Warning: Stolen domain.
We’ve been tracking the status of domains we reported and documented as stolen in the past; one of them is Gmix.com – a domain that was stolen along with others from its Norwegian owner.
Unlike the rest of the stolen domains from the same batch that were still at Moniker, this domain had its contact information updated prior to being moved out of Moniker, to GoDaddy.
Part of GoDaddy’s bureaucratic process, was that the before and after contact information matched; had they dug deeper, they would have seen that Algerian IPs were accessing the target account, something that wasn’t matching the WHOIS info that contained a fake name and address in California. GoDaddy thus denied the return of the domain, by failing to research the situation.
The end result: Sometime in early May, the stolen domain, Gmix.com changed hands once again.
According to DomainTools, a “Bogdan Shevchuk” with an address in the UK appears to be the current owner. It is not clear whether the domain was sold directly, or – as is the most possible scenario – it was “killed” for a low price via the GoDaddy TDNAM.
Other domains from the same batch were recently sold via TDNAM, by the same thief, to an unsuspected buyer; who has so far not taken any action to return them.
GoDaddy needs to improve their investigative process, to assist legitimate owners such as the Norwegian owner of Gmix.com in retrieving their domains.
Exclusive: In the coming weeks, we will unveil one of the biggest ongoing schemes to launder dozens of stolen domains on various selling venues – stay tuned.
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Interesting. I still remember registering gmix.com on May 10, 1999 with 5 other “mix” names. I sold it in 2008.
Doug – It’s a small world. Your buyer, Rune, fell victim to the thief in August of last year.