Three letter domains are the de facto “coinage” for domainers. For more than 15 years, the value of LLL .com domains fluctuates with an upwards trend.
While there are exceptions, the worth of LLL .com domains rebounds, and it’s very rare to encounter sales with a BIN lower than $10,000 dollars.
And yet, that’s what happened with VBK.com, a domain that was stolen from its legitimate owners, Vafiades Brountas & Kominsky.
The Maine-based law firm, has been using the domain VBK.com since at least 2001. The 1998 domain registration was listed for sale at Sedo, with a BIN price of 7999 Euro.
Clearly, a price that’d move the domain, as some unscrupulous domainers might consider such an “opportunity” if they can flip the risk quickly.
How was VBK.com stolen?
The hacker used the method of assuming control of the expired domain controlling the email address that manages the target – in this case, “info@cmweston.com.” By registering cmweston.com afresh, the hacker then transferred the domain VBK.com under his control.
Eventually, GoDaddy got whiff of this and repossessed cmweston.com; the law firm was also able to regain control of VBK.com but not before they got a good scare. The domain was removed from the Sedo inventory of domains for sale as well.
Moral of the story: always ensure that your valuable domain assets are controlled by domains that are secure.
2 factor authorization would have made it difficult for the fraudsters to steal the name considering they inly had access to the email?
P.s. i respect that you are a great help to people in this industry.