Someone is using my domain!! How is this possible???

by Ventus

Posted: 12 years ago 12 replies

WEB DESIGN

Hi experts,

I registered a domain (I used namecheap) about six months ago and haven't used it at all.

Yesterday I typed in the domain name in the address-bar in my browser and instead of getting a blank page, or a 404 error, I saw a site that had my domain name in it and was designed around the keyword I used in my domain name. The site was a simple site with several links, all optimized for the same keywords I was planing to use on my site! In the middle of the site there was one advertisement to a specific product related to my niche. All other links were going to searchmagnified (every site on google says that site is related to trojan/virus/malware etc.) Also, another browser pop-up window opened to youtube and a video (a product commercial) started to play! Great!

What is going on??? I thought perhaps that this was because my site had been parked by namecheap, but there were no indication that this was a site created by namecheap and there was a link that said that I could buy this domain - my own domain! I have also never asked for or approved such a site, and why would namecheap do something that would hurt my sites reputation (I am sure that Google will blacklist my site because of this).

I did change name servers to the ones hostgator said I should use right after I bought my domain several months ago, but I did not create an add-on domain for this domain in cpanel (I think I forgot that part or thought it was less important because my website wasn't designed and ready to be uploaded.) I have now created an add-on for this domain and password locked it so no-one can see it.

I got a lot of questions now. Have someone hacked my domain? :confused: (I don't even know if that is possible because I had not created an add-on domain in my hostgator account.) How long has this been going on and are there now scammy links pointing to my domain? How do I know if this site has been indexed or blacklisted by Google? Who did this and who earned money on the ads on my domain?

What a bad weekend... I have been depressed since I found out about this yesterday

Hope someone can help me, thanks.

#domain #domain parking #hacked #namecheap #website

webcosmo 12 years ago

probably was just a parking page from the hosting company.
i wont really loose sleep on this, since i havent lost anything.
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- gobizbiz 12 years ago
  
  Check and recheck the site domain. Some one may have similar domain with e.g profit.com - instead of http://profit(s).com. very minor difference similar to your domain.
  You can always contact namecheap and ask them for clarification. Simillar looking domains can be confusing.
  
  Thanks
  
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  VjShah
  
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BulletheadX 12 years ago

Namecheap is showing a page similar to that on one of my domains that I haven't yet associated with hosting. Doesn't bother me (yet).
I was late in a renewal earlier this year and they put what I thought was a fairly obnoxious nearly-porn site, of all things, up in its place. I told them that that surely didn't reflect well on their image, among other things.
It wouldn't surprise me if it was a completely automated system, in which case I would take the OP's information to mean his KW is pretty strong.
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- goldenweb 12 years ago
  
  Hello, I had the same problem, which I now understand only looked like someone was using my website but I must have had some sort of adware or spyware because when I removed the temporary internet files my site appeared as normal. I used a free program called ccleaner to sort things out. Hope this works for you
  Thank you
  Keith
  
  Thanks
  
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  vivadesign 12 years ago
  
  I hope you get this sorted.
  Ive only just started using namecheap. I have around 87 domains with godaddy, but moved half of them to namecheap when i found out the CO hunts elephants. I'll remove the remainder in the next few weeks. That made my blood boil watching Bob Parsons standing over a dead elephant with the godaddy logo.
  
  Thanks
  
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Azarna 12 years ago

Perhaps stating the obvious, but have you been to namecheaps website and double checked that you do still own the domain name?
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- Ventus 12 years ago
  
  Thanks to all of you - you guys are great!
  
  Namecheap said that I should contact HostGator (makes sense to me...) because I did point the name servers to them.
  
  And yes I still own this domain - I can see it in my Namecheap account and it is not expired. And no, this problem is not because of malware on my computer because I can see the same page on other computers.
  
  I don't understand why people don't mind that their domains are being used for scammy links... you bought the domain and paid for hosting so no one else should put stuff on your site. It may not be a big deal if you only plan to make a few quick bucks, and then close the site, but if you are creating a large site for a company then you definitely don't want to be associated with a site known for distributing malware. I am also sure Google will blacklist your site.
  
  Vivadesign: I will never ever use Godaddy no matter how much I save for the very same reason - it wasn't enough for the CEO to earn millions... no, he also had to kill elephants! What a **** I hope everyone will boycott that company.
  
  Thanks
  
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sodevious 12 years ago

I'm glad you figured it out! Companies like hostgator always gave me the creeps, now you know to stay away!
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- Ventus 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by sodevious
  
  I'm glad you figured it out! Companies like hostgator always gave me the creeps, now you know to stay away!
  
  I don't understand :confused:
  I thought HostGator was one of the good ones... don't you mean Godaddy? That company gives me the creeps!
  
  Thanks
  
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sodevious 12 years ago

No, didn't hostgator put that spammy page up?
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- Ventus 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by sodevious
  
  No, didn't hostgator put that spammy page up?
  
  :confused: I am starting to think so but I hope I am wrong... I can't believe it because I found this in HostGator's FAQ:
  
  Will HostGator place ads on my site?
  HostGator will never place ads on any of our customer sites.
  
  Yet, I found two other links that makes me think something else:
  
  http://blog.hostgator.com/2009/06/22...g-and-tasting/
  
  http://blog.elementengage.com/2011/1...g-propagation/
  
  The last link shows a picture that looks exactly like the site I saw on my domain - I don't know what to believe now...
  
  Thanks
  
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sodevious 12 years ago

Bigger web companies like hostgator, godaddy, etc., just seem to irk me. Shady business practices, volume business, unfriendly, just big boss business! I personally find smaller webhosts to be a more comfortable experience. Currently, I use eleven2.
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