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Is this some sick joke, Godaddy?

by Story
32 replies


So I've just registered a new domain on GD yesterday. I was planning to have the nameservers to point to hostgator.

When I logged in to update my nameservers, my account was locked. Brand new account with a new domain name locked for no apparent reason.

GD requested a copy of driving license, which I provided instantly. They refused to grant me access to my account as my name on driving license is different from the name I used in GD and paypal. I used alias for my GD and paypal account.

The heck? Must I use real name for these accounts?

I messaged them to explain the situation numerous times, and asked them to change my account name. Below is the response I received. Their responses came in several variation, all with more or less the same meaning.

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, the name on the identification we received does not match the name of the payment method account holder provided at the time of purchase. The unaltered image(s) provided must be clearly legible and identify the owner of the payment method used.

Our goal is to reasonably ensure the payment method account holder is authorizing use of a payment method with us. If you do not have valid government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or passport, please provide a statement from your financial institution showing the original purchase.

Please log into your account with us to upload the above-mentioned documentation.

Upon receipt of the requested information, we will re-evaluate the status of your account.

Sincerely,
Verification Office
This bot-like response really ticks me off. I am located in Asia, and I am not going to give them a call at my cost.
Anyone have experience with such issue? Any good idea how to deal with these people?
#godaddy #joke #sick
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    You could change it to your real name and go with Whois privacy enabled, if you're going to use a pseudonym.

    ICANN requires that Whois data be accurate, so this isn't really a GoDaddy issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
    They are quite right too. If what you are doing is allowed then the internet would become the wild west. The prosecutors would be chasing phantoms because people used fake names to register sites to scam people. Owning a site is a responsibility that you need to be accountable for in case you step out of line. As for PayPal, well they are a financial institution of sorts, so of course you need to use your real name. I'm sure you couldn't open a bank account in a fake name, so why should PayPal allow it?
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  • Profile picture of the author Fantastic
    What if someone opened an account in YOUR name?

    That is potentially what you are doing by using a fake name.

    I mean, I don't see how you could expect anything different?

    Pay the extra $10 and get WhoIs privacy if you don't want your name out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robin Blinds
    So they locked your account, because you fraudulently registered a domain name, and you're blaming Godaddy for doing something wrong?

    Is this some joke, Story?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cilley Stiles
    Why do you have a problem registering with your real info anyway?
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    So you committed fraud both to GoDaddy and to PayPal and now your wondering why you got yourself all hemmed up? Sorry man you brought this on yourself. I would not be surprised to learn that your PayPal account gets banned next. Honestly I could never understand why people feel the need to be fraudulent. Its a risk with no reward.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fantastic
      Originally Posted by brutecky View Post

      So you committed fraud both to GoDaddy and to PayPal and now your wondering why you got yourself all hemmed up? Sorry man you brought this on yourself. I would not be surprised to learn that your PayPal account gets banned next. Honestly I could never understand why people feel the need to be fraudulent. Its a risk with no reward.
      How true.

      This guy is the reason that GoDaddy and PayPal even have this policy.

      Yet...

      If someone did it in THEIR name and GoDaddy/PayPal didn't do something...

      They'd gripe about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author devonm
      Originally Posted by brutecky View Post

      So you committed fraud both to GoDaddy and to PayPal and now your wondering why you got yourself all hemmed up? Sorry man you brought this on yourself. I would not be surprised to learn that your PayPal account gets banned next. Honestly I could never understand why people feel the need to be fraudulent. Its a risk with no reward.
      Exactly, sir. I don't pull those stunts. I know in my heart that I am upfront and do the right thing the first time around.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
    I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure you can't enter a legal and binding contract as Mickey Mouse unless you are Mickey Mouse.

    Hope you see the humor in that.

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    • Profile picture of the author hoganeye
      Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant View Post

      I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure you can't enter a legal and binding contract as Mickey Mouse unless you are Mickey Mouse.

      Hope you see the humor in that.

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      Rob Whisonant
      I lol'ed
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  • Profile picture of the author Rbtmarshall
    Using fake names for financial means is fraud...


    You need to have the fictitious names registered as D.B.A.'s, LLC's or the like. Godaddy did the right thing here it seems
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  • Profile picture of the author 101AnonymousGuy101
    Godaddy did the same to me, after that I switched to Namecheap.

    I don't think Godaddy is at fault though, they need to do these things to detect frauds.
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  • Profile picture of the author davezan
    Originally Posted by Story View Post

    Anyone have experience with such issue?
    I dealt with this issue few times in my ex-registrar life. Your (uhurm) story has
    happened to a few other people from Go Daddy and other registrars, so you're
    not alone.

    Unless you can somehow prove without an iota of doubt that the name (?) of
    the account owner and you are one and the same, unfortunately you're sunk.

    Originally Posted by Story View Post

    Brand new account with a new domain name locked for no apparent reason.
    You won't like it, but there is a reason (just not maybe apparent to the user).
    Namely, your account triggered Go Daddy's signs of possible fraud.

    Some may think, "Shouldn't the registrar boost their security measures?" They
    do, really, but online fraud remains a pesky (and unfortunately rising) problem.

    Originally Posted by Story View Post

    The heck? Must I use real name for these accounts?
    While I understand one's desire not to give personal information to a business,
    they use that information as their basis for verification. How can they do that
    if the information isn't real in the first place?

    Sorry that there's no easy fix to this. If anything, it's a hard lesson due to an
    equally hard reality.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fredbou
      I'm glad that so many Warriors have put this scam artist in his place!

      He sounds like a likely Story, someone who is willing to falsify his details to be in business.

      ICANN are streets ahead of this character and people like him, and whatever crits are posted about GoDaddy, they are playing it by the book and I'll continue to deal with them for this reason alone.
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      • Profile picture of the author Superior Content Creation
        Originally Posted by Fredbou View Post

        I'm glad that so many Warriors have put this scam artist in his place!

        He sounds like a likely Story, someone who is willing to falsify his details to be in business.

        ICANN are streets ahead of this character and people like him, and whatever crits are posted about GoDaddy, they are playing it by the book and I'll continue to deal with them for this reason alone.
        Wow, simmer down already. It's clear that the OP was just not aware he was doing something wrong - otherwise, why would have sent them his driver's license "instantly" thinking that would solve the problem?

        Some people are just extremely cautious about privacy, as I am and for good reasons of my own, and he wasn't educated about the legal importance of using his real name. Ignorance doesn't equal mal-intent.

        So quickly people forget what it's like to not know what you're doing. I can certainly see why his account was locked, but I think jumping in and calling him a scammer with nothing to go on is a little much...
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    I also don't think its a Godaddy fault. When you are using payment methods like PayPal you must use your original Name and contact details. It will also ensure your accountability. I must say that you can change the details and put the right information.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fredbou
      Originally Posted by vishwa View Post

      I also don't think its a Godaddy fault. When you are using payment methods like PayPal you must use your original Name and contact details. It will also ensure your accountability. I must say that you can change the details and put the right information.
      ICANN requires due diligence. If GoDaddy allows pseudonyms and aliases then they could lose their license to sell domain names. Namecheap and other dubious operations are risking their own business and the domain names of everyone who has registered a name with them by allowing pseudonyms.
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    It's OK using your real name but just wait until you're a victim of identify fraud like I was. Then you'll see why OP was right to be cautious on using his real name.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by brettb View Post

      It's OK using your real name but just wait until you're a victim of identify fraud like I was. Then you'll see why OP was right to be cautious on using his real name.
      ...and when you see the amount of stolen credit cards used for purchases, you'll see that Godaddy is right to verify that the identities match between registrar and payment method.

      I can't fathom any reason for not using your correct identity for your payment method. Add to that he used a fake identity to sign up with Godaddy and it's no mystery why they locked the account.
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  • Profile picture of the author Story
    Wow.. Just by not using my real name, I am labelled scammer and sound like some bigtime Nigerian scammer here to many of you guys. Just so you know, I am not cheating to make a living.

    I am just uncomfortable to use my real name in online transactions, particularly after seeing so many security issues with online purchases. And I did not know that using alias is such a major issue. Had I known it earlier, I would've used my real name instead.

    With that being said, I have contacted paypal and Godaddy for the name change. Hopefully this get sorted out soon.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Story View Post

      Wow.. Just by not using my real name, I am labelled scammer and sound like some bigtime Nigerian scammer here to many of you guys. Just so you know, I am not cheating to make a living.

      I am just uncomfortable to use my real name in online transactions, particularly after seeing so many security issues with online purchases. And I did not know that using alias is such a major issue. Had I known it earlier, I would've used my real name instead.

      With that being said, I have contacted paypal and Godaddy for the name change. Hopefully this get sorted out soon.
      I didn't think you were a scammer and those who jumped on that bandwagon make snap judgements without all the facts. But, it is unrealistic to hope that something like this wouldn't happen when you have multiple identities, and some of them are fake.

      Actually, I worry that now that you've contacted Paypal, there will be repurcussions with them once they find out that your name isn't what it said it was.
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    • Profile picture of the author cbpayne
      Originally Posted by Story View Post

      Wow.. Just by not using my real name, I am labelled scammer .
      Yep. What you did is fraud, so what else should you be called?
      Did you not read the terms and conditions that you agreed to and agreed you understood?
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    • Profile picture of the author pharvie
      Originally Posted by Story View Post

      Wow.. Just by not using my real name, I am labelled scammer and sound like some bigtime Nigerian scammer here to many of you guys. Just so you know, I am not cheating to make a living.

      I am just uncomfortable to use my real name in online transactions, particularly after seeing so many security issues with online purchases. And I did not know that using alias is such a major issue. Had I known it earlier, I would've used my real name instead.

      With that being said, I have contacted paypal and Godaddy for the name change. Hopefully this get sorted out soon.
      I definitely understand your concern to protect your identity, but in future, a registered alias is something you can look at as well. But as one warrior pointed out, you can lock your whois and keep your personal information locked and safe. I use bluehost for my domains, and I also used godaddy, both are quite secure and if you pay the extra you shouldn't have any issues with your personal security.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Why on God's green earth do people commit fraud to hide their real names if what they are wanting to do is legit and completely above board? This tells me they are either embarrassed at what they are about to do or they are in fact doing something illegal.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFranks
    I used Godaddy, worst experience in my life

    Although i still got the domain name and the account is all fine, it's just such a pain in the butt to use. GD takes ages to respond (at least to me they did) and they try to make you buy loads of add-ons, like web builder - It's like without this product your website will get 0 hits and you'll go broke and be living on the streets!


    There seems to be a lot of negative reviews on WF regarding GD.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stefan Shields
    You really should make sure to use your real name for things like this.

    That's all I can say on this matter...
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  • Profile picture of the author ijohnson
    I think you need to create another PayPal account using your real name. Then, create a new GoDaddy account using your real name.

    We all have reason to be concerned about security breaches and fraudulent use of our information but don't do it at the detriment of any online business you're building. As Paul Myers mentioned, when you purchase a new domain, you may want to also purchase a "Privacy" setting for your personal information.

    If you want to avoid issues with GoDaddy, especially, make sure your name, address and contact information is accurate and up-to-date. Otherwise, they can SHUT YOU DOWN and you won't have a leg to stand on!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author palmtrees
    Godaddy is super annoying and I use namecheap instead. Why don't you just show them a copy of the purchase on your bank records like they asked?

    And these people getting their feathers super ruffled are silly.
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    • Profile picture of the author cbpayne
      Originally Posted by palmtrees View Post

      Why don't you just show them a copy of the purchase on your bank records like they asked?
      Do you not understand that they committed fraud. GoDaddy did the right thing,
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by cbpayne View Post

      Yep. What you did is fraud, so what else should you be called?
      Naiveté, maybe? AFAIK, fraud involves cheating someone of some material and
      valuable thing like money, which (so far) hasn't happened here.

      Originally Posted by palmtrees View Post

      Why don't you just show them a copy of the purchase on your bank records like they asked?
      Well, the OP hesitated to use his real name to sign-up to begin with. Although
      he sent a copy of his driver's license (which wasn't accepted as enough proof),
      somehow I doubt he'd be willing to send something as sensitive as his financial
      information.

      Besides, the registrar used the account/registrant name as a basis for verifying
      the order. If the OP put in something like "I.M. Nocheat", then he needs to send
      something which bears that name.

      (And no fake record, please, because the registrar can also see through that. If
      one wants to risk that, though...)
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I'm wondering how you actually made it to a GoDaddy checkout with all the upsells.

    Use Namecheap for the domain & HG for the site host, forget the silly GoDaddy gimmicks.

    I'm considering site hosting with Namecheap, still haven't took the time to make the change.
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    Two bad things here:
    1. You used GoDaddy. That is headache enough.

    2. You used an alias for my GD and Paypal account. You can use an alias in some places, like a screen name. But you can't use an alias in any aspect of the financial world. The bad guys do that, the good guys don't.
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