Emerge.com has been recovered.
The domain Emerge.com is no longer stolen, as it’s been reunited with its rightful owner.
Thanks to the efforts of hawk-eyed NamePros members, admins and Joshua Pelissero‘s sleuth work, Emerge.com was quickly identified as stolen when the thief posted it in a NamePros appraisal thread.
The thief claimed at the time that he acquired the domain at Dropcatch, for “$500 dollars,” all while the domain had never dropped.
Further investigation revealed that he had hijacked Emerge.com by re-registering a dropped domain that was still listed as the Registrant account.
The legitimate owner of Emerge.com should consider filing charges against the thief, who repeatedly lied about the domain’s acquisition until confronted by Pelissero.
The theft of digital property constitutes fraud and it’s punishable by law; the domain Emerge.com is valued at six figures, a number that authorities such as the FBI would gladly work with.
With domain theft being rampant, domain investors are advised to lock down their domains and use two factor authentication where available – or change registrars if that option isn’t available.
Many thanks to the NamePros community for being on alert, keeping domain investors informed.
It was my pleasure to help, truly.