GoDaddy Closed Account - Repossessed 15 domains

[mramirshaikh]

I have been contacting Godaddy since many days and nothing is happening, I am not even getting any response anymore, support agents were helpless as they always said that the concerned department only works via email.


So this is what happened exactly,

1. On Friday 25-06-2021 12:19 AM , I got an email from Godaddy that on of my domain is serving some malicious content and I have 24 hours to remove that content, otherwise my domain will be suspended. They didn't provide any details of that content, instead just mentioned my homepage.
   
   
   
2. After around 13 hours, I contact Godaddy live chat, the agent checked my site and confirm that my site is clean and nothing will happen, he asked me to email hostsec(at)godady.com, which I did.
   
   
3. While I was sending them an email, I got another email from Godaddy that my domain is now suspended (NOTE THAT IT WAS JUST 13 HOURS, I WAS NOT EVEN PROVIDED COMPLETE 24 HOURS), I asked the agent about it and he asked me to email hostsec(at)godaddy.com and they will add my domain again in my account.
   
   
4. In response to my email, I got a response from GoDaddy that I have violated some TOS, and the domain is now permanently suspended.
   
   
5. After that I replied to them and asked for a reason as I was sure that there was nothing wrong with my website, I also got it checked from my hosting provider, but in response, Godaddy said that they can't explain and I have to read TOS.
   
   
6. After that I had many chats with support agents and calls as well but they were helpless as they said that the concerned department only works via email and only that department can explain the reason, all of them asked me to email hostsec(at)godaddy.com, I did several emails and with each email, a new incident ID gets created, but I never got a reply
   Following are the incident IDs created, I was emailing them whenever I had a chat with the agent and they all suggest emailing hostsec(at)godaddy.com with details.
   45151090
   45155445
   45158064
   45163408
   
   
7. Though I never got any response for the above incidents, on 30-06-2021, I got an email from Godaddy that another of my domains has been suspended as its serving malicious content, again they didn't provide any details.
   
   
8. Along with that suspension, I got a reply on my incident id 45158064, but the response was not anything about the domain, instead, they said that my account is now permanently closed, and this is how I lost all my domains.

 

[mramirshaikh]

Mr. Berryhill, thank you for your time and research.
@mramirshaikh you shouldnt have lumped customers legitimate businesses in with yours. I want to build a controversial website, but it sure as hell wont be hosted where my other sites are.
Time to come up with some new ideas, a church in victoria

Your getting pissed now eh buddy. Shifting blame wont work, it will encourage honest people to seek the truth.

No, you are getting me wrong mate. John really helped me understand the issue I was trying to understand for a long time. It would be easier if Godaddy would have told me this.

Now I only want any of you guys to please help me understand if Godaddy have such policy that they can repossess all domains if one is suspected ? I am trying to learn here mate. @Joe Styler

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Dont put all your eggs in one basket. No i havent had a domain or hosting at daddy for eons. 5 years maybe. The domains are gone.
Trust me i feel same way about godaddy and joe joe as you. Final post. Make few people happy there lol

 

[mramirshaikh]

Thanks @MasterOfMyDomains

Alright guys, I really appreciate all of you who participated.

Though I still don't agree with the decision of taking away all the domains even if one of them was doing something wrong.

May be Godaddy have some policy to justify that, but anyways it is how it is.

 

[mramirshaikh]

https://domaininvesting.com/information-about-repossessed-by-go-daddy-registrant/ (check comments)

Oops. !! looks like Godaddy is famous for these sort of scams, I am sure Mr.Harvey will definitely have some reasons for these guys as well

Now let's see how much they make from my domains in the auction.

 

[BebopR]

As a new person to the site I'm trying to have a learning moment here from this, so here are my questions:

• CAUSE: Person JD owns example.com. The example.com website knowingly facilitates criminal activity
• EFFECT: Registrar seizes all domains owned by JD and terminates JD's account.

1. Is the above cause/effect scenario typical standard for the industry?
2. Are there circumstances where the offending website would have its hosting terminated (e.g., their DigitalOcean or AWS account), but their domains and registrar would be unaffected?
3. If a domain owner set the DNS servers from the GoDaddy control panel to be externally hosted, e.g., "ns1.myhost.com"... would this decrease the probability of GoDaddy receiving criminal complaints about the domain?

*Note: replace the name GoDaddy with any registrar if you may. My questions are more general than specific.

** Note 2: obviously "Don't be shady" would guarantee the lowest chance of generating criminal complaints. Sometimes mistakes are made though, and a domain name is a precious thing to lose. I'm looking at redundant layers of protection for one's domain name.

 

[equity78]

He doesn't run the company. While he can certainly pass along a message to the appropriate business unit, I'm pretty sure that the entirety of GoDaddy is not under his control. Also, just because someone says something on a web forum doesn't mean there is not more to the story. "Farmville2FreeGifts.com" doesn't exactly scream "legitimate business". But be that as it may, let's have a look at this one...



Well, let's take a closer look at that domain... While it didn't leave much of a trace as an actual website anywhere, it did appear in an ad which ran for two editions of the Cayman Compass (the main newspaper in Cayman):

Show attachment 196033

Now, this is kind of interesting for a couple of reasons. Cayman had been locked down for a couple of months, and is still difficult to get into and out of, and one of the notable scandals on the island was that one of their politician's wives had been having her personal trainer over for fitness sessions. But, somehow, this outfit had a need for a Latin dance instructor with an outstanding 15 years' experience. Because, hey, when I need Latin dance instruction, I'm not going to settle for someone who has only been doing it for ten years.

The qualifications for this position are kind of interesting, since both of the listed qualifications only exist in one place....

Show attachment 196034

Show attachment 196035

Okay, so, you have a business with only a domain name who runs an ad for two weeks for an amazingly-qualified Latin dance instructor.

The point of this ad is that there is a non-Caymanian who is on the island who possesses these qualifications (or something that looks like them) and whose work permit, for whatever they are actually doing there, is about to expire. So, in order to stay on the island, they have to come up with a job for which only this expat is qualified, run the ad for two weeks, say they couldn't find a "qualified Caymanian or legal resident" to fit the description, and so they can apply for a work permit for this particular person. As it turns out, I have several friends in Cayman, including some who work for GoDaddy, who can provide a lot of insight into immigration scams like this one.

But it also helps to try to build up some kind of appearance of reality, such as having a YouTube channel like, say, this one:

Show attachment 196036

The problem, as one can tell from the purple logo on the floor (and from other clues in the several videos posted to that account) is that most of the videos in that account are copied from an Arthur Murray dance studio in Victoria, British Columbia, and the other videos are copied from this filmmaker:

Show attachment 196037

...which was shot in a church in Canada. That window in the background is here:

https://www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/events/guided-tour

But, it gets better. If you are going to try to fake an internet presence, you'll need some site copy from a reputable agency:

Show attachment 196039


Recognize those church windows? Kind of odd that if you are advertising to Caymanians, you'd use a picture from a place that any Caymanian would know, just by looking, is not in Cayman. There is a pretty big church over on Crewe Road, but it doesn't have those windows.

Now, leaving aside the distinction between "form" and "from", this agency does some interesting work:

Show attachment 196040


And, sure, these things come in handy too:


Show attachment 196041

So, yeah sure. If you are going to scam your way into a Cayman work permit, you might as well have some spending money and ID to go with it. That Belgian driver's license really gets around too, such as in this article posted to LinkedIn:

Show attachment 196042

Which, through the name of Ainsley Aiken, brings us full circle back to:

Show attachment 196043


So, sure, nothing to see here. Just your everyday Latin pandemic dance instruction immigration scam that happens to steal videos from other people and uses the web content and promotion services of counterfeiters and fake ID vendors.

Nothing dodgy about that. Do I get my Farmville 2 free gifts now?

John this is the greatest post in the history of Namepros. Thank you

 

[alcy]

many get suspended domains

happened to me couple times..namecheap..and mostly on epik

this happened out of blue..some spamhaus nonsense...it had to be.nonsense cause all I ever do with all.my names is bodis parking..no custom sites.. no spamming.. no outbound..

however accnts never get suspended for that.. never hard b4...

only u know what u.did with yer domains.. generally in domaining and in life.
things end well and get clarified if we didnt do no wrong.

 

[alcy]

https://domaininvesting.com/information-about-repossessed-by-go-daddy-registrant/ (check comments)

Oops. !! looks like Godaddy is famous for these sort of scams, I am sure Mr.Harvey will definitely have some reasons for these guys as well

Now let's see how much they make from my domains in the auction.

so what's the list?

 

[mramirshaikh]

As a new person to the site I'm trying to have a learning moment here from this, so here are my questions:

• CAUSE: Person JD owns example.com. The example.com website knowingly facilitates criminal activity
• EFFECT: Registrar seizes all domains owned by JD and terminates JD's account.

1. Is the above cause/effect scenario typical standard for the industry?
2. Are there circumstances where the offending website would have its hosting terminated (e.g., their DigitalOcean or AWS account), but their domains and registrar would be unaffected?
3. If a domain owner set the DNS servers from the GoDaddy control panel to be externally hosted, e.g., "ns1.myhost.com"... would this decrease the probability of GoDaddy receiving criminal complaints about the domain?

*Note: replace the name GoDaddy with any registrar if you may. My questions are more general than specific.

** Note 2: obviously "Don't be shady" would guarantee the lowest chance of generating criminal complaints. Sometimes mistakes are made though, and a domain name is a precious thing to lose. I'm looking at redundant layers of protection for one's domain name.

Well, you are right, if anything like that happens, the registrar can suspend accounts without notice. Especially if the registrar is Godaddy.

I would be convinced if the primary domain in my case was the one that John inspected, I know I lost my domains and I am not getting them back anyhow, but I am still active on this thread to make sure other domainers are safe with this policy of Godaddy.

I have domains and hosting with other providers, and nothing like that ever happened, even if the website gets hacked, they temporarily suspend the hosting account but never repossess the domain. It was new for new, that is why I was here for answers, but unfortunately, I still don't know what I did wrong.

John investigated OFF-SITE metrics like youtube channels, backlinks, etc. I am not defending my client, but since I don't reside in the US, I don't know about the stuff he mentioned, maybe he was right and I am not challenging John and Joe's credibility, I know they are honest guys but the fact still remains that youdancecayman wasn't the domain that was suspended initially. In fact, it was never flagged, it went down along with 13 other domains only when Godaddy closed my account.

 

[mramirshaikh]

But yeah I don't agree with Mr.John about farmville2freegifts, coz if you check this website https://www.fv2freegifts.org/ , my website was similar to this one

That website is live since 2018 and currently its getting 70.6k traffic.

Traffic: https://paste.pics/7de8afe924c52d081b92cf68b95e27bb
Whois: https://paste.pics/11759dc59705a8235bb451c9d8efc4cb

The website have adsense approved, and those experienced with adsense or any other ad networks must know how much one can make with such traffic.

 

[mramirshaikh]

many get suspended domains

happened to me couple times..namecheap..and mostly on epik

this happened out of blue..some spamhaus nonsense...it had to be.nonsense cause all I ever do with all.my names is bodis parking..no custom sites.. no spamming.. no outbound..

however accnts never get suspended for that.. never hard b4...

only u know what u.did with yer domains.. generally in domaining and in life.
things end well and get clarified if we didnt do no wrong.

i wish i would have known.

 

[alcy]

i wish i would have known.

maybe u wished on the wrong star.

 

[mramirshaikh]

And as for John's investigation. I agree to what John mentioned about trademarks and all that, but I guess there is DMCA for it, as far as I know registrars don't have the right to suspend domains if any trademark violation is there.

As for other stuff eg: here is the license link that John shared
https://issuu.com/digitalmarketing76/docs/original_belgian_driver_s_license_for_sale

I don't know what this has to do with the website or my agency.

I guess he is linking work from this link building agency to me, which is not true. I don't do SEO for clients, but only create websites. But lets say even if its true, it doesn't make any sense.

Its like if this company or infact any other company creates some backlinks, publish videos or share slides about Godaddy.com , does it make godaddy.com suspicious. I mean its hard to digest.

Rest its up to truth seekers.

 

[accuname]

And as for John's investigation. I agree to what John mentioned about trademarks and all that, but I guess there is DMCA for it, as far as I know registrars don't have the right to suspend domains if any trademark violation is there.

As for other stuff eg: here is the license link that John shared
https://issuu.com/digitalmarketing76/docs/original_belgian_driver_s_license_for_sale

I don't know what this has to do with the website or my agency.

I guess he is linking work from this link building agency to me, which is not true. I don't do SEO for clients, but only create websites. But lets say even if its true, it doesn't make any sense.

Its like if this company or infact any other company creates some backlinks, publish videos or share slides about Godaddy.com , does it make godaddy.com suspicious. I mean its hard to digest.

Rest its up to truth seekers.

I'm not clear on your involvement exactly. You say you own a web agency and create websites. Did you register the domains on behalf of your clients? Who made the content (text, images)? Who uploads the content to the server?

 

[mramirshaikh]

Yes, my mistake here was that I registered a domain for some of my clients. But I was not uploading content, in fact, John himself doesn't know the content of the website as it was already down when I posted my issue here.

I agree with him about copyright stuff, but there is a separate department for it, no registrar suspends domains for such issues.

In fact, the domain that John pointed out, was not even the primary domain that got affected.

I have received 2 inbox messages after my post here, those guys also got their accounts locked, so now I am very sure this has nothing to do with my website content, it's a common practice of GoDaddy to suspend accounts, hold domains, and if they get hold of a domain with good metrics, they simply sell it in the auction.

 

[April004]

any registrar / hosting company will suspend the entire user-account in question including all domains, hosting plans, servers, etc. if they found out serious things like mentioned above including counterfeit money, immigration scams, etc. even on a single domain. Registrar treats all your products owned by account owner and does not cares if they belong to owner's client(s).

Also accounts get locked if the account information does not match the billing information. Safe way is to pay by Paypal/stripe, etc. verified accounts.

Best way is to open new accounts for each client site/domain hosted. Ask client to pay directly, or if web agency is paying on behalf of client use a secure payment method instead of credit card.

I've seen many complaints on google for accounts getting locked at various providers due to using credit cards, IP address not matching credit card address zip code, etc.