What would happen if I bought a stolen domain?

[d9niel]

Let's say I was negotiating with a seller (thief), buy the domain, transfer it onto my account and a month later I am contacted by the original owner claiming it was stolen. What would happen in this scenario? Would I be forced to give it back even though I paid for it?

Thanks

 

[Ategy]

There would be a legal process .. but yes .. at the end of the day you'd likely need to give it back as the fact you paid for it means nothing since you didn't pay the actual owner. In fact .. there's a good chance it would simply be taken from you without your consent (because legally it's not needed in theory since it never actually belonged to you)

Check out @DomainNameWire .. Andrew has a few reports on this sort of thing.

 

[Michael]

It doesn't even always have to involve a legal process, the real owner can contact their registrar who may decide unilaterally to give the domain back based on an internal investigation. Even if you transfer it to another registrar, the losing registrar may contact them to get it back which often happens. Or they could file a UDRP to get it back which sometimes works. Or they could file a lawsuit which is usually successful. It doesn't matter that you paid for it, you'll be out the domain and the money, and it's really not something you want to get involved in.

If you're negotiating to buy a domain that you suspect may be stolen, try contacting Theo from DomainGang.com (@Acroplex) and see if he'll help you look into it. If he finds that it is stolen he'll help get the word out so the thief can't sell it, and will often work with the real owner to help get it back. Don't just move on and ignore it, it's like walking past a land mine and not alerting the authorities because you didn't step on it.

 

[bobbarato]

What happens if an escrow service was involved?

 

[hawkeye]

What happens if an escrow service was involved?

See above!

 

[WeSell-Domains]

it's called "Receiving Stolen Property" and it works that way for domains, automobiles and tools (person experience with tools). You lose the money you paid even though you didn't know.