GoDaddy requiring ID verification - Can anyone help?

[curesync]

Hello,

After registering a domain yesterday using a GoDaddy promo I found here, I received this e-mail:

Thank you for being our valued customer. Your account has been selected by our verification office as a precautionary measure to defend you from possible misuse of either your payment method or products in shopper account ----.

During the login process, our secure site will prompt you to upload a viewable, scanned copy of the payment method account holder's government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or passport. In the comments box, we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased. If we do not receive the requested documentation within the next 48 hours, your order(s) may be canceled for your protection.

Upon receipt and verification, we will notate your account that the necessary documentation to substantiate your account has been received. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,
GoDaddy Verification Office


--------------------

I don't have a government issued photo ID card, and likely will not until well into spring of next year when the pandemic is under control. All I have right now is a birth certificate, which they wont take. Can anyone help me retrieve my domain name from them? I'm willing to pay to transfer elsewhere. It's not perfect, but I'm really attached to the name I chose c/u/r/e/s/i/o.com and it was hard to come up with due to so many health related domains being already taken.

I'm kicking myself for hopping on the 99 cent deal instead of paying $6 more at sav or even $8 more at namesilo. The time I lost trying to resolve this over chat has made this domain way more expensive than using a registrar I already know well and trust.

I don't understand why they aren't willing to accept my birth certificate or allow my payment processor to confirm my identity in relation to the payment method used? Or drop the domain and let me re-register it elsewhere? Also don't understand why I need to provide GoDaddy with an explanation of how I intend to use my domain name?

Can anyone please help?

 

[Rob Monster]

Has it come to that already?

@Joe Styler - What goes on here? Field testing a new feature in the control grid with verified identity as requirement to own a domain name? I thought this day might come but sucks to see it manifest.

What happens next? Seize accounts without due process until you prove that you have been vaccinated?

 

[Joe Styler]

It is nothing new, we have been doing this since I started at GoDaddy 15 years ago. A very small subset of customers need to provide additional information around their purchase. The email is saying that we do not think the buyer is using a credit card that they should have access to and we want to be sure we are wrong before we finalize the transaction. This happens to me at least a few times a year at various vendors when my spending on one of my cards is not what they think it should be or coming from where they expect I would normally make purchases. I have to take an additional step to verify it is actually me. We are requesting an ID that matches the payment info and billing address entered to give an extra chance to make this work instead of just canceling/denying the transaction at the time it is being purchased as I think would be more customary with many vendors.

 

[Intelliname]

"we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased."

There is no reality where GoDaddy should ever grow to the point that they think they even have the slightest entitlement to ask customers what they are going to do with their domain name as part of a suitability review.

Ever.

 

[Rob Monster]

"we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased."

There is no reality where GoDaddy should ever grow to the point that they think they even have the slightest entitlement to ask customers what they are going to do with their domain name as part of a suitability review.

Ever.

Amen.

That seemed like the most Draconian part. My concern is three-fold:

(1) Registrant buys the domain, but registrar keeps it because of <insert nonsense policy>.

(2) Registrant buys the domain but can't use the domain because intended use does not match TOS.

(3) Registrant buys the domain but in doing so steps into a honey pot with forced ID disclosure.

And now we know the real reason why GoDaddy does not take cryptos. Of course you can use PayPal which now accepts cryptos and will handle the all-pro KYC audit and seize your funds if they like.

Either way they gotcha by the balls. George Carlin was ahead of his time.

 

[bmugford]

I understand why GoDaddy, or any other company might want to verify information when it comes to payments. When you go to a store you often need to show your ID when paying via credit card.

I don't really understand this part -

In the comments box, we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased.

Why is that information relevant or needed?

Brad

 

[Rob Monster]

I understand why GoDaddy, or any other company might want to verify information when it comes to payments. When you go to a store you often need to show your ID when paying via credit card.

I don't really understand this part -

In the comments box, we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased.

Why is that information relevant or needed?

Brad

Brad - it is not always that we agree, but we are in agreement here.

I did ask the registrant about the domain name. The domain is completely benign. It is a 7 letter brandable name that seems to riff off of the word "curious".

The whole episode seems bizarre which is why I invited Joe to comment.

 

[Joe Styler]

We got things cleared up for the original poster and they have access to the domain now.

 

[Rob Monster]

We got things cleared up for the original poster and they have access to the domain now.

Thanks Joe!

 

[curesync]

We got things cleared up for the original poster and they have access to the domain now.

Super grateful/relieved! Thank you again for stepping in!