I was told by my friend that their domain name was hijacked. Someone has transferred the domain name to another Registrar. Apparently, it was an inside job. My friend said No to an offer from the domain theft and immediately make a police report.
A new domain name was registered to resume their business operation, but it is tedious for sure. Despite the police report, my friend tried everything but in vain, for a month! They wrote to both original and new Registars, as well as the domain name reseller in Malaysia – but no luck!
The domain name was originally registered with Tucows, 4 years ago, through their reseller ACME Commerce in Malaysia. The domain theft transferred the domain name to a new registrar called Name.com. This was done anonymously.
True to say, many Registrar take no action on such issues. To them, it was a legal transfer. The dispute is between the staff and the company, none of their business. Tucows requested a so called International court order, a document equivalent to – we are not going to do anything. ACME, in this case – the billing party, failed to do anything too.
Many domain name owners do not bother to update their domain name registration information, or WHOIS record. It is too late until your domain name was transferred and only you find out your contact information is not updated. Domain name reseller or registrar never bother to inform client on keeping the up-to-date WHOIS record too.
Run a WHOIS check, make sure Registrant and Administrator information shows the owner of the business, not any Technical staff or someone who provide the domain name registration. Make sure it is your email got listed, than any other email which you do not have access. Remember, any changes or transfer to the domain name triggers email notification, and you will be the first one to know, to take immediate action.
The Story Continues – Retrieving the Domain Name!
I wrote an email to Tucows, no reply. My second email to Name.com was replied within a day who promise to look into this matter. This was great! Here comes, the proof of ownership of a domain name. While WHOIS shows the ownership of the domain name in text, but not in action. Yes, same thing to contract. The conduct of a business utilizing the domain name in their brochure, namecard, emails – all shows a conduct of the usage of the domain name. My friend’s company pay for the renewal yearly, another solid proof!
With all document compiled and emailed to Name.com, we are expecting to retrieve the domain name back soon! :)
Updates: The case was finally resolved. The ownership was returned to my client via a account transfer done by Name.com. All thanks to the prompt action taken by Name.com and the initiative to liaise between the parties.
Hello – I work at Tucows in the Compliance Department and may be able to assist you, what is the name of the domain you are speaking about?
thanks
Thanks Paul. Earlier, I have sent my support request through http://helpcenter.tucows.com/Email.php. Can you please verify with your support team? My email is pin@1.com.my.
The person who currently hold the name is agreed to return the domain name, and I am suggesting the use of Escrow services to get this done. Thanks to Scott from Name.com, he is the middle man who make this happen!
(Will email you the domain name via email)
The case is finally over. Police case dropped!
i am a newbie in Online Business and i am still reading a lot on the internet about how to manage an Online Business.
Wow! Did I learn something today, I better get in touch with my host to have my domain register properly….
The registrant of malaysiainsurance.info shows that this domain name are registered under BlueHost. It could be Proxy, but I suggest to correct it in order to reduce dispute in future.
Registrant ID:FAST-12785245
Registrant Name:BlueHost.Com – INC
Registrant Organization:BlueHost.Com, POWERFUL WEB HOSTING – 300GB Disc space – 3,000GB
Transfer
Registrant Street1:1958 South 950 East
Registrant Street2:HOST UNLIMITED DOMAINS *FREE*
Registrant Street3:Hosting Accounts starting at ONLY $6.95 per month -
Registrant City:Provo
Registrant State/Province:Utah
Registrant Postal Code:84606
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.8884014678
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:+1.8017651992
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:
Thanks. Would changing the registrant to my name helps?
Short answer – Yes
But let’s look at the issues here
The domain name ‘malaysiainsurance.info’ is registered through BlueHost.com, a reseller of FastDomain.com. FastDomain is Registrar who handle .com domain name registration.
BlueHost chosen to include their Name as the Registrant of domain name is kinda a very bad practise.
In written, they own your domain name. This creates dispute since you are the one who pay for it. Anyway, I am sure, they may have some arrangement between you and them on the ownership. Yet, I do not think FastDomain recognize this arrangement at all.
What you can do:
1. Request BlueHost to update (shall I say, to correct) the Registrant info to you.
2. Once they have done so, verify it at http://api.fastdomain.com/cgi/whois.
Your domain expiry date is on 3 Jun 2010. Pin can manage this domain name for you, check this out http://www.1.com.my/order-domain-name.
i want to setup an Online Business with a credit card processor and i am still researching about it. my current online business is just selling handbags and some stuffs on e-bay.