emlarson Blog - "educating eric"

Wow. Rare to get hypocrisy (or lies) in writing, but sometimes it happens. If you ever wondered if NameCheap stands by the public claims they make in places like https://blog.namecheap.com/how-to-report-a-fraudulent-website-to-a-registrar/ here's proof in black-and-white that they don't:

Begin forwarded message:

From: Nataly Bondarenko <abuse@namecheap.com>
Date: April 29, 2016 at 1:37:03 PM CDT
To: <emlarson@...>
Subject: [#MRO-489-36585]: com-give.com scam site
Reply-To: <abuse@namecheap.com>

Hello,

Thank you for your email regarding the domain name com-give.com. While the domain name does have Namecheap.com as the registrar, we cannot oversee the data being transmitted through its website. We do not own the domain name mentioned in your complaint, we are simply the company the domain name was purchased from.

The issue would need to be addressed through the hosting provider to see if their terms of service are violated and would need to be addressed through the domain registrant as they should be the individual that controls the particular content being exchanged. We have no way to police such issues as we do not control the hosting company in this instance.

While we understand the inquiry, we are not in a position to determine the validity of your statements. If you believe you are a victim of an internet crime, or if you are aware of an attempted crime, you can file a complaint through Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://complaint.ic3.gov. In case we receive a request form a law enforcement authority of the United States we will assist them in their investigation.

> The site "com-give.com" is cleverly using sub-domains to scam people. See:
>
> http://marlboro.com-give.com
>
> Obviously registered with the intent of scamming people in giveaways. Will you bother to shut it down?
>
>

____________
Regards,
Nataly Bondarenko
Legal & Abuse Department
Namecheap.com

Ticket Details

Ticket ID: MRO-489-36585
Department: Domains -- Legal and Abuse
Type: Issue
Status: Awaiting Client Response
Priority: High

Helpdesk: https://support.namecheap.com/index.php?/default_import

Hmmm... From their blog:

NameCheap takes fraud very seriously. We do everything we can to keep the internet safe for everyone. If you find out a website is fake, just follow these directions:

1.) Go to Domain Tools located here and type in the domain.
2.) Find out who the domain is registered with.
3.) Write a formal complaint in an email.
4.) Send it to the registrar’s abuse department. NameCheap’s abuse department can be reached at abuse(at)namecheap(dot)com. If we find the charge valid, we will suspend the domain.

Please keep the internet safe for everyone. Report fraud whenever you see it!

1 Comments:

At September 23, 2016 at 11:37 PM, emlarson said...: Since my comment is "awaiting moderation," let's see if NameCheap posts my response to the new conversation on the 7-year-old post that I referenced:

That sounds great, Jackie, but they won't do anything about a fraudulent domain. Period. How do I know? There's a clever spammer/hacker/fraudster using subdomains at the website "com-give.com" which is registered through NameCheap. I documented my contact with NameCheap's abuse department in April on my own blog at http://blog.emlarson.com/2016/04/fwd-mro-489-36585-com-givecom-scam-site.html -- they said, "While the domain name does have Namecheap.com as the registrar, we cannot oversee the data being transmitted through its website." Thanks to their indifference, an unknown number of people got scammed in August with a fake Aldi site of "aldi.com-give.com" (see https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Acom-give.com for a record of that) and who knows how many more sites will pop up before the domain expires next year. I'd chalk it up to a true hands-off attitude, if NameCheap weren't here bragging that they care about fraud while refusing to deal with a domain that's fraudulent in-and-of-itself regardless of the scam that might run on a given day. Talk is cheap. Opening refusing to act on a public promise is surprising, but it says a lot about the value of NameCheap's word.