How to Stop Domain Theft by Locking Domains
Monte: Definitely. So some key points to point out to everybody, of course, if you haven’t done so, make sure your domain names are locked at your current registrar, make sure that you’re protecting your e-mail addresses, your passwords, your id’s, because you don’t want anybody to log into your systems and your accounts that might be able to unlocked a domain name, on purpose or by accident. Because if somebody, you know, people are watching the zone files, watching whois, and when they see a domain name is unlocked and active, active is the status for dot-com and dot-net names, they’re targets for theft.
And so make sure that you’re with a registrar that automatically locks down domain names, that looks over your shoulder a little bit in case you make a mistake, you know, keeps an eye on your accounts from a person perspective, not that it’s all automated so that they can help you protect your assets. I don’t know if you have any other additional points that you can point out to protect you from that.
Richard: Well, I would--you know, my nickname for this transfer policy is “The lock it or lose it transfer policy.”
Monte: Yeah.
Richard: And, you know, if you don’t have your domain name locked, you may as well park your Ferrari out on the street corner next to a sign that says, “Steal me.”
Monte: Yeah, exactly.
Richard: So, you know, you have to have your registrar locked on all your domain names, it’s just an absolute must. I went through all of the registrars that I deal with, e-mailed them, made sure that all of the domain names were locked, and because, you know, when this transfer policy came into effect, what the registrars should have done as a best practice, is they should have locked all of the domain names for all of their clients and said, you know, if you would like us to unlock them or if you would like us not to lock your domain names, please let us know, but this is a large loop hole so we’re, you know, taking the preemptive prevention to lock them on your behalf.
Monte: Right, right.
Richard: So--
Monte: Yeah, and you should, you know, you’ve gotta be careful, too, when you transfer domain names in that are active that your registrar has automatic locking features once they come in, ‘cause a lot of them don’t. We do here, but that is when a domain name transfers in that it automatically locks it down at the point of entering the system.
Richard: Right.
Monte: And so a lot of registrars, what they make, you know, what you do is you’ve left your name open and active and it comes in active and stays active, so once it gets here, it could actually be flipped back out.
Richard: Right.
Monte: Without you locking it down, so everyone should do that.
Richard: The other point I’d like to just remind everyone is that when you’re dealing with, you know, whether it’s [inaudible] names or [inaudible], is if you’re buying domains at the auction, the--in most instances, the domain names are not locked after you’ve purchased them, so put the lock on, and then at 60 days, unlock them and transfer them to your registrar of preference.
Monte: Right, right.
Richard: If you leave them scattered throughout, and then--
Monte: That’s when you can really lose some names.
Richard: --at month 11 you’re like scrambling to either transfer the domain name over or try and find out how to renew the domain name at the pool [ph] registrar who, you know, doesn’t have any other business plan besides revenue from pool [ph], they may not have a renewal procedure in place, they may not accept Visa or Mastercard.
Monte: Right.
Richard: So do it early, you know, as soon as it hits 61 days, transfer that domain, you know--
Monte: Right.
Richard: --[inaudible] to your preferred registrar.
Monte: Preferred registrar, and that’s a really good point, because here’s some things that we do, that’s a great point, because names go in and they are unlocked, but they cannot transfer within the first 60 days due to the ICANN policy, so they’re automatically locked out anyway.
Richard: Right.
Monte: But like you said, at the day 61, they can be called for if they’re not locked down.
Richard: Right.
Monte: What our customers do, which is a really good feature if you’re not using Moniker or have your registrar, make sure--we have an automated system that calls for domain transfers every single day when they’re unlocked in that case. And so then on the 61 st day when it becomes available that it can transfer, our system calls for it automatically before anybody can get a request in to transfer.
Richard: Right.
Monte: So in other words, they send over a list, all of our pool and snap name clients send over their lists of domain names to help consolidate, at the point of capture, when they secured the domain name at those expiration services, we put them in our transfer system, and then it calls for them on a daily basis, even though it’s 60 days out, every single day it calls, calls, calls. And then it automatically gets the first call in at the 61 st day, so that it automatically would come over when it is open and open for a theft, it comes over to Moniker first for a consolidation.
And because you’re dealing with so many registrars that may not have customer service, they, you know, most of these registrars that have just been added on that are participating, and these drop services don’t have, you know, they don’t have customer service, they don’t have interfaces to manage your accounts, it’s really difficult if you don’t do things like these and be preventative, or else you will lose your names.
Richard: Right.
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