Phishing Alert: “Special Savings! $1.99 .COM now at GoDaddy!”

I am beginning to sound redundant here, but there seems to be another phishing email aimed at infiltrating GoDaddy customer accounts. I was forwarded an email from a DomainInvesting.com reader asking me to warn others about a phishing email he received with the subject “Special Savings! $1.99 .COM now at GoDaddy!

The email has a large graphic coupon (which I couldn’t see because Google flagged it as spam), and the link appears to utilize a url shortener to send the recipient to an unknown website. Most likely, the landing page will ask for the visitor’s account name and password under the guise of registering a domain name at a discounted price. If the visitor does not have 2 factor authentication enabled (or other account locks), it could make the domain names in that account vulnerable to theft.

Last week, I reported another GoDaddy phishing email purporting to be an ICANN verification email. As you can see in the comment section, it appears that this was a widely sent email, and there was at least one victim who had domain names stolen from his GoDaddy account.

If you receive an email from any domain registrar asking you to click a link, you should always be concerned about it being a phishing attempt. Do not click any links in an email, warns GoDaddy. If the email happens to be legitimate, any action that is needed to be taken can be found within the account holder’s control panel. Additionally, if you do receive an email that appears to be suspicious (ie it does not include your name or personalization), here’s how to report a phishing email to Godaddy.

Recovering from domain theft can be expensive and time consuming, and it can also cause the victim to lose revenue from the lost domain names in the meantime. Protect yourself by being cautious when emails like these are received, and add additional security measures to your account if possible.

Thank you to Mitch for sharing this email with me.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

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