Domain theft : Should you wait to report your domain got stolen?

Domain theft is a serious crime.

Investors losing domains to cybercriminals in elaborate hacking incidents or phishing attacks, have a narrow window of opportunity to respond.

In the past, we’ve covered cases where domain names were identified as stolen weeks and months after the incident. Typically, the delay is due to the owner’s lack of knowledge about the domain theft.

Another class of unreported domain theft is that of selective non-reporting, for reasons that the legitimate owner values as important.

In a recent reference to domain theft for a group of domains stolen around 2010, the party at loss does not wish to go public about the specific domains, as the previous WHOIS contained sensitive information about family members.

The exchange took place at NamePros, with the domain owner seeking to retrieve several “Rick Schwartz worthy” domains, via the ICANN Transfer Complaint form.

In that exchange, IP attorney, John Berryhill, pointed out that this is not the way to go, and unfortunately the longer one waits, the more difficult it becomes to retrieve stolen domain names. In addition, ICANN has no way to “unwind” such incidents, that require legal action once a certain amount of time has passed.

If your domains were stolen, the best approach is to announce and share their status with the domain investing community and the Internet, and to consult with an attorney.

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