Need Advice About Hijacked Content

7 replies
Hi guys, I just found out my content is being hijacked and used on an E-commerce site in India.

I was checking to see if my most recent post was indexed. When I didn't see it I checked the "images" section and saw one of my pics first. However, it is linking to some E-commerce site. After following the link I noticed each of my pics on this site, as well as my content taken word-for-word (except for certain words which were probably translated incorrectly).

I immediately sent an email using their "contact" form. It failed on the first attempt and apparently succeeded on the second.

I investigated further...

My website is still appearing in search results for my two previous articles, but not this most recent one which I posted a few days prior. The title and url have been taken word-for-word, but my domain has been replaced with this E-commerce site (for only the most recent post).

I went back to this E-commerce site and decided to try looking for more of my content. Upon entering one of my previous url's behind their domain, I was indeed taken to a page with more of my hijacked content there. Although it is very blotchy and not quite translated properly. None of it links back to my site, but there are pics of me (from my own author box).

Is there anything else I can do to resolve this situation? Is it safe to post new content? I was going to publish more content today, but now I am worried it might also get hijacked, and this other site will get credit, as they appear to have done with the previous post. It shows up as being indexed a couple of hours ago, although I posted it four days ago.

Is it possible that I have a security breach in a plugin, or is it more likely they happened to steal this content prior to it being indexed?

I appreciate any help and support!
#advice #content #hijacked
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  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    Originally Posted by Dave Earley View Post

    .
    Is it possible that I have a security breach in a plugin, or is it more likely they happened to steal this content prior to it being indexed?

    I appreciate any help and support!
    Most likely stealing your content. Is their away to get their site taken down? (contact the registrar ) It's worth a try, but it may not work since they are over seas.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave Earley
      Originally Posted by DWolfe View Post

      Most likely stealing your content. Is their away to get their site taken down? (contact the registrar ) It's worth a try, but it may not work since they are over seas.
      It almost looks like they are getting the content from an automated translation system of some kind. It's nearly word for word, but several words are changed and sound improper (certified - licensed, road - street, not bad - not dangerous, etc.). Even the content from my author box is showing up as content at the bottom. So they obviously did not take the time to remove my name or personal information from the post. That's why I'm wondering if maybe my "recent posts" plugin or something could be hacked and forwarding info?

      I found their nameservers were pointing to Bluehost. They don't seem to have a support department, but I emailed their legal department and have not yet received a response. I'm not trying to take legal action or sue anyone for breaking the law. I simply want to know how they are getting my content, I want them to remove it and stop. I highly doubt they will answer any emails. I read contacting hosting providers is sometimes helpful, but since I did not receive a reply, I can't even be sure I reached the right hosting provider. The Whois seemed to point to Godaddy, but the page wouldn't load.

      Google seems to have figured out part of the situation without having to use my search console to make a complaint. In less than a few hours the post was removed from the search results. Unfortunately, it has not been replaced with my original post as of yet. I'm concerned about publishing new content.
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  • Profile picture of the author cyholic
    happened to me as well in the past.
    I usually contact directly the registrar and the hosting company.
    Problem is that a larger hosting company or registrar will most probably not care.
    But if they are selling stuff online, it will help to list them with 1 Star on reputation sites.
    This usually worked very fast, approx 1 week or so.....
    Its hard work and not scalable, but effective...
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  • Profile picture of the author Naheed
    Hi Dave,
    Sorry to hear the serious issue you are facing. You must contact the authorities of their website, put the situation before them and hope you will find a better solution this way.
    I would suggest you to wait until the problem is solved before uploading the new content (due to the concern of being hijacked again).

    Wish you all the success!
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  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    File a DMCA Takedown notice to the infringer hosting provider. It is a best way to deal with it. I also recommend to use a DMCA notice on your website to let users know that your content is protected by copyright laws.
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    • Profile picture of the author cyholic
      Originally Posted by vishwa View Post

      File a DMCA Takedown notice to the infringer hosting provider. It is a best way to deal with it. I also recommend to use a DMCA notice on your website to let users know that your content is protected by copyright laws.
      not all Hosters have a DMCA contact. Europe? Asia?
      You need to renew the DMCA contact every year if I am not mistaken.

      Contact ABuse email of Hoster, Registrar, IP Provider (RIPE).
      One of them will react usually...
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    Let's get facts right here. Does it mean your content is copied or translated into another language? Then a few years ago when I was getting into the writing field i was told that google hates plagerised content. He used to pull sites down. I am wondering if he stoped bothering copied content.
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