NameCheap SUSPENDED my hosting, LOCKED my account, and DESTROYED my business! REVIEW!

[ramiivey]

On 10th December, 2013, I received an email from NameCheap stating "It has come to our attention that your hosting account is involved into phishing activity." This resulted in ALL my hosting for ALL my domains being "SUSPENDED".

They provided a quote from an email from (what I presume) is an automated bot for a web security company that falsely accused my URL of being a phishing website.

My website was strategy guide and forum for video game fans, and the page accused of "phishing" was an external Norton and McAfee verified, SSL safe, Clickbank order form for my Video Game Ebook.

I explained to the support staff that the claim was wrong, and that the Clickbank page (one of the largest online retailers and payment processors in the world) was just an order page that was completely safe (not even hosted by me!).

The NameCheap staff didn't seem to understand that and still insisted I "prove" it wasn't a phishing page. (I don't even collect ANYONE'S information - it's all through the payment processor on another site)

I talked to the support chat for HOURS trying to resolve it and, waiting and waiting for their slow responses. I even offered to remove the link to page for the time being until we resolve their confusion on what a "phishing" page is. WHEN FINALLY - NEXT THING I KNOW - MY ENTIRE NAMECHEAP Account is locked!

I had to wait hours for an explanation, and apparently now they wanted photocopies of ID and to talk on the phone to "verify payments". Well, sorry NameCheap, I'm not keen on sending my ID half way around the world to people called "Bogdan" and "Olya". It doesn't exactly resonate security to me. All my purchases of NameCheap products are 100% legitimate - there have been no chargebacks - NOTHING!

I now just want to LEAVE Namecheap completely. I have no interest in remaining after this horrible experience. I want to get my domains, and get out of that hell hole.

I didn't realize that all you had to do to shut down a website, and all associated websites is email the host with a fake report saying "This is a phishing page. Shut it down".

I thought they would have used logic and sense to see that a Norton and McAfee safe SSL certified page is not a "phishing page". I've lost tons of business from all my other sites, my reputation has been damaged, and losses so far are significant.

I've been consulting with some solicitors (attorneys), and one thinks we could have a case against NameCheap for loss of revenue, libel, reputation damaged, and a broken contract if NameCheap refuses to release the domains to me within a reasonable period of time. There is also the possibility of a class action if enough people have been found with similar experiences.

So, that has been my experience with NameCheap.

THIS IS A WARNING TO YOU - ANYONE CAN EMAIL NAMECHEAP SAYING YOUR DOMAIN OR HOST IS DOING "PHISHING". THEY WILL NOT EVEN INVESTIGATE PROPERLY. THEY WILL SIMPLY SUSPEND EVERYTHING AND POTENTIALLY DESTROY YOUR BUSINESS. WATCH OUT! THE SAME COULD HAPPEN TO ANY OF YOU!

CLIFFS:

- Hosting and Domains with NameCheap.
- Someone emails NameCheap with a false report about my harmless gaming site being a "phishing" site.
- NameCheap shuts down all websites.
- I explain to them that it's false and even try placate them by offering to remove supposed "phishing" site for the time being.
- Next thing, ENTIRE NAMECHEAP account locked.
- Can't touch domains. Disgraceful. Want to leave NameCheap.
- Legal action being considered - currently being worked on.

 

[mikeowoicho]

""

 

[iowadawg]

Funny, how that a first post is to rant and rave at some company.
I see these posts on this forum and many others and always seems to be someone who posts for the first time.
And usually, there is MUCH MORE to the story than what is posted.

 

[alien51]

The best preventive solution to this kind of thing, is to have a backup webhosting from somewhere else. You backup your website by downloading the backup copy to your harddrive. If they shut you down, just upload the backup copy to your alternate webhost, and you are back online.

Also, try to get a more tolerant webhost like those in Germany and Netherlands.

U.S. companies are litigation friendly. Lawyers in America are dime a dozen.

 

[kambone]

If this is true sounds like a nightmare.
That's something no one should go through.

That is why it is a good idea to have your domain and web host separately and always have an offline copy of your website! Or get a host that backs it up for you and you can download the backups or get them sent to your dropbox account or something.
But who would see it coming with a gaming website...

 

[Paul]

It's not surprising in the slightest that a shared hosting provider wouldn't bother to properly investigate such an issue. Their customers pay them pennies. They don't care about individual customers. Yet another reason to stay away from the big shared hosting providers like NameCheap, GoDaddy, and 1and1.

But we already knew that. The real lesson here is that those "certified/verified" badges are useless. Did you know that unless you're using a really old browser--I mean, like, prehistoric, not IE8--HTTPS doesn't even use SSL? That's right, websites don't use SSL anymore, because it's not as secure as it used to be. They use TLS. If a badge says "SSL" and not "TLS", it's a pretty good sign that somebody doesn't know what they're talking about, or doesn't care. I don't expect website operators to understand every technicality of the Internet, but I do expect companies like Norton and McAfee to use the proper terminology. If they don't, it's a pretty good sign that they're just trying to make a buck, and they're not really verifying anything.

Just as an example, go on a site that uses HTTPS (NamePros will work) and click the secure lock icon in your browser's address bar. You should be able to get information about the connection. You'll see plenty about TLS, and nothing about SSL.

If you want to prove to your customers that you are trustworthy, the best thing you can do is actually be trustworthy, and establish yourself as such over time. For example, don't get hacked--easier said than done, especially since most webmasters never know if their sites have been compromised. It sounds like you were on the right track by outsourcing handling of payment details to an established, qualified third-party company. You just hit a bit of a bad luck thanks to shoddy hosting and an angry gamer or two. It happens; having some experience in the gaming industry, gamers quite often know how to get what they want on the Internet. They're a pretty smart crowd, collectively.

I've heard good things about OVH's hosting services, and they offer things like Plesk, which will be a lot easier for you to manage if you're used to shared hosting. I've only had a little experience with them myself, but I know that they stand by their clients and are excellent at mitigating a large variety of attacks, including social engineering. It sounds like they might be a good fit for you. Here's what you'd want. It looks expensive if you're used to shared hosting, but in fact, that lowest package is quite a good deal for a dedicated server. You could host a few hundred small sites with that, at least.

 

[Name Trader]

Great specs for $109/month dedicated hosting, but it is only for an Atom CPU, and pretty small bandwidth. Otherwise, phenomenal.