enabling password/biometric-protected access within the authenticator app itself. A number of registrars offer 2FA (some include a support PIN, like you mentioned--Epik also comes to mind). I have domains with several of them and 2FA is enabled at the account access level. Many also offer the additional option to enable 2FA for most domain configuration changes.

 

[MapleDots]

That is the primary issue with a certain type of 2FA--SMS--which is better than none at all, but still vulnerable via the example you gave. It is much more difficult to hack when an authenticator app/program (TOTP) or a hardware device/key (U2F) is used.

Making sure your phone stays locked when not in use helps, as does enabling password/biometric-protected access within the authenticator app itself. A number of registrars offer 2FA (some include a support PIN, like you mentioned--Epik also comes to mind). I have domains with several of them and 2FA is enabled at the account access level. Many also offer the additional option to enable 2FA for most domain configuration changes.

I hear the what if you lose your phone argument all the time, so I agree with you, keep it locked simple.

Now the real issue... how the hell does a domain thief get your phone?
I mean really, I keep hearing the argument against authenticator with people saying... if you lose your phone.

Give me a break please, domain thief's are usually from a distance away (like china) and they cannot get your phone so authenticator is virtually hack proof.