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Extortion scam email

24 July 2018 04:57:43 +0000

We have had a particularly nasty extortion email brought to our attention by two different clients in the last four days. Some research reveals that it has been around since at least late last year, but variants of extortion emails are almost as old as email itself. However, the personal nature of the current incarnation of these emails is alarming to those who receive it, even those with a clear conscience.

Unfortunately, as with most (if not all) scams, the scammers have been successful. In this case, because they demand payment of their ransom in Bitcoin, and the Bitcoin system allows public tracking of all transactions (just not the identities of the senders and receivers), researchers have been able to see that the Bitcoin addresses used in these scam emails have indeed received payments. A quick glance shows payments reaching into six figures (in US dollars) for some Bitcoin addresses (like bank account numbers, but not subject to the same scrutiny as happens when you open a bank account), and since it seems that few (if any) Bitcoin addresses have been used twice (although they are probably controlled by a small number of criminals), you can multiply that many times over.

One of the key features of the current round of emails that seem to have cropped up in the last week is the inclusion of a password that you may have used at some point in the past, both in the subject and the body of the email, to get your attention. This adds plausibility to the extortion attempt. However, keep in mind that huge databases of personal information are being breached by hackers all the time. The well-known tracking website “Have I Been Pwned” includes over five billion breached accounts (and growing) in its database. They compile their database from the raw data released by hackers after they penetrate the systems of the likes of LinkedIn, MySpace, Adobe, Ashley Madison and many others, so those databases are out there and will be forever. If a website or company you use was hacked and your password was stored by them in an unencrypted form, then there are databases out there that contain enough information to put together your email address and a password you have used, and possibly your name, address and phone number too. (Some people have received these extortion attempts via postal mail.) Do an old-fashioned mail merge and voila, you have an email message that could scare you into parting with anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousand of dollars in a vain attempt to keep a secret that a scammer made up in his or her own imagination.

As with all spam and scam emails, these are best ignored. They are just mass produced by the millions and fired out at the Internet shotgun-style.

Some have commented in the links we provide below that they have contacted the police about these emails (or letters) and received the cold shoulder. This is unsurprising. One of the benefits of computers is also one of their downsides; the fact that you can send an hilarious cat video to a few thousand of your closest friends is the same technology that allows scammers to multiply their own efforts considerably and with very little effort or expense. Your national police force probably already has this in their in tray, and when combined with other law-enforcement efforts it will probably rise to the top one day when they pull Guido over for speeding and realise that he is the mastermind behind all of this. Case closed.

There are many “top ten things you should do to remain safe on the Internet” lists out there. None will cover it all in only ten items, but here are some things for you to consider in the vein of the contents of these emails that we have reproduced below:

  • Don’t reuse passwords. If you consistently use the same email address and password for different websites, then when one of them is breached, all of your accounts are breached. Use a different password for every single website. It’s not that hard. Use a password manager like KeePass to generate and track random, complicated passwords that you will never remember and never need to remember.
  • Cover your webcam lens with an opaque cover when it is not in use. Some webcams include such a cover you can flip over the lens. If yours doesn’t, you can get a sticky cover that you can easily remove and reapply that doesn’t leave residue on the lens. We buy ours from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but you can get generic ones or small metal covers you can install that you then slide to cover the lens (do a Web search for “webcam cover“), or you could use a sticky note or even a plaster / adhesive bandage.
  • Tell your friends and family. Friends don’t let friends pay bogus ransoms for bogus extortion attempts. Send them a link to this post at blog.niner.net/2018/07/24/extortion-scam-email

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact us and we will be happy to answer your questions. Thanks for your time.

Links to external websites with additional information documenting this scam

The two emails brought to our attention are below. The wording is not identical, but the style and substance are the same and they seem to be written by the same person. In these emails we have masked our clients’ names, email addresses and passwords, of course.

Email 1

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Juliana Bradford <ydewillyfx@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2018 at 19:46
Subject: CLIENT NAME – PASSWORD
To: CLIENT EMAIL ADDRESS

I am well aware PASSWORD one of your passphrase. Lets get right to point. There is no one who has compensated me to investigate you. You do not know me and you’re most likely wondering why you’re getting this e-mail?

In fact, I actually setup a malware on the X streaming (pornography) web-site and do you know what, you visited this web site to experience fun (you know what I mean). While you were viewing videos, your internet browser began functioning as a Remote control Desktop that has a key logger which provided me accessibility to your screen and web camera. Right after that, my software collected all your contacts from your Messenger, social networks, as well as e-mailaccount. After that I created a video. First part displays the video you were viewing (you have a nice taste haha), and 2nd part displays the view of your cam, yea it is you.

You get two alternatives. Shall we read each of these choices in particulars:

First choice is to disregard this email message. In this scenario, I am going to send out your very own recorded material to every single one of your contacts and also just think concerning the awkwardness you will see. And consequently if you happen to be in an important relationship, just how it will eventually affect?

2nd alternative is to pay me $7000. Lets refer to it as a donation. Consequently, I most certainly will without delay discard your video recording. You could go on your daily life like this never occurred and you surely will never hear back again from me.

You will make the payment by Bitcoin (if you don’t know this, search for “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

BTC Address to send to: 18sPsLXYDqKZnZ6Mb5xbYS168QFPYrQC75
[case sensitive, copy & paste it]

Should you are planning on going to the law enforcement, well, this mail can not be traced back to me. I have covered my actions. I am just not looking to ask you for money a whole lot, I simply want to be paid. I’ve a special pixel within this mail, and right now I know that you have read this message. You have one day to make the payment. If I do not receive the BitCoins, I will certainly send your video recording to all of your contacts including friends and family, co-workers, and many others. Nevertheless, if I do get paid, I will destroy the video right away. If you need proof, reply with Yea then I will certainly send out your video recording to your 7 friends. It’s a nonnegotiable offer and so please don’t waste my personal time & yours by responding to this message.

Email 2

——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject: RE: CLIENT NAME – PASSWORD
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2018 05:03:35 +0000
From: Antonio Simmons <jrcsxeugeniouks@outlook.com>
To: CLIENT EMAIL ADDRESS

I will directly come to the point. I do know PASSWORD is your pass word. More to the point, I am aware about your secret and I’ve evidence of your secret. You do not know me personally and nobody paid me to look into you.

It’s just your bad luck that I came across your bad deeds. Well, I placed a malware on the adult video clips (porno) and you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were busy watching videos, your internet browser initiated operating as a Rdp (Remote desktop) that has a key logger which gave me access to your display screen as well as web camera. Right after that, my software program gathered your entire contacts from messenger, facebook, and mailbox.

Next, I put in more hours than I probably should’ve looking into your life and made a two view video. 1st part shows the video you were watching and second part shows the view from your web camera (its you doing dirty things).

Honestly, I am ready to forget all information about you and let you continue with your daily life. And I am going to present you 2 options that will make it happen. Those two option is with the idea to ignore this letter, or simply pay me $ 2900. Let’s explore these 2 options in more detail.

Option One is to ignore this email message. Let us see what is going to happen if you opt this option. I will certainly send your video to your entire contacts including family members, co-workers, and so forth. It does not shield you from the humiliation your self will face when family and friends discover your dirty details from me.

Option 2 is to send me $ 2900. We will call it my “privacy tip”. Now lets see what will happen if you choose this option. Your secret remains your secret. I’ll erase the recording immediately. You go on with your routine life that none of this ever occurred.

At this point you may be thinking, “I will complain to the police”. Let me tell you, I have covered my steps in order that this e mail cannot be linked to me plus it won’t prevent the evidence from destroying your lifetime. I’m not seeking to steal all your savings. I just want to get compensated for the time I placed into investigating you. Let’s assume you decide to produce all of this vanish entirely and pay me my confidentiality fee. You will make the payment via Bitcoin (if you don’t know how, type “how to buy bitcoins” on google search)

Amount to be paid: $ 2900
Bitcoin Address to Send to: 1GQK1MNV5N7B9pV8L63W7nGfChJkKp7ymq
(It is CASE sensitive, so you should copy and paste it carefully)

Tell nobody what you should use the bitcoin for or they may not provide it to you. The method to get bitcoin will take a short time so do not delay.
I’ve a specific pixel within this email message, and now I know that you’ve read this e mail. You have 24 hours to make the payment. If I don’t get the BitCoin, I will definately send out your video to your contacts including close relatives, colleagues, and many others. You better come up with an excuse for friends and family before they find out. Nonetheless, if I do get paid, I’ll destroy the video and all other proofs immediately. It’s a non negotiable offer, thus do not waste my personal time & yours. Your time is running out.

Data privacy developments

22 May 2018 22:44:39 +0000

The purpose of this long blog post is to keep you informed of a significant development in the domain registration business, how it will affect you, what action you need to take and how to protect yourself from the criminals who will take advantage of the confusion that will no doubt be generated. We have also sent this via email to our clients.

The GDPR

In the last few months you may have heard rumblings about a new European law called the GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation. This is a sweeping new law that will affect people in every corner of the globe, not just in the European Union (EU). It places a premium on the value of individual privacy, and restricts how the personal data provided by an individual may be used by companies and organisations. Fines for breach of the law can reach tens of millions of euros.

The GDPR is a good thing, and will address some glaring problems in our industry that we have referred to on a number of occasions, particularly the public WHOIS system where a domain registrant’s information is available for all the world to see, and is therefore used by scammers worldwide. However, even a good law is still a law and comes with an administrative burden for all parties.

On the hosting side of our business, not much (if anything) will change. We have always closely guarded the personal information of our clients — and that won’t change — and only collected what is technically and legally necessary to provide the services you contract from us.

Domain registrations

On the domain registration side of things, because of the fact that the domain registration system requires a number of entities to co-operate — registrant (you), registrar (currently OpenSRS/Tucows), reseller (NinerNet), registry (various, including Verisign, CIRA, ZICTA, etc.) and ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) — you will start to see various transactional emails from us refer to the GDPR (which comes into force on 25 May 2018) and mechanisms for you to provide and, if necessary and possible, withdraw consent for use of your personal data. The need for you to fulfil your obligations as a domain registrant and respond to calls to action in emails will be in addition to actions you have needed to take until now. In short, it should mean a couple more emails per domain per year that you will need to pay attention to, but exactly how this manifests itself will develop over time, especially in the first year after this Regulation comes into force.

While it’s a reasonable question to ask why an EU law will apply to people and companies outside of the EU, the fact is that, worldwide, domain registries and registrars intend to comply with this Regulation and adopt a uniform system for managing it. Many jurisdictions have privacy laws, but the GDPR looks like it will be the most robust affecting the greatest number of people and the general feeling among proponents is two-fold: 1) Privacy is a good thing and we should follow the most stringent standards in favour of it, and 2) If we have to adjust policies and practices, then it makes no sense to have one set of policies and practices for some people and another for everyone else.

While this law affects all industries (and governmental organisations) in the EU and those (within and without the EU) that deal with European residents, the most visible effect in our industry will be on the public WHOIS (“who is”) system, where your personal information — name, address, phone number, email address, etc. — is currently published in public databases of domain registrants for everyone to see. These databases will continue to exist, of course, but access to them will be restricted, through layered access to a new “gated” WHOIS system, to legitimate accredited users that will include law enforcement organisations and intellectual property lawyers, as well as the registries, registrars and resellers directly involved in a particular domain registration.

Spammers, scammers and fraud artists

The one class of people that we certainly hope will no longer have access to this information is the fraud artists that fill your email every day — despite our best efforts — with offers to enlarge body parts, sell you web design and “search engine optimisation” services, scam you into sending them money for services they’ll never provide, and trick you into providing information to them that will lead to identity theft (phishing). With any luck, this new law will finally almost wipe out the spammers who harvest your email address from the WHOIS. It won’t stop those who get your unprotected email address off your website, or already have it or buy it from these unscrupulous individuals, but it should stop anyone else getting your email address if you change it in your existing domain registration.

But speaking of scams, as sure as night follows day (we’ve seen it before) these changes will no doubt lead to many scammers sending out emails urgently requiring you to take some action or another after clicking a link in their email. The text of the emails will use urgent language designed to scare you, but that they assume you will have heard in the news. They will refer to the GDPR and tell you that if you don’t go to a website and fill in a user name and password for your domain — and perhaps send them money too — your domain will be suspended and deleted.

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! IT IS NOT TRUE!

As we have said over and over again for more than twenty years, if you receive an email about your domain or hosting from an email address that is not on the niner.net domain, then it is almost certainly a scam. If the email attempts to scare you into taking action immediately, then that only adds to the weight of evidence pointing to it being a scam. If you are concerned and not sure, we’re happy to advise you if you forward the email in question to us before taking any action.

Our new privacy policy

As with many Internet companies, the new GDPR has prompted us to revise our privacy policy. Our privacy policy — part editorial, part serious statement — is unlike any you have ever read. It provides some truth about the real problem with what the true purpose is of many (mostly larger) companies these days, and how we’re very different.

No action required at this time

Finally, no action is needed from you at this time. However, after 25 May you will start to receive email notices directing you to take GDPR-related actions, especially if you change anything to do with your domain, and possibly when you renew it.

If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank-you for your time.

Diet and weight loss spam

24 July 2017 07:06:34 +0000

This is a long post, but certain sections of it might be useful to you.

We have been hearing from some clients over the last few months that they are being inundated with spam advertising weight loss drugs, diet pills, etc. ad nauseam. NinerNet does have anti-spam measures on our mail servers — and they stop thousands of messages a day that you never see — but they generally rely on methods of filtering that do not involve what is called “content scanning” — i.e., having a machine essentially read all of your email to see if it mentions topics you don’t want to hear about. They also don’t generally involve blocking email addresses, as spammers almost always send from a different email address every time, so blocking one email address after the fact is pointless.

Additionally, what is a clear indicator of spam for one client can be part of a perfectly legitimate email for another client: for example, a medical client might send and receive completely legitimate emails that include the word “diet” or the phrase “weight loss”, and so we can’t filter for those words across the entire server. Even everyday communications can contain these words when one person enquires after another person’s health, even in a business email: “How’s the diet going?”; “Bob has experienced significant weight loss since he got sick last month”; and so on. In other words, if we deleted all messages containing the word “diet”, for example, we’d delete a lot of legitimate email and upset a lot of clients.

Then there are spelling mistakes: If we delete email containing the phrase “diet supplement”, we’ll miss the misspelling “diet suplemment”.

So what can you do? Potential solutions fall into two categories — prevention and cure — and we all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We’ll deal with prevention first, but if it’s already too late for you, skip right to the (potential) cures at the end.

Prevention

  • Don’t put your email address(es) on websites: Spammers use the same techniques as the search engines to index (“scrape”) websites for email addresses. If you put an email address on a website — yours, or a forum that you’re involved in — it is going to be spammed. Instead use a contact form. These are not foolproof either, but they’re better than nothing and you can tweak them over time in response to their misuse.
  • Avoid using certain email addresses: Certain email addresses get more spam than others. These are called RFC 2142 addresses, and they include info@example.com, sales@, etc. These are common addresses that spammers will send email to in the hope that they go to a real person. Instead of info@, consider an alternative like contact@.
  • Avoid common first names: Yes, your name might be Jim and you want to use jim@example.com, but avoid it. If your surname is Smith, try jims@example.com, jsmith@example.com or even jimsmith@example.com instead. Consider adding punctuation — e.g., j.smith@example.com.
  • Domain registrations: Use a dedicated email address for your domain registrations. Over the years most domain registries have been part of the spam problem by publishing email addresses in their “WHOIS” databases, which are scraped the same way websites are. Instead of using your primary address as the public contact for your domain registration, use a secondary one. However, it must work and you should check it regularly — e.g., once a month or so. The registry that NinerNet uses does not publish the billing contact’s email address, making the email address for this contact less likely to receive spam. And while we do provide WHOIS privacy where all of the contact information for your domain registration is hidden, we don’t recommend this for businesses as looking up the WHOIS information for a domain is a legitimate method for your customers to verifying the legitimacy of your business.
  • Use throwaway addresses: If you need to give an email address out in situations where you’re concerned it might be abused by the person or organisation you’re giving it to, create a throwaway address for one-time use.
  • Don’t be part of the problem!: See “How and Why to Blind Copy Multiple-Recipient Emails“. Also, don’t send mass emails yourself to people you assume will be happy to receive them — e.g., customers who once did business with you six years ago!
  • Use an anti-virus scanner: Prevent your computer being taken over by criminals who want to mine it for data, not the least of which are the email addresses of your friends, family and business contacts.

Cure

In truth, there is no cure. If your email address is on a spammer’s list, it’s going to be sold and traded on. But no matter how well you do on the prevention side, someone else who has your email address on their computer is going to allow a virus in, and your email address will end up on a list.

However, on the particular topic of this blog post — weight loss spam — if no legitimate email coming into your account is going to refer to “diet pills” or “weight loss”, then you can set up a filter in your webmail account. Follow these instructions (illustrated at right):

  1. Log into your email account at mail.niner.net.

    Spam filtering

    Spam filtering.

  2. Click “Settings” in the top, right-hand corner.
  3. Click “Filters” in the left-hand column under the “Settings” heading.
  4. Click the plus sign at the bottom of the third column from the left under the “Filters” heading.
  5. In the “Filter name” box, give the filter a name like “Diet spam”.
  6. In the “For incoming mail” section you probably want to leave the default “matching any of the following rules” setting in place.
  7. In the first drop-down list, select “Body”.
  8. In the second drop-down list leave “contains” selected.
  9. In the blank field to the right, enter a word (single words are risky) or phrase that you think indicates spam. (Some suggestions culled from sample emails sent to us by clients are below.)
  10. To add more spammy words or phrases, click the plus sign to the right to add another “rule”.
  11. In the “…execute the following actions” section, we recommend you select “Move message to” in the first drop-down list, and “Junk” in the second drop-down list.
  12. At the bottom of the page click the “Save” button.

Now emails matching the filter you have created will automatically be filtered to your “junk” folder. We suggest that you check your junk folder regularly for a while after you create a rule to make sure it doesn’t catch any legitimate email.

Some spammy words and phrases from sample emails sent to us by clients:

  • diet aid
  • weight loss
  • fat
  • body
  • skinny
  • weight goals
  • diet supplement
  • weight reduction
  • excessive weight
  • boost your metabolism
  • beach body
  • live a better life
  • living a better life
  • dietary product
  • fight weight
  • big discount

Please note that you use these phrases and instructions for filtering your email at your own risk!

We hope this helps you fight some of the spam you’re receiving. If you have any questions, please contact support.

Reminder of domain renewal scams

12 February 2017 02:22:14 +0000

The scammers trying to separate you from your money never sleep and we’ve been meaning to send a reminder about that for a while now. Were prompted today by a couple of things: the first being a client who recently mistook one of these scams for a legitimate notice from NinerNet, and the second the receipt of four emails to us that arrived in quick succession in the span of 22 minutes this morning from the same scammers.

What these scams have in common is that they’re sent to the email address you use in your domain registration, and masquerade as domain renewal notices. The management of the WHOIS system — the database of domains and their owners — is a bone of contention among many, and after more than three decades ICANN has still not figured out how to make the WHOIS system useful for legitimate purposes while protecting domain owners from scams like these. We make five suggestions in the “Lessons to be learned” section of a rather long and detailed post from last year if you’re annoyed at the amount of spam you receive. One of those suggestions is not private domain registration, despite the fact that we can make money on that service.

The two particularly active scams that you should be aware of are these two:

You’ll note that the latter dates back to at least 2015. If the scam wasn’t working, they’d stop. Don’t be scammed!

If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. Thanks.

Another domain SEO scam

12 February 2017 01:34:28 +0000

SEO scam screenshot.

Yet another SEO scam posing as a domain registration renewal notice has been making the rounds. At first we thought it was the same as one we have posted about before — just with a new look — but we’ve received the old one recently too, so it’s not.

As always, anything you receive about your domain that is not from NinerNet Communications is almost certainly a scam, unless you have very recently initiated the purchase of a product or service connected to your domain at the time you receive the email. If you’re not sure, please forward it to us and we’ll be happy to help you determine its validity.

Please click on the thumbnail to see the scam email full size.

Fraud alert

27 September 2016 19:33:46 +0000

We have been receiving phone calls today on our North American toll-free number from people who are claiming that we have charged their credit cards. So far the amounts have been under $100 which, in our experience with being on the receiving end of credit card fraud, are small enough amounts that they might slip under the radar of both credit card companies and some consumers.

Please be assured that NinerNet Communications does not have the facilities to charge credit cards without the explicit permission of the credit card holder. Our agreement with our payment processing company simply does not allow it. We also do not send spam, especially SEO scam spam. (We don’t even offer any kind of SEO [search engine optimisation] services.) It would seem that someone has simply lifted our company name and phone number from our website, and so we are as much a victim of this fraud as you are. We are a reputable company that has been trading under the same name for eighteen years — and only two years before that under our initial name — and plan to continue trading under our good name for many years to come.

The best advice we can give you is to contact your credit card company and initiate a chargeback. There is nothing that we can do other than post this notice so that anybody affected by this fraud can take that action.

Domain management case study: Barriere Chamber of Commerce

18 January 2016 02:34:27 +0000

In the news recently (CBC and The Vancouver Sun) it was revealed that the Barriere (and District) Chamber of Commerce lost one of their domains (barrierechamber.com, apparently their primary one judging by its position in the results in web searches) because they did not renew it, and “logged in as usual” one day to find that said domain redirected to a pornographic website. As of this writing it’s redirecting to a non-pornographic website, but in the CBC article you can see a somewhat sanitised screenshot of the original website that caused such a furore.

Executive summary (or tl;dr)

As it says in the “Domain drop catching” article at Wikipedia, “It is incumbent on registrants to be proactive in managing their name registrations and to be good stewards of their domain names. By law there are no perpetual rights to domain names after payment of registration fees lapses, aside from trademark rights granted by common law or statute.” In the words of the Chamber’s administrator, “It was messed up on our end.” The above article does also state that “Unless the original registrant holds a trademark or other legal entitlement to the name, they are often left without any form of recourse in getting their domain name back”, but simply paying attention can save you a whole lot of time and heartache, not to mention money in legal fees.

There may be a glimmer of hope for the Barriere Chamber though. See the “Godaddy complicity” section for details on what action they may be able to take.

Asset management and laziness

This situation brings up so many issues (hence the length of this post), not just technological issues but simple issues of asset management. I’m not an expert at managing a chamber of commerce, but there are lessons here that we can all learn, starting with (as just described) the fact that your domain is an asset, and should be treated as such. If you don’t manage your assets properly — if you leave them out in the rain, leave them unprotected, or let them expire — you’re going to lose them, plain and simple. So don’t let your domain expire — and don’t leave it out in the rain either, for that matter.

One of my pet peeves these days is the sheer laziness that has started to overtake the human race. People apparently don’t want to think, as that is all that the marketing departments of just about every business on the planet seem to be focused on these days. Even car advertisements on television nowadays seem to feature the laziest, dumbest drivers on the planet, drivers who apparently can’t even manage to stay in their own lane and need a car that can think about it and do it for them, driver’s who (quite frankly) should not be licensed to drive.

And it’s even worse in the technology industry where — by it’s very nature — the technology can do much of the thinking and remembering for you. And so it’s incredibly frustrating to read some “expert” (in this case Hasan Cavusoglu of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business) advise that people like the Barrier Chamber of Commerce “could have protected itself by paying for an extended amount of time to own the domain name because registrars provide such options.” While most registrars and hosting companies (including NinerNet) offer modest discounts on multi-year domain registrations, this only exacerbates the potential problem of forgetting to renew your domain by putting off having to think about renewing it on an annual basis. Whether you’re registering a domain for a business or for your own personal blog, what actual process have you put in place to ensure that you will remember when your domain expires? Registering it for ten years is not going to help you if, by the time the ten years is up, you’ve completely forget about it or who you even registered it with in the first place! It’s your asset; do not rely on someone else (your domain registrar, hosting company, web designer or anyone else) to be more concerned about your asset that you are!

According to The Vancouver Sun article, “Virginia Smith [the mayor] said the chamber in Barriere believed the domain name was automatically renewed”. This contradicts what the Chamber’s administrator (Marie Downing) stated in the CBC article: “It was messed up on our end. We missed the renewal during the holiday season.” Either way, someone was asleep at the switch when it came to managing this particular asset of the Barriere Chamber of Commerce. Also of note is that, according to the WHOIS record for barrierechamber.com as of 14 January 2016 (more on that in a moment when I’ll take aim at the domain registrar, Godaddy, and their complicity in this situation), the domain’s anniversary date is actually 30 November which, by my definition, is well before the so-called holiday season. By the time the holiday season rolled around the domain had been expired for almost a month and was rapidly approaching the “Redemption Grace Period“, by which time it is assumed that the average domain registrant has noticed that their domain has expired and stopped working! Which makes the mayor’s statement about her staff logging in “as usual” one day “only to find the ‘horrible’ content” all the more perplexing; did they not try to “log in” (she’s almost certainly using that term incorrectly) the day before and for the many days before that only to see that the website was not available?

I hate to be the one to break this news to the world, but computers are fallible. Sometimes, when they’re supposed to do things automatically, they don’t. I work with computers every day, and I know that they make mistakes or break. Even if you have your domain set to renew automatically — or anything else done automatically by a computer — check to make sure that it was actually done.

“A domain is for life”

On the topic of registering and renewing domains, I always tell clients that “a domain is for life”, echoing the cliché that “a puppy is for life” (or whatever pet you want to substitute for “puppy”) that you sometimes hear around Christmas when animal protection agencies discourage thoughtless acquisition of animals as presents for kids. If you let a domain expire some opportunist is almost certainly going to snap it up the minute it does. A whole sub-industry revolves around this very activity. In many cases those people want the domain for what most people would consider reasonably legitimate use; for example, I recently snapped up fotocuba.com when it expired because I have a business idea for which this domain would be a good fit. However, everyone has different definitions of “legitimate use”, and many people just want to “monetise” a domain (that they think may be receiving a decent amount of traffic) for advertising. Some of that advertising may unfortunately revolve around pornography, get-rich-quick schemes and questionable medical claims.

Is the new registrant of barrierechamber.com trying to “extort” almost $10 000 from the previous registrant, for “a $20 domain”, as is claimed in The Vancouver Sun article? Not likely. Some people may not like the business model used by the new registrant, but unless the Chamber is somehow obligated to pay the money (they’re not) then it’s not extortion; it’s the free market at work, where one party has an asset and another would like to have that asset. If the latter party cannot afford that asset, then that’s a shame. A friend of mine has a very nice aeroplane that I’d like to own, but if the price at which she is willing to sell it to me is more than I can afford (it most certainly would be!), is she trying to extort money from me? No. So back to my “a domain is for life” maxim: if you don’t want to pay a ridiculous price to get back what was once your own asset, don’t lose it! If you don’t want some idiot to use what was once your domain in ways you would find objectionable — perhaps even “[creating] a replica of [your] original website” (as is correctly stated by Cavusoglu) to mislead your customers or members, or to collect all of the email sent to what was your domain — then don’t let your domain expire! If you don’t want to lose customers because they think you’ve gone out of business because your website and email are down, then renew in time!

Managing multiple domains

Barriere & District Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, 2016-01-16.

Barriere & District Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, 2016-01-16

This is where things get a bit more complicated, requiring some skill in investigating connections between domains and companies — connecting the dots and following the breadcrumbs — and gazing into a crystal ball that shows you the muddied the past. You can pay to have some of that past un-muddied, but I’m too cheap to do that in this case.

As alluded to above, the Barrier Chamber of Commerce apparently owns/owned (or, to be legally precise, is/was the registrant of) multiple domains. In addition to previously being the registrant of barrierechamber.com, their website currently loads at barrierechamberofcommerce.com. Bizarrely — and in yet another example of incredibly poor domain and web presence management — their apparent Facebook page (such as it is) has a link in their “about” box to barrieredistrict.com! (At least the advertising on that isn’t pornographic, as of this writing.) According to the current WHOIS information for this domain (the WHOIS information as of this writing for all of these domains is reproduced below) it was registered on 17 December 2015 by a registrant in Japan. The current registrar is DropCatch.com 828 LLC, and as suggested by the common contact information for dropcatch828.com and namebright.com and on the DropCatch.com 828 LLC web page itself, they’re a “partner” of NameBright — essentially a subsidiary of NameBright, as the former is almost certainly set up as a distinct registrar (as are dozens of other numbered LLCs [e.g., DropCatch.com 1029 LLC, DropCatch.com 1030 LLC, etc.]) as part of a pool to give NameBright greater access to the domain registry for acquiring “dropping” domains the second they are deleted by the registry.

Assuming barrieredistrict.com was indeed previously registered by the Barriere Chamber (it certainly looks like it was, according to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine), this means that the domain actually expired around the 28th or 29th of September 2015. Did the Chamber intentionally let it expire, or did they screw up the renewal of that domain too, only a couple of months before barrierechamber.com expired? What is their overall domain management strategy? Do they even have a domain management or web presence strategy? Would they know what such a strategy might look like if it walked up to them on Barriere Town Road and slapped them in the face? According to the CBC article, “Downing notes that the chamber still has ownership of several other similar domain names …”. Really? Who advised you to register multiple domains? I’m not saying that doing so is a bad idea, but that advice was clearly incomplete and badly implemented.

Looking further at the WHOIS information, I note that both barrierechamber.com and barrierechamberofcommerce.com were registered on 30 November 2013. (See the “Godaddy complicity” section below for more comments on dates.) If that was the case, how come barrierechamberofcommerce.com was renewed and barrierechamber.com was not? Or had they both been expired for several weeks without that fact being noticed, and only barrierechamber.com was snapped up by the new registrant? That’s a question only the Chamber can answer.

Without going further down the investigative rabbit hole, I don’t know if the Barriere Chamber of Commerce owns any other domains (other than the two they have lost and the one they have managed to hold onto), but this is where some professional help would come in handy. It’s all very well to pay some cheap hosting company $4.95 a month for your cheap and nasty website, but if your website and general web presence (in which I’d include your Facebook page) are important to you, why would you not contract with a professional to manage it? Would you manage the plumbing in your house without any professional assistance? Just because you can successfully operate a tap, send an email or type a document in a word processor does not mean you know everything there is to know about managing your plumbing, website or domain properly. I’ve been in the business for twenty years and I’m still learning! Judging by some changes to their website in the last 24 hours it does look like the Chamber might have got some decent advice — especially to do with getting their new domain into the search results to replace the now-compromised domain — but it’s only a start.

Godaddy complicity

It’s usually unbecoming of a company to bad-mouth their competitors, but Godaddy and its founder are big and legitimate targets, quite used to (not shy of and often court) criticism, and not in the least bit threatened by the existence of NinerNet or our calling them out. Godaddy can afford to saturate the market with television advertising featuring sexually suggestive Playboy models; NinerNet, to our chagrin, cannot.

Anyway, Godaddy is well known for engaging in the practice of “Domain name warehousing“. (They’re not the only ones but, as I say, they’re a big target.) Normally when a domain expires and is re-registered by someone else, the WHOIS record changes to reflect this. If you look at the WHOIS information for the domain (fotocuba.com) that I said earlier that I recently acquired, you’ll see the following information:

Creation Date: 10-jan-2016

Since the old registration was allowed to expire completely — i.e., the domain expired, it entered the “redemption grace period” about 45 days later and was deleted by the registrar, it then entered the “pending delete” period about 30 days later, and was finally “dropped” 5 days later by the registry to be re-registered by the first comer — the “creation date” is the start of the new registration of fotocuba.com when I acquired it about a week ago. (There are tools you can use to see a website and domain’s history, including DomainTools.com and the aforementioned Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)

In the case of barrierechamber.com you’ll notice that the “creation date” is still that of when the domain was presumably originally registered by the Barriere Chamber:

Creation Date: 30-nov-2013

How is that if barrierechamber.com has supposedly been allowed to expire and is newly acquired by the current registrant (Al Perkins of Jersey) that the creation date at the registry is still 30 November 2013? This is almost certainly because, as the “Domain name warehousing” article points out, “Instead of letting [some] domains … expire, GoDaddy takes control of … those domains, after the registrant — GoDaddy’s customer — allows them to lapse, even before the end of the redemption period.” (In fact, as barrierechamber.com expired on 30 November 2015, it would have been scheduled to enter the Registration Grace Period on 14 January 2016, the day this story hit the news.) The new registrant then acquired that domain, probably at a premium (i.e., not just the $20 referred to by Downing, but probably less than the $9700 the new registrant wants for it), directly from Godaddy without the domain actually being “dropped” (deleted) by the registry. In other words, as far as the registry is concerned, the current registration is still the same one that began on 30 November 2013, even if the registrant has changed.

Plus I suspect that when someone in Barriere “logged in” one day to see some unexpected skin, they realised what had happened and very quickly paid the redemption fee for barrierechamberofcommerce.com (which was also originally registered on 30 November 2013, but was probably not attractive enough for anyone to acquire as barrierechamber.com was) and got that back online. Crisis averted … almost.

I (and many other people) don’t condone what Godaddy does, but it’s a loophole allowed by the rules dictated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, more commonly known as ICANN, which is the organisation ultimately responsible for managing the world’s domains. Godaddy is not the only registrar that takes advantage of this, but combined with all of their other questionable activities, domain registrants and potential domain registrants should think twice before registering domains with them, especially if they (the said registrants, or owners) are not going to pay attention to the expiry dates of their domain — their asset. While I decried laziness and not taking responsibility for your assets near the start of this epistle, smaller companies like NinerNet are more likely to pick up the phone and call you if you’ve let your domain expire, before it’s too late. Godaddy, on the other hand, can’t wait to make a buck from your laziness and inattention.

Without reading Godaddy’s 28-page legal agreement and the 32 other linked documents which are included, there may be happy ending to this for the Chamber. As mentioned above, because barrierechamber.com expired on 30 November 2015 it was scheduled to enter the Redemption Grace Period on 14 January 2016. As such, unless the registrant’s agreement with the registrar legally supersedes the registrar’s agreements with the registry and ICANN (I am not a lawyer and don’t know if it does), the Barriere Chamber may be able to simply pay Godaddy their redemption fee and get their domain back, whereupon Godaddy would refund the new registrant to whom they sold the domain what they paid Godaddy. However, this is based on my broad understanding of the way Godaddy and other registrars handle these types of sales, and information in the “Domain name warehousing” Wikipedia article. Of course, no sane person would ever base a legal action on the contents of a Wikipedia article or a blog post by some stranger on the Internet, but you and the Barriere and District Chamber of Commerce can do what you will with that information.

Lessons to be learned

What can the Barriere and District Chamber of Commerce and the rest of us learn from their unfortunate experience?

  • THINK!: First of all, especially if you’re going to register multiple domains for a single website, come up with a coherent plan for their use and management. Even if you only register one domain, keep a record somewhere — even if it’s a handwritten record in a diary with your family’s birthdays and anniversaries — of the expiry date of your domain.
  • EMAIL ADDRESS: For very good reason and because of poor management of the WHOIS system by ICANN and most registries, it’s not unusual for people to use a throw-away email address — often at some free webmail provider — as the contact address for their domain record. Don’t do that. OK, fine, do that if it’s a personal domain, but don’t do it if your domain is for a company. Create an email address on your own domain (Gmail and Hotmail are *not* going to help you to try to break into that account if an ex-employee set it up, but your hosting company will help the person paying the bills), even if it’s not a primary email address that you use on a daily basis, and create company procedures for you (or a trusted employee) to check on a regular basis. Also, don’t use an email address you get from your ISP (Internet service provider), as the Barriere Chamber is doing. Will you remember to change the email address with your domain registrar when you do something completely unrelated, such as change who supplies your Internet connection?

To be honest, in two decades of registering domains I’ve never received anything of vital importance at the email addresses I and we use in my and our domain registrations that I needed to act on within minutes of receiving the message. If you’re “thinking” as described in the previous point then you don’t need the email reminders that you’ll receive from your registrar but, of course, you should at least be aware of them. But just in case (maybe you lost your list of domain expiry dates in the fire that burnt your office to the ground), you’re checking the email account at least monthly, weeding out all the spam, and saving the important messages related to your domain(s). Some people will argue — correctly to some extent — that you probably shouldn’t use an email address on the domain for which it is the contact address — e.g., you probably shouldn’t use domains@example.com as the contact address for your registration of example.com. This is a good point, but if necessary you can figure out what you should do in this case; for now it’s beyond the scope of this document.

  • COMPANY EMAIL MANAGEMENT: There’s that word “management” again; stuff doesn’t manage itself, no matter what the marketers try to make you believe. How you set up and manage your company email is a whole other post I will write someday, but don’t let your employee Bob Smith at email address bob-smith@example.com register your domain(s) using that email address. When Bob leaves or gets fired, and you delete his email address (you’re not really going to make his replacement, Susan Jones, masquerade as Bob Smith, are you?), guess what? Yes, those domain renewal notices are going to bounce. (And with changes introduced by ICANN a couple of years ago, this will mean your domain will be suspended within a couple of weeks of the first bounce.) Generally speaking, you want to create “role accounts” that will always exist, no matter who is employed at your company. Role accounts look like sales@example.com, info@example.com, and so on. This is essentially what the email address I suggest in the last point is.
  • HIRE PROFESSIONALS: Again, despite what the marketers try to make you believe, sometimes you should get professional advice. Do that. Get paid advice (from someone you trust or from someone to whom you have been referred by someone you trust) on domain, website and email management. If you DIY (do it yourself) because “domains, websites and email aren’t rocket science” and the FAQs on El Cheapo Daddy Hosting Co.’s website will be good enough, you might end up as another case study on some other hosting company’s blog. Oh, and while you’re DIYing, remember to read thoroughly the 28-page legal agreement that links to a further 32 agreements, policies, tips, notices, forms and permissions to make sure you’re aware of just what El Cheapo Daddy Hosting Co. will do with your domain and how much it’s going to cost you if you don’t renew before it expires.
  • REPUTATION: Perhaps this tip won’t apply to you if you’re a serial entrepreneur with dozens of businesses on the go and a workforce big enough to populate a small country, but if you care about your name and reputation and you decide (for one reason or another) that you’re closing down your business (and not selling it) and no longer have a need for your domain, perhaps consider keeping it for a while. (You could also consider selling it to the highest bidder, because it is an asset and might be worth some cash.) You could perhaps keep renewing it a year at a time, or renew it for ten years into the future with a plan to just let it expire at the end of those ten years. The same advice applies if you change the name of your company and your primary domain. If you don’t choose one of those courses of action, you will have no control over who will re-register it after you and what they will do with it. Who might acquire it? Competitors? Enemies? A disgruntled ex-employee or former customer? Pornographers? Shysters?

In short, your domain is a valuable asset. Give it the respect it deserves and manage it properly.

Conclusion

As Hasan Cavusoglu of the UBC’s Sauder School of Business said, “They should have been more careful.” Perhaps some of the information above will help you be more careful about managing your domain asset.

Glossary

None of the terms used above are too esoteric, but when you start talking about registries, registrars and registrants is can be a bit confusing. And what the hell does “WHOIS” really mean anyway? Here’s a quick rundown:

  • Domain: Also known as a “domain name”, a domain is essentially a more memorable string of letters and or numbers which point to a particular computer on the Internet so that you can connect to it, either to view a website stored on that computer or to send email to that computer. Examples include niner.net and barrierechamber.com. You cannot leave one out in the rain.
  • Drop: With a few exceptions, domains don’t suddenly cease to exist on their expiry date any more than the milk in your fridge ceases to exist on its expiry date. No, there is a long, drawn-out and painful process lasting anywhere from days to weeks to months depending on the policies associated with that domain, at the end of which the domain is finally and fully deleted from the registry’s records. This final deletion is referred to as the drop.
  • ICANN: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the American organisation ultimately responsible for management and organisation of the Internet, including its system of domains. It delegates much of these responsibilities under contract to registries.
  • Pending delete: This is one of the possible statuses of certain domains — specifically domains such as .com, .net, and .org — after they expire and before they are dropped. It is the last status, lasting about five days, before it is dropped, and the domain cannot be recovered once it is in this status.
  • Pornography: Erotica you don’t like.
  • Redemption Grace Period (RGP): Another status of certain domains — again, specifically domains such as .com, .net, and .org — after they expire and before they are dropped. It starts about 45 days after a domain expires and ends 30 days later when the “pending delete” status starts. During this period you can recover an expired domain, but there is a hefty fee to do so. Before a domain enters the RGP you can usually renew a domain without any fees additional to the usual annual renewal fee. However, some registrars — including, last time I checked, Godaddy — will charge an additional fee even before the RGP starts. This is probably how they make money to subsidise other of their offerings.
  • Registrant: A person or organisation that registers a domain. Many people refer to a registrant as an “owner”, although in some legal jurisdictions it is believed you cannot “own” a domain, only be the registrant of one. In the registry-registrar-registrant hierarchy, a registrant is the lowest, most specific entity.
  • Registrar: A company with which a registrant can register a domain. In many, maybe even most, jurisdictions and top-level domains (a top-level domain is a hierarchy defined by what is to the right of the last dot in a domain — e.g., .com is a top-level domain) there are multiple registrars who compete with one another based on price and additional services offered.
  • Registry: All of the registrars are delegated via contract by the registry, of which there is only one per top-level domain. Put one way, the registry makes sure that there is only one existence of each domain and only one registrant for each domain.
  • WHOIS: Pronounced just like the English phrase “who is”, the WHOIS is a system whereby a database — often of domains and their registrants — can be queried to return information on a domain. What information is returned depends on the policies of the registry and/or registrar queried, but often includes the name and contact information for the registrant, the status of the domain, information on the computers (nameservers) responsible for the domain, the name of the registrar, and dates associated with the domain, not the least of which is the expiry date. You can see examples below.

Current WHOIS records

barrierechamber.com

[16:19:27 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois barrierechamber.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: BARRIERECHAMBER.COM
   Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 146
   Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
   Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
   Name Server: NS09.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Name Server: NS10.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
   Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
   Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
   Updated Date: 12-jan-2016
   Creation Date: 30-nov-2013
   Expiration Date: 30-nov-2016

>>> Last update of whois database: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:47:02 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: barrierechamber.com
Registry Domain ID: 1837475188_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Update Date: 2016-01-12T01:06:42Z
Creation Date: 2013-11-30T22:50:47Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-11-30T22:50:47Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@godaddy.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry
Registrant Name: Al Perkins
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: Rue de L'Etau
Registrant City: St.Helier
Registrant State/Province: Jersey
Registrant Postal Code: JE2 3WF
Registrant Country: JE
Registrant Phone: +44.1534000000
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: trevmedia@gmail.com
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Al Perkins
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: Rue de L'Etau
Admin City: St.Helier
Admin State/Province: Jersey
Admin Postal Code: JE2 3WF
Admin Country: JE
Admin Phone: +44.1534000000
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: trevmedia@gmail.com
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Al Perkins
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: Rue de L'Etau
Tech City: St.Helier
Tech State/Province: Jersey
Tech Postal Code: JE2 3WF
Tech Country: JE
Tech Phone: +44.1534000000
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: trevmedia@gmail.com
Name Server: NS09.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS10.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-15T02:00:00Z < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en

The data contained in GoDaddy.com, LLC's WhoIs database,
while believed by the company to be reliable, is provided "as is"
with no guarantee or warranties regarding its accuracy.  This
information is provided for the sole purpose of assisting you
in obtaining information about domain name registration records.
Any use of this data for any other purpose is expressly forbidden without the prior written
permission of GoDaddy.com, LLC.  By submitting an inquiry,
you agree to these terms of usage and limitations of warranty.  In particular,
you agree not to use this data to allow, enable, or otherwise make possible,
dissemination or collection of this data, in part or in its entirety, for any
purpose, such as the transmission of unsolicited advertising and
and solicitations of any kind, including spam.  You further agree
not to use this data to enable high volume, automated or robotic electronic
processes designed to collect or compile this data for any purpose,
including mining this data for your own personal or commercial purposes.

Please note: the registrant of the domain name is specified
in the "registrant" section.  In most cases, GoDaddy.com, LLC
is not the registrant of domain names listed in this database.
[18:47:11 leftseat@wrathall ~]$

barrierechamberofcommerce.com

[15:20:55 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois barrierechamberofcommerce.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: BARRIERECHAMBEROFCOMMERCE.COM
   Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 146
   Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
   Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
   Name Server: NS35.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Name Server: NS36.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
   Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
   Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
   Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
   Updated Date: 13-jan-2016
   Creation Date: 30-nov-2013
   Expiration Date: 30-nov-2020

>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 23:23:11 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: BARRIERECHAMBEROFCOMMERCE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1837475172_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Update Date: 2015-12-01T11:42:05Z
Creation Date: 2013-11-30T22:50:47Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2020-11-30T22:50:47Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@godaddy.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry
Registrant Name: Lana Laskovic
Registrant Organization: Barriere Chamber of Commerce
Registrant Street: Box 1190
Registrant City: Barriere
Registrant State/Province: British Columbia
Registrant Postal Code: V0E 1E0
Registrant Country: CA
Registrant Phone: 2506729221
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: bcoc@telus.net
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Lana Laskovic
Admin Organization: Barriere Chamber of Commerce
Admin Street: Box 1190
Admin City: Barriere
Admin State/Province: British Columbia
Admin Postal Code: V0E 1E0
Admin Country: CA
Admin Phone: 2506729221
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: bcoc@telus.net
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Lana Laskovic
Tech Organization: Barriere Chamber of Commerce
Tech Street: Box 1190
Tech City: Barriere
Tech State/Province: British Columbia
Tech Postal Code: V0E 1E0
Tech Country: CA
Tech Phone: 2506729221
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: bcoc@telus.net
Name Server: NS35.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS36.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-16T23:00:00Z < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en

The data contained in GoDaddy.com, LLC's WhoIs database,
while believed by the company to be reliable, is provided "as is"
with no guarantee or warranties regarding its accuracy.  This
information is provided for the sole purpose of assisting you
in obtaining information about domain name registration records.
Any use of this data for any other purpose is expressly forbidden without the prior written
permission of GoDaddy.com, LLC.  By submitting an inquiry,
you agree to these terms of usage and limitations of warranty.  In particular,
you agree not to use this data to allow, enable, or otherwise make possible,
dissemination or collection of this data, in part or in its entirety, for any
purpose, such as the transmission of unsolicited advertising and
and solicitations of any kind, including spam.  You further agree
not to use this data to enable high volume, automated or robotic electronic
processes designed to collect or compile this data for any purpose,
including mining this data for your own personal or commercial purposes.

Please note: the registrant of the domain name is specified
in the "registrant" section.  In most cases, GoDaddy.com, LLC
is not the registrant of domain names listed in this database.
[15:23:20 leftseat@wrathall ~]$

barrieredistrict.com

[15:16:34 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois barrieredistrict.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: BARRIEREDISTRICT.COM
   Registrar: DROPCATCH.COM 828 LLC
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 2587
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: http://www.DropCatch828.com
   Name Server: NS1.SEDOPARKING.COM
   Name Server: NS2.SEDOPARKING.COM
   Status: ok http://www.icann.org/epp#OK
   Updated Date: 21-dec-2015
   Creation Date: 17-dec-2015
   Expiration Date: 17-dec-2016

>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 16 Jan 2016 23:20:38 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: BarrierEDistrict.com
Registry Domain ID: 1988051797_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS server: whois.NameBright.com
Registrar URL: http://www.NameBright.com
Updated Date: 2015-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
Creation Date: 2015-12-17T19:35:50.000Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
Registrar: DropCatch.com 828 LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 2587
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@NameBright.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Domain Status: ok
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Yasutaka Sakatani
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: uji biwa 3-1-201
Registrant City: uji-shi
Registrant State/Province: Kyoto
Registrant Postal Code: 6110021
Registrant Country: JP
Registrant Phone: +810774340100
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: domain@axelight.co.jp
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Yasutaka Sakatani
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: uji biwa 3-1-201
Admin City: uji-shi
Admin State/Province: Kyoto
Admin Postal Code: 6110021
Admin Country: JP
Admin Phone: +810774340100
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: domain@axelight.co.jp
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Yasutaka Sakatani
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: uji biwa 3-1-201
Tech City: uji-shi
Tech State/Province: Kyoto
Tech Postal Code: 6110021
Tech Country: JP
Tech Phone: +810774340100
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: domain@axelight.co.jp
Name Server: ns1.sedoparking.com
Name Server: ns2.sedoparking.com
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System:
http://wdprs.internic.net
--- Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-16T11:20:55.368Z ---
[15:20:55 leftseat@wrathall ~]$

fotocuba.com

[17:56:37 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois fotocuba.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: FOTOCUBA.COM
   Registrar: DOMAINARMADA.COM LLC
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 1173
   Whois Server: whois.domainarmada.com
   Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
   Name Server: NS1.NINER.NET
   Name Server: NS2.NINER.NET
   Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 11-jan-2016
   Creation Date: 10-jan-2016
   Expiration Date: 10-jan-2017

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 02:29:13 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: fotocuba.com
Registry Domain ID: 1993165857_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.domainarmada.com
Registrar URL: http://domainarmada.com
Updated Date: 2016-01-11T01:02:39Z
Creation Date: 2016-01-10T19:19:59Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-01-10T19:19:59Z
Registrar: Domainarmada.com LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 1173
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@web.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.8773812449
Reseller:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Administrator
Registrant Organization: NinerNet Communications Company
Registrant Street: 499-1685 H Street
Registrant City: Blaine
Registrant State/Province: WA
Registrant Postal Code: 98230
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.3605194260
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext.:
Registrant Email: domains@ninernet.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Domain Administrator
Admin Organization: NinerNet Communications Company
Admin Street: 499-1685 H Street
Admin City: Blaine
Admin State/Province: WA
Admin Postal Code: 98230
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.3605194260
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext.:
Admin Email: domains@ninernet.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Domain Administrator
Tech Organization: NinerNet Communications Company
Tech Street: 499-1685 H Street
Tech City: Blaine
Tech State/Province: WA
Tech Postal Code: 98230
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.3605194260
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext.:
Tech Email: domains@ninernet.com
Name Server: ns2.niner.net
Name Server: ns1.niner.net
DNSSEC: Unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-11T01:02:39Z < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

The data in Domainarmada.com's WHOIS database is provided to you by
Domainarmada.com for information purposes only, that is, to assist you in
obtaining information about or related to a domain name registration
record.  Domainarmada.com makes this information available "as is," and
does not guarantee its accuracy.  By submitting a WHOIS query, you
agree that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that,
under no circumstances will you use this data to: (1) allow, enable,
or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial
advertising or solicitations via direct mail, electronic mail, or by
telephone; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to Domainarmada.com (or its systems).  The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of Domainarmada.com.
Domainarmada.com reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.
By submitting this query, you agree to abide by these terms.
[18:29:27 leftseat@wrathall ~]$

dropcatch828.com

[16:32:18 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois dropcatch828.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: DROPCATCH828.COM
   Registrar: TURNCOMMERCE, INC. DBA NAMEBRIGHT.COM
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 1441
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: http://www.namebright.com
   Name Server: NS1.NAMEBRIGHTDNS.COM
   Name Server: NS2.NAMEBRIGHTDNS.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited https://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 09-oct-2015
   Creation Date: 09-oct-2015
   Expiration Date: 09-oct-2016

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 00:57:03 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: DropCatch828.com
Registry Domain ID: 1967207614_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS server: whois.NameBright.com
Registrar URL: http://www.NameBright.com
Updated Date: 2015-10-09T00:00:00.000Z
Creation Date: 2015-10-09T06:00:00.000Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-10-09T00:00:00.000Z
Registrar: TurnCommerce, Inc. DBA NameBright.com
Registrar IANA ID: 1441
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@NameBright.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Admin
Registrant Organization: dropcatch828.com
Registrant Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Registrant City: Denver
Registrant State/Province: CO
Registrant Postal Code: 80205
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: support@namebright.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Domain Admin
Admin Organization: dropcatch828.com
Admin Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Admin City: Denver
Admin State/Province: CO
Admin Postal Code: 80205
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: support@namebright.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Domain Admin
Tech Organization: dropcatch828.com
Tech Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Tech City: Denver
Tech State/Province: CO
Tech Postal Code: 80205
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: support@namebright.com
Name Server: ns1.namebrightdns.com
Name Server: ns2.namebrightdns.com
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System:
http://wdprs.internic.net
--- Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-17T12:57:15.634Z ---

namebright.com

[16:57:15 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois namebright.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: NAMEBRIGHT.COM
   Registrar: TURNCOMMERCE, INC. DBA NAMEBRIGHT.COM
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 1441
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: http://www.namebright.com
   Name Server: NS1.NAMEBRIGHTDNS.COM
   Name Server: NS2.NAMEBRIGHTDNS.COM
   Status: clientDeleteProhibited https://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
   Status: clientTransferProhibited https://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 09-apr-2015
   Creation Date: 07-apr-2005
   Expiration Date: 07-apr-2025

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 00:57:32 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Domain Name: NameBright.com
Registry Domain ID: 149835961_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS server: whois.NameBright.com
Registrar URL: http://www.NameBright.com
Updated Date: 2015-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
Creation Date: 2005-04-07T23:54:15.000Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
Registrar: TurnCommerce, Inc. DBA NameBright.com
Registrar IANA ID: 1441
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@NameBright.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Admin
Registrant Organization: namebright.com
Registrant Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Registrant City: Denver
Registrant State/Province: CO
Registrant Postal Code: 80205
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: support@namebright.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Domain Admin
Admin Organization: namebright.com
Admin Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Admin City: Denver
Admin State/Province: CO
Admin Postal Code: 80205
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: support@namebright.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Domain Admin
Tech Organization: namebright.com
Tech Street: 2635 Walnut Street
Tech City: Denver
Tech State/Province: CO
Tech Postal Code: 80205
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.720.496.0020
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: support@namebright.com
Name Server: ns1.namebrightdns.com
Name Server: ns2.namebrightdns.com
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System:
http://wdprs.internic.net
--- Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-01-17T12:57:46.540Z ---

dropcatch.com

[16:57:46 leftseat@wrathall ~]$ whois dropcatch.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Aborting search 50 records found .....
   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1000 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1000.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1001 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1001.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1002 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1002.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1003 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1003.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1004 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1004.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1005 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1005.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1006 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1006.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1007 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1007.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1008 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1008.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1009 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1009.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1010 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1010.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1011 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1011.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1012 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1012.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1013 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1013.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1014 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1014.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1015 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1015.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1016 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1016.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1017 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1017.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1018 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1018.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1019 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1019.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1020 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1020.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1021 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1021.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1022 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1022.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1023 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1023.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1024 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1024.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1025 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1025.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1026 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1026.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1027 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1027.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1028 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1028.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1029 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1029.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

   Registrar Name: DROPCATCH.COM 1030 LLC
   Address: 2635 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, US
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: support@namebright.com
   Whois Server: whois.namebright.com
   Referral URL: www.DropCatch1030.com
   Admin Contact: Jeffrey Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-478-5206
   Email: jeff@turncommerce.com
   Admin Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com
   Billing Contact: Andrew Reberry
   Phone Number: 303-893-0547
   Email: andrew@turncommerce.com

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 17 Jan 2016 01:09:53 GMT < <<

For more information on Whois status codes, please visit
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en.

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
[17:10:15 leftseat@wrathall ~]$

iDNS Canada: Another year, another domain scam

9 January 2016 23:24:31 +0000
iDNS Canada domain name expiration notice.

iDNS Canada domain name expiration notice

Looking very much like the “invoices” sent out years ago by the heavily-fined (and, at various times, suspended by both ICANN and CIRA) so-called Domain Registry of Canada (also known as Internet Registry of Canada, Domain Registry of America, Domain Registry of Europe, NameJuice.com, Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. and many more), the “not a bill” “domain name expiration notice” received by NinerNet Communications recently reminds us that some people only know how to do business dishonestly — or at the very least on the fringes of legality.

Although it could have been copied, the notice received by us from “iDNS Canada” is almost identical to those of the Domain Registry of America sent out in previous years, and the maple leaf used in the iDNS Canada logo is indeed identical to that used by the Domain Registry of Canada in previous notices.

Let’s analyse a few aspects of this friendly and helpful “domain name expiration notice”:

  • Their website domain on their notice is idns.as, the dot-as country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) being registered to American Samoa, a south Pacific island nation. Trying to load the website at that address results in a redirection to idns.to, the dot-to ccTLD being registered to Tonga, another south Pacific island nation. I suspect they didn’t register a dot-ca domain because they’re not flavour of the month down at CIRA headquarters (assuming a connection, which is not much of a stretch), and might have had their domain suspended in short order had they registered a dot-ca.
  • The footer of their website claims that they are “Internet Domain Name Services Inc.” — a name also used on the return envelope in which you’re supposed to send your cheque (or credit card number) and payment stub. Their contact page (when loaded from a computer in Canada) offers the same box number address in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that is on their notice (delivered to our Canadian address; more on that in a moment), which is located in Bridlewood Mall, where there is a Canada Post outlet hosted by Shoppers Drug Mart offering post office boxes.
  • If you load their contact page from a computer located in the United States (or the United Kingdom, actually), the contact page offers a suite number address at 924 Bergen Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of America. A quick check shows this to be a UPS Store, so the “suite number” is also actually a mail box number.
  • On their contact page is an email address on the idnsinc.net domain, which is registered to the same company at the same box number in Jersey City in the US.

There are three notable things about this notice:

  • First of all, the notice refers to ninernet.com, a secondary domain that we use but which is registered to our US address. However, it was sent to our primary Canadian address, which is also on the same contact page on our website as our US and Zambian addresses.
  • As with the almost identical Domain Registry of Canada and Domain Registry of America phoney invoices, the “notice” from iDNS Canada makes reference to another “available” domain (in this case ninernet.BIZ) and invites us to send in payment to register it. However, ninernet.biz is not available; it has been registered by us since 2010. There is no indication on the notice what would happen to this extra money if we decided to send it in to register this additional unavailable domain.
  • Finally, while similar such “notices” in the past have included fine print that authorises the sender to transfer the registration of the domain from under the management of the existing registrar to management by the sender of the so-called solicitation (a process referred to as “domain slamming“), this one doesn’t include any such fine print. In fact, there isn’t even any indication on the “notice” that sending money to iDNS Canada (aka Internet Domain Name Services Inc.) will obligate them to do anything, as they have no way to renew a domain that is not under their control!

So don’t send them money, as you’re almost certainly sending money into a black hole from which you will likely see no service and from which you will probably be unable to retrieve it!

As always, if you receive any kind of communication from a third-party (with whom you don’t already have an established and trusted relationship) about your domain — via postal mail, email, telephone, fax or even smoke signal — be suspicious, be wary. If you’re not sure whether or not it is legitimate, please contact us about it and we will be more than happy to take a look and advise you whether or not it is legitimate.


Yet another domain registration scam

8 December 2015 21:57:54 +0000

We bring your attention to yet another scam aimed at domain registrants. Of course, there are disclaimers in the faded fine print telling you that this is not an invoice, only a solicitation or proposal, but the email is clearly designed to look like an invoice for the renewal of a supposedly expiring domain registration.

As always, please ignore emails sent to the email address that you use in your domain registration(s) that are not from your domain registrar or registry. (If you’re not clear on the difference between a registrar and a registry — and who yours are for your domain[s] — please ask us.) In fact, we suggest using an email address for your domain registration(s) that you do not use for anything else, so that you can identify emails that are sent as a result of “scraping” your email address from the public WHOIS.

Below is one of the examples of the latest scam that we are seeing. Please note, however, that the apparent sending email (in the “from” field) can and does vary.

From: Domain Service <info@better-fit.com>
To: domains@ninernet.com
Subject: spam-slip.com expiration
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 15:53:16 +0800

ATTENTION: IMPORTANT NOTICE
SEO Domain Registration Company
Notice#: 949540
Date: 11/29/2015

EXPIRATION NOTICE

DOMAIN: spam-slip.com
Notification Purchase Proposal

EXPIRATION PROPOSAL DATE: 12/07/2015

To: Domain Administrator, NinerNet
499-1685 H Street
Blaine
WA, 98230, UNITED STATES

Domain Name:

Registration SEO Period:

Price:

Term:

spam-slip.com 12/21/2015 to 12/20/2016 $64.00 1 Year

SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT

Domain Name: spam-slip.com
Attn: Domain Administrator
This important expiration notification proposal notifies you about the expiration notice of your domain registration for spam-slip.com search engine optimization submission. The information in this expiration notification proposal may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information from the notification processing department to purchase our search engine traffic generator. We do not register or renew domain names. We are selling traffic generator software tools. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above.
If you fail to complete your domain name registration spam-slip.com search engine optimization service by the expiration date, may result in the cancellation of this search engine optimization domain name notification proposal notice.

PLEASE CLICK ON

SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT

TO COMPLETE YOUR PAYMENT.

Failure to complete your seo domain name registration spam-slip.com search engine optimization service process may make it difficult for customers to find you on the web.
CLICK UNDERNEATH FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT
PROCESS PAYMENT FOR
spam-slip.com
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT

ACT IMMEDIATELY

This domain seo registration for spam-slip.com search engine service optimization notification proposal will expire 12/07/2015.

Instructions and Unsubscribe Instructions:
You have received this message because you elected to receive special notification proposal. If you no longer wish to receive our notifications, pleaseunsubscribe here or mail us a written request to US Main Office: SEO Domain Registration Company, Los Angeles, CA 90036, Email: seodomainregservice@mail.com or Asia Main Office: SEO Domain Registration Company, Shenzhen Futian, Email: seodomainregservice@mail.com. If you have multiple accounts with us, you must opt out for each one individually in order to stop receiving notifications notices. We are a search engine optimization company. We do not directly register or renew domain names. We are selling traffic generator software tools. This message is CAN-SPAM compliant. THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A NOTIFICATION PROPOSAL. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS NOTIFICATION PROPOSAL. This message, which contains promotional material strictly along the guidelines of the CAN-SPAM act of 2003. We have clearly mentioned the source mail-id of this email, also clearly mentioned our subject lines and they are in no way misleading. Please do not reply to this email, as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.

If you have any questions about this or any other suspicious email you have received, please let us know.

Phishing warning for domain registrants

31 October 2015 12:38:00 +0000

We’re seeing what appears to be a concerted “phishing” effort aimed at the registrants of domains. To be honest, the first time we saw one of these emails, the allegations it contained made us angry, and we almost fell for it. This is the classic reaction that “phishers” are looking for — anger, or fear — because those emotions will cause the smartest among us to lose control, perhaps for just long enough to do something stupid.

As always, our best advice is to take a moment to calm yourself down and take a critical look at the email that you have received. It is almost certainly fake.

We have received two different versions of these emails for several domains registered to us, and the emails are likely tailored to the registrar with which you have your domain registered. Below are the emails we’ve received, with legitimate email addresses altered to prevent their being automatically harvested by yet more spammers.

Example 1

From: domainabuse _AT_ tucows.com
To: NinerNet Communications
Subject: Domain ADDRESSGAURD.COM Suspension Notice
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 18:46:54 -0700

Dear Sir/Madam,

The following domain names have been suspended for violation of the TUCOWS, INC. Abuse Policy:

Domain Name: ADDRESSGAURD.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Registrant Name: Domain Administrator

Multiple warnings were sent by TUCOWS, INC. Spam and Abuse Department to give you an opportunity to address the complaints we have received.

We did not receive a reply from you to these email warnings so we then attempted to contact you via telephone.

We had no choice but to suspend your domain name when you did not respond to our attempts to contact you.

Click here and download a copy of complaints we have received.

Please contact us by email at mailto:domainabuse _AT_ tucows.com for additional information regarding this notification.

Sincerely,
TUCOWS, INC.
Spam and Abuse Department
Abuse Department Hotline: 480-124-0101

Example 2

From: “TUCOWS, INC.” <domainabuse@tucows.com.org>
To: NinerNet Communications
Subject: Domain GIVE-SPAM-THE-SLIP.COM Suspension Notice
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:59:41 -0700

Dear Sir/Madam,

The following domain names have been suspended for violation of the TUCOWS, INC. Abuse Policy:

Domain Name: GIVE-SPAM-THE-SLIP.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Registrant Name: Domain Administrator

Multiple warnings were sent by TUCOWS, INC. Spam and Abuse Department to give you an opportunity to address the complaints we have received.

We did not receive a reply from you to these email warnings so we then attempted to contact you via telephone.

We had no choice but to suspend your domain name when you did not respond to our attempts to contact you.

Click here and download a copy of complaints we have received.

Please contact us for additional information regarding this notification.

Sincerely,
TUCOWS, INC.
Spam and Abuse Department
Abuse Department Hotline: 480-570-6902

The text “Click here and download” was, in all cases, hyperlinked to websites NOT on domains associated with NinerNet or Tucows, the registrar with whom our clients’ domains are registered. You must always take a moment to view (in the status bar of your email program) the URL (address) of the website to which a link will take you, before you click the link.

While the first email was crafted so that it appeared to be sent from domainabuse _AT_ tucows.com — which is a real email address — subsequent messages have arrived from domainabuse@tucows.com.org. Tucows.com.org is not a real domain; however, it does exist as a sub-domain of the com.org domain which, despite how odd it looks, is an actual domain. (It is being “monetised” by its owners, who probably have nothing to do with the spammers/phishers but who have unfortunately set it up in such a way that “tucows.com.org” appears [to both humans and automated anti-spam systems] to be a working domain.) We have configured our mail servers to block messages from the tucows.com.org sub-domain, but if the contact email address for your domain is on a domain we don’t host (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.) then you may still receive these messages. Since tucows.com is a legitimate domain, we cannot block email from it.

As always, if you have any questions about a questionable email that you have received — or one that has made you afraid or angry — please forward it to us and we’ll take a look at it to determine whether or not it is legitimate.


Update, 2015-11-01: Minor corrections, add missing sender email address, add actual domains and remove protection for bogus email address.

Update, 2015-11-03: We’re now seeing these scam emails coming from domainabuse@tucows.com.info, and in this case the “com.info” domain (and any sub-domains) is completely bogus and should be blocked by default to most of our email clients. We checked out what happens when you click the link (don’t try this at home!) and our browser was directed to download a file named “GIVESPAMTHESLIP.COM_copy_of_complaints.pdf.scr”. This is an old trick, naming a file with a “double extension” to try to trick people into opening what they think (in this case) is a PDF file, but which (in this case) is actually (on Windows machines) an executable screensaver file (“.scr”) that can carry a malicious payload. Remember, think before you click!

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This is the corporate blog of NinerNet Communications. It's where we post announcements, inform and educate our clients, and discuss issues related to the Internet (web and email) hosting business and all it entails. This includes concomitant industries and activities such as domain registration, SSL/TLS certificates, online back-up, virtual private servers (VPS), cloud hosting, etc. Please visit our main website for more information about us.

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