Godaddy aids and abets the theft of valuable domains
Theres no shortage of scams on the internet. We have all heard about Nigerian 419 fee in advance scams, phoney lotteries, identitity theft, phishing, and now pulling up from the rear, domain hijacking aided by weak counterintuitive security measures by registrars like Godaddy.
Like any other crime, unless it directly affects you, a colleague, or a loved one, theft only happens to the other guy.in modern society we have acclimated to taking precautions to protect our loved ones, our homes, and our possessions spending billions on security and insurance. Were all taught early in life to lock the doors and windows and not to open the door to strangers.
After all this indoctrination and preparation for the imperfect world we share, one would assume that these simple yet effective common sense principles would also apply to the world of protecting valuable assets like internet domains at Godaddy.com the worlds largest domain registrar.
In case you are not familiar with Godaddy they are the company that airs the boorish and unoriginal Superbowl commercials targeting puberty bound adolescent males with a busty semi-attractive brunette bimbo that only a certain recent ex-president could desire.
Godaddy generates its share of negative press regarding the mishandling and questionable acquisitions of others domains but I have an experience to share that should make anyone with a website or a domain in the waiting to take notice and seriously consider if they should trust Godaddy with their property.
Its no secret that Godaddys domain and site hosting services are less than stellar. Their site is a spam dominated kludge of half finished partially functional user modules that even their own support staff cant navigate or recommend using. There is so much emphasis on up selling and hyping gimmicky add-ons you feel like you are speeding down the Las Vegas strip on acid.
Aside from the cheesy half-baked Godaddy user interface there is a much larger problem at Godaddy that should scare the hell out of anyone with domains in their care. My company currently has nearly 500 domains with Godaddy and aside from the inferior user interface and hit and miss customer support we were at least happy with the pricing.
On November 5th I received an email from Godaddy indicating that I cancelled a domain. (actually a complete stranger did)
Within seconds another email arrived again from Godaddy stating that our domain was transferred!
This all occurred without any involvement on our part. Apparently someone was able to break into our account and grab on our most valuable domain names without any problems.
Godaddy, without any common sense security measures or firewall-like protection just gave the domain away as if it was business as usual. No checks, no balances, no confirmations, just a non-secure open door into our cyber vault!
Even though I was understandably shaken and panic stricken I discovered a line on the transfer email stating If for any reason this information is incorrect or you feel this change of registrant request was made in error, please contact us within 15 days at mailto: [email protected].
A sigh of relief came over me and I quickly contacted the email link provided. I was on my way to getting our stolen domain back! Lets hear it for Godaddy and a little common sense! Well no such luck. They said it was my fault!
Oh but wait theres still hope. I can contact the Godaddy Change department and change the transfer! Hope restored and surely they will fix this right!?
Well no. Again this was somehow my fault! It was my fault that someone at Godaddy was able to hack my account!
OK folks heres what you have to look forward to when and not if you become a Godaddy domain theft victim. To recover our stolen domain that was stolen as a result of Godaddys failure to provide even the most basic common sense checks and balances protocols to intercept fraudulent cancellations and transfers we will have to go to the WIPO! We will have to hire a legal firm that specializes in WIPO/ICANN law and pay $1,500.00 to ICANN to impanel a few impartial arbitrators to render an opinion!
Doing business with the company more interested in their next Superbowl model than basic security for their clients assets, will cost us upwards of $10,000.00 to recover a nine dollar domain!
This coming Superbowl I will be watching out for the next Godaddy bouncing bimbo wondering if the guy that stole our domain is watching too, thanking Bob Parsons for making him and all the other lowlifes that so easily hacked Godaddy accounts so much easy money.
Bob, when you grow up and get past your adolescent obsessions please consider a little security for us poor slobs that trusted you and your incompetents to keep our domains safe.
I plan on launching a nation-wide awareness campaign. If you have been victimized please make contact
Jack
mission viejo, California
U.S.A.
0 comments