Domain Registrar Account Phishing: Who is at Responsible?

Elliot Silver
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I would imagine that just about every domain name owner has received an email that purports to be a domain registrar. Typically, these phishing emails request that the recipient click a link within the email and then provide private account information, which would give the sender access to the domain owner’s registrar account. Some of these emails look pretty close to actual registrar emails, and they can be confusing.

I’ve shared some probably examples of phishing emails I received or were submitted to me. For instance, here is an example of a likely GoDaddy phishing email and here is an example of a likely Register.com phishing email. I also discussed why domain registrar phishing emails are bad for everyone who buys and sells domain names. Put simply, domain phishing is harmful to the business of domain investing.

The question I have today is who is

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Types of Domain Name Acquisition Deals

Elliot Silver
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Earlier this week, I wrote an article about using an option to buy a domain name. Since there are many types of deals that can be struck to acquire a domain name, I thought I would discuss some of them in a blog post.

It may be beneficial for a buyer and seller to work out a creative deal when a straight-forward acquisition is not possible. Some buyers don’t have the capital to buy a domain name as they start their business, and others would benefit from securing the domain name as their business launches. A creative deal can add value to the seller and give the buyer flexibility.

If you can think of other deal structures that aren’t mentioned below, please add them to the comment section so that I can add them to the article.

Types of domain acquisition deals:

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Yahoo on Ebola.com: “I Don’t See What the Outrage is About This”

Elliot Silver
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Yesterday afternoon, Yahoo posted the video below along with an article about the Ebola.com domain name. Unlike several other major news outlets this week, the Yahoo discussion about the Ebola.com domain name wasn’t all that critical of the domain name owner for looking to sell Ebola.com.

Yahoo Finance editor in chief Aaron Task made a comment that is likely reflective of how most domain investor think. He commented, “We live in a capitalistic society, he bought it legally and he’s trying to sell it legally…I don’t see what the outrage is about this.”

One interesting aspect of the discussion in the Yahoo video is about the

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Due Diligence: Subtle Email Address Changes

Elliot Silver
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There are many different facets to doing due diligence when buying a domain name. I use DomainTools’ Whois history tool to verify as much information as possible before buying a domain name. I will often call the phone number listed on the Whois record, and I may even call previous phone number listings as well. I don’t think too much due diligence is possible.

One area that may tip people off to a potential issue is a subtle email address change. When I see a very subtle change in the listed email address, it sets off alarm bells in my head. For example, if a Whois email address for 10 years was FirstNameLastName@yahoo.com and it recently changed to FirstNameLastName@hotmail.com, it makes me wonder if the change was legitimate. This change could be used for social engineering or to make others think the domain name has not changed hands.

I have seen and heard of domain name

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Monsieur: Cool Product on a .CO Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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In this morning’s CrunchBase Daily email newsletter, I read about Monsieur, a product that is billed as an “intelligent bartending system.” I went to check out the company’s website, and I saw that they are operating on an exact match .CO domain name, Monsieur.CO. The product looks very cool, and I could see it taking off and being used at tailgates, special events, and even at private homes (despite the high cost).

Monsieur is a great brand name for this product because the word “monsieur” is a French word, similar in meaning to the English “Mr.” In this particular case, I don’t think using a .CO domain name is a poor decision because the corresponding .com domain name is owned by Digimedia, and it would likely be expensive (probably very expensive). This is a consumer product, and I think it will be easy to find them. The downside is that

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English Premier League Teams That Use .com Domains

Elliot Silver
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I played soccer throughout my childhood, only stopping when I went off to college. I was never really excited about watching soccer (no surprise in the US), but for the past few seasons, I have been watching the English Premier League and rooting for Arsenal. My Arsenal affiliation has everything to do with my brother, who has had a rooting interest in Arsenal for quite some time.

In the US, .com generally serves as the default domain name extension for websites. I can’t think of any professional sports team that doesn’t use a .com domain name for its website. Since many (or maybe most) UK-based companies use the .co.uk or .uk now for their website, I thought it would be interesting to see how many Premier League teams use a .com domain name for their website.

Here is a list of EPL teams and whether they use .com:

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