Mike Loucks, founder of SEE Corporation.
Mike Loucks is familiar with the headaches arising from domain theft; his business domain, See.com, was stolen in the mid-2000’s by an Iranian hacker.
Back then, See.com was hijacked while at Network Solutions, using a bit of social engineering. Loucks, whose immediate family are lawyers, used these resources to quickly reclaim the domain. He moved it to Moniker, back then considered a true bunker of a domain registrar.
Things have changed since then, and Moniker was sold twice, apparently not retaining the philosophy and ability to maintain security. The recent mass hack of Moniker accounts resulted in the loss of many premium domains, including three letter .com’s.
See.com was one of them.
A few days ago, Mike Loucks received a phone-call from someone in Florida asking to buy See.com, as it was being offered for sale. The price was $60,000 dollars, and although the WHOIS info had been changed, the web site at See.com remained active.
On it, was Mike’s phone number.
“I almost didn’t answer that call, thinking it’s some telemarketer. I had no idea what they were seeking, but soon it became obvious my domain See.com had been stolen,” says Mike Loucks.
The domain thief, a member of a group of hackers with connections to Egypt, registered a Hotmail address similar to that of Mike’s, and were essentially impersonating him in an attempt to dispose of this premium asset quickly.
“There has to be a clear cut process when such assets are involved, this is identity fraud, a federal crime,” says Mike Loucks. “Domain registrars are wasting everyone’s time, going back and forth. If my car were stolen, it won’t matter which parking lot it’s sitting at, the police would tackle this immediately,” he adds.
See.com was transferred to eNom, and there is an ongoing process to reclaim it.
Mike Loucks, whose company specializes in space exploration engineering, is optimistic about it:
“I have nothing to hide about my long established business and it should not be so hard to prove I am the legitimate owner of See.com, all while some thief pretending to be me is peddling the domain. Domain registrars need better coordination in undoing such acts that are harmful for one’s property and business.”
Domain theft victims are currently more eager to come forward and go public about their domain loss; this way, they put a stop to the thief’s intentions to sell the domain. Hopefully, ICANN will redesign the domain ownership process, delivering a secure layer that issues title certificates, just like when one buys a car or a house.
We will update you with any news about See.com as it happens. If you need to submit any information about your stolen domain, here’s a quick guide.
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Considering the quality of the domain and the company built on it, why not move the domain to a registrar like MarkMonitor?
Kudos on another prescient write up!