Bought hijacked domain, what to do?

[Cyber Ability]

I found out a day after the transaction went trough that I bought a hijacked domain. It's a pretty high profile domain, so I'd hate to loose it. Got no clue what to do now.... Anybody been in this situation?

[Rocket2Uranus]

How did you pay for it? Any chance of initiating a chargeback?

If it is truly hijacked, you are going to lose it, so I would focus on getting your money back.

[Mr Webname]

Yes I had that over a year ago and I did an immediate chargeback with my bank and the money was recovered. I was able to amicably transfer the domains back to the proper owner and help him in other ways, including the recovery of domains that had not been sold to me but had been used to facilitate the hijacking.
With some "research" I was able also to identify the hijacker and pass the information to the police.

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by MovieDomains

How did you pay for it? Any chance of initiating a chargeback?

If it is truly hijacked, you are going to lose it, so I would focus on getting your money back.

I used wire through an escrow service and I didn't discover it soon enough for the escrow service to block the tansfer. It's a good chance he haven't gotten the money to his account yet though.

I don't see why it is so certain that I should loose the domain, after all I bought it in good faith. Shouldn't it be an issue between the owner and the seller?

[Mr Webname]

You will lose it either amicably by arrangement with the owner or lawfully by intervention of the Registrar/Courts.
Don't waste time - do a chargeback.

Was the seller from Sweden?

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by Mr Webname

You will lose it either amicably by arrangement with the owner or lawfully by intervention of the Registrar/Courts.
Don't waste time - do a chargeback.

Was the seller from Sweden?

No the seller was in the US.
If I do a chargeback it will hit the escrow service, not the seller. I'm talking with the escrow and they are cooperating, but say they can't do a chargeback cause their bank don't allow it.

[Mr Webname]

Originally Posted by Cyber Ability

I'm talking with the escrow and they are cooperating, but say they can't do a chargeback cause their bank don't allow it.

Don't personally see that as your problem but rather their problem - they should have thought about that before offering an escrow service.

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by Mr Webname

Don't personally see that as your problem but rather their problem - they should have thought about that before offering an escrow service.

Feels like they would toast me if I did that. I'll first see if I can stop the money in the US bank. I wonder if my insurance will cover this...

[DaddyHalbucks]

1. Report it to law enforcement, including local police and the FBI
2. Contact the banks and explain there was a fraud
3. Give the domain back to the rightful owner, or be prepared to lose it and everything else you own in a legal dispute
4. Save all emails and documentation to assist law enforcement with prosecution
5. Get legal counsel

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY.

[mole]

What is the name?

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by mole

What is the name?

I'll keep that for myself for now, don't want to alert the seller if he is monitoring this board.

[Domagon]

If he did a bank money wire (is different than direct deposit [ACH] - that can be reversed), chargeback isn't an option.

If the escrow service has received the funds and has not releasing the funds yet to the buyer, then he may be in luck ... they should make the escrow service aware the item is stolen and pester them constantly - with some luck they may acknowledge its stolen - once they do that, the buyer may, though a longshot, have some reasonable grounds for filing a lawsuit against the escrow service; especially if they are not registered as required in some jurisdictions.

Lastly, depending on the amount involved (say $xx,xxx), the buyer may want to contact an attorney pronto and work to get a court injunction to prevent release of the funds to the seller.

Good luck.

Ron

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by valuenames

If he did a bank money wire (is different than direct deposit [ACH] - that can be reversed), chargeback isn't an option.

If the escrow service has received the funds and has not releasing the funds yet to the buyer, then he may be in luck ... they should make the escrow service aware the item is stolen and pester them constantly - with some luck they may acknowledge its stolen - once they do that, the buyer may, though a longshot, have some reasonable grounds for filing a lawsuit against the escrow service; especially if they are not registered as required in some jurisdictions.

Lastly, depending on the amount involved (say $xx,xxx), the buyer may want to contact an attorney pronto and work to get a court injunction to prevent release of the funds to the seller.

Good luck.

Ron

It's a wire of low 5 digits, it has been released to the seller. I have reported it to the local police in Sweden after talking to the FBI, will follow up with the fraud department tomorrow. If anybody knows of a lawyer who have handled cases like this before, please let me know.

[Rocket2Uranus]

yuck - best of luck getting this resolved to your satisfaction

this is a good lesson for everybody here to be careful who you are dealing with

[adoptabledomains]

I'd closely look over the sellers and buyers version of the escrow contract as well. It may give you some recourse or loophole.

[domnet]

Originally Posted by Cyber Ability

It's a pretty high profile domain

Originally Posted by Cyber Ability

It's a wire of low 5 digits

This would raise red flags for me...

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by domnet

This would raise red flags for me...

Yeah, I know. But since I know the domain had barely been used, I figured it was some guy who didn't know the value of it.
Right now I feel pretty stupid for not considering all factor some more... But what the hell, it's only money ..... arrrghh

[Domagon]

Who did you use for escrow? -a well known escrow service like escrow.com, afternic.com, greatdomains.com, sedo.com? -or some other service.

-and did you choose the service or did the seller choose the service?

If your answer is "some other service" *and* the seller chose the service, then it's possible the escrow service itself may have been in on the scam.

Something worth looking into.

Ron

[Cyber Ability]

Originally Posted by valuenames

Who did you use for escrow? -a well known escrow service like escrow.com, afternic.com, greatdomains.com, sedo.com? -or some other service.

-and did you choose the service or did the seller choose the service?

If your answer is "some other service" *and* the seller chose the service, then it's possible the escrow service itself may have been in on the scam.

Something worth looking into.

Ron

He choose it, but it's one of the well known.

[freestyler]

Any updates? I hope you atleast get your money back. good luck!