Hijacking? Need help.

[yonimlm]

Okay, I have this problem:

I decided to transfer a domain from namescout (a domain that was caught with pool.com) to my enom account. Before I did that, I decided to check out the whois information to make sure that the email for that domain is correct so that I would be able to transfer it (even though as much as I remember it, it was correct... 1 of either 2 email addresses I use, one is with yahoo another is hotmail)

Anyway, back to the point:
When I checked out the whois information... I was quite surprised to see that this domain name seems to have the information of a different person on it and not me; "Modern Limited - Cayman Web Development", the actual registar is http://www.addresscreation.com and the year of expiration is now 2006 (was 2005 before).

So now I don't know what to do... I mean the domain cost me around $2,000 to get and I already denied a $2,600 offer... so it's not something I could easily write off. Also, the thing that bothers me is that I didn't get an email requesting me to approve the transfer or anything and FOR SURE I didn't click to approve anything recently.

Can anyone give me some sort of feedback: Who is this person? Happend to anyone else? What do I do? How do I get it back?

Thanks in advance,
-Yoni

[bellweather]

Is it possible your yahoo or hotmail accounts were hacked?

I would suggest contacting your registar and letting them know what happened.

Good luck!

[chatcher]

Okay, I have this problem:

Things like this happen, but it is important to figure out exactly what "this" is. It could be the drop service did not really get the name for you, in which case they owe you a refund. It could be that someone actually stole the name. Start with the company you paid the money to for the domain name. Make sure their records show you were awarded the name. Then determine which registrar they used to get the name. Was it Namescout? Or was it one of the many registrars Namescout now manages names for? Once you determine it was in your name, and which registrar it was registered with, ask that registrar what happened to the name. If it is now at a different registrar, don't bother contacting the new registrar or the new registrant. Tell the original registrar you did not authorize any transfer. They MAY be able to get the name back to you without further action on your part. If not, you will need to contact an attorney experienced with domain names to assist you (not a bad idea even in the beginning, since I am not qualified or competent to give any of this questionable advice).

[jberryhill]

http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/133625.htm

Respondent is Modern Limited - Cayman Web Development, Georgetown, Grand Cayman , CAYMAN ISLANDS (“Respondent”) represented by Ari Goldberger, of ESQwire.com Law Firm.

[yonimlm]

Well... I'm not sure if it was namescout itself or one of the registars that can be managed through namescout. However, what I'm sure of is that the domain pool.com caught me, was caught for me... since I've used it for the last 8 months or so.

As for the email's hacked... it's possible... but why would then only this domain disappear? (Since I had a domain almost identical in value bought at exactly same time) Besides, even if it was hacked, all my emails are uploaded daily on to my pc. Meaning they are not actually found by accessing the web version of each mail system.

Yes, I will contact Namescout and Pool about this. Thanks.

[draqon]

contact Ari Goldberger, and ask him to get in touch with his client. they can tell you how they acquired the domain.

[yonimlm]

Yes, thats what I was planning on doing if I get a response of Namescout being unable to do anything.

PS. This is the response I got from Namescout:

"Hello;

Thank you for contacting Customer Service. The domain was transfered away from our service, for this to happen the email address yonimlm@hotmail.com would have had to confirm the transfer. This issue has been sent to management for investigation."