Help! My blog's been kidnapped

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   My website appears to have been kidnapped. When I type in my web address (www.webhistoryofengland.com) all my content has isappeared, and some totally random ebook rubbish is there instead. I can't  log in, and when I try to, it tells me my login is invalid. Help!

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      Lady_Eposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I suggest you contact Domaindiscover.com.  That is your Registrar.  You can call them or have an online chat with them. Good Luck.

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      mariaevesonlineposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Im so glad you have sorted it out,,,Sounded great reading up on the sort out.

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         mariaevesonlineposted 14 years agoin reply to this

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2. 72

   Inspirepubposted 14 years ago

   Contact your hosting provider - they should be able to restore it.
   
   Jenny

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I just clicked on the link, and it's telling me that your domain is for sale.

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      Mrvoodooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah same, I don't think it's that link, go to the link in her profile and you'll see what she's talking about, it is pretty odd, I've not heard of that happening before, but yes as others have suggested contact your hosting provider.

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      Lady_Eposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You must check this out Londongirl cos your domain doesn't expire until September.

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         andromidaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Yes,I saw the expiration date: 03-Sep-2009.

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4. 82

   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   Sorry chaps, I'm a class A idiot. I mistyped the URL. It's www.webhistoryofengland.com and there is indeed a load of ebook shite there. Apologies.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Have you managed to get in touch with your hosting company yet?

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         LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I've emailed them, they've not got back to me, yet.

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   kmackey32posted 14 years ago

   LOL yea i have blonde moments all the time. Its ok.

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   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   What did you have there? A pure HTML or some kind of CMS like wordpress or drupal? Unless it is a redirect, you can fix it yourself I think. And don't forget to change FTP password first.

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      LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Wordpress, and I can't log in to the site at all!

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7. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   Misha, If she can't log in, how can she change it herself?

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      Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It depends on what exactly login Amanda is talking about - web hosting or CMS.

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   darksideposted 14 years ago

   Strange.
   
   I have a site and I've just noticed when I go there I get a blank page.

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9. 76

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   Seems to have been taken over by this site :
   
   http://www.tactools.org

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10. 59

    Eric Graudinsposted 14 years ago

    Hi Amanda.
    
    From the info you have provided, it looks like one of 2 things has happened.
    1. Your site has been hacked, and the content redirected.
    
    2. Your domain name has been transferred away from you, and ownership taken over by someone else.
    
    The domain name is connected to a hosting company using the nameservers at MYMIZBAN.com which appears to be an Arabic web host, by the look of their website.
    Is this correct?
    The registrant of the domain is shown as Protected Domain Services of Denver. Is this correct?
    
    If the answers to the above questions are both YES, and you cannot access your hosting control panel then it would appear that the site has been hacked in some way, and you need to contact your hosting company. Either or both of your hosting or wordpress admin passwords could have been compromised, or perhaps a security flaw in your database or wordpress has allowed some kind of hacking to occur.
    If this has happened, it is straightforward to restore the website from a recent backup. I hope you have one.
    
    If the answers to one or both of the questions are "NO", then you have a different problem, and your domain name has been stolen from you
    
    Please email me through hubpages if you'd like to provide full information about this, so that I can check it out a bit better.
    
    Regards,
    Eric G.

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       LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, I've just emailed you. Neither of those is correct.

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    BristolBoyposted 14 years ago

    I hope you get this sorted soon LondonGirl!

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    bobjonesposted 14 years ago

    Eric's on the money - you need to get this fixed ASAP because google doens't like sites which offer free illegal down loads - which is what the metadata on the site is saying now.

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    Mishaposted 14 years ago

    You mean you can't login to wordpress, right? And you can login to your web hosting account - or did you try at all?

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       LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Do you mean, via my hosting lot? I've not tried.
       
       <pause>
       
       Tried. Can't log in there, either.
       
       When I enter my username, if I click "lost password" it tells me an email has been sent to an email address that isn't mine.

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    Mishaposted 14 years ago

    Well, call them then, you seem to have a serious problem. Who is your hoster?

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15. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    name.com

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16. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Looking at the "whois" data on name.com, it says:
    
    "Domain Name:     webhistoryofengland.com
    Registrar:       Name.com LLC
    
    Expiration Date: 2010-03-25 01:03:23
    Creation Date:   2009-03-25 01:03:23"
    
    All good, so far.
    
    Then:
    
    "REGISTRANT CONTACT INFO
    lahzeh
    mohhamadreza abachi
    teh
    teh
    none
    36525
    IR
    Phone:         +98.5812220006
    Email Address: lordmmb@yahoo.com"
    
    Not so good.......
    
    How the hell can someone just steal my website?

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    Mishaposted 14 years ago

    Umm, never really worked with them. But they seem to be just a registrar, where do you host your site?

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       Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Misha,
       What do you mean "JUST a registrar ???
       
       Your Domain registrar is THE MOST IMPORTANT LINK IN THE CHAIN OF YOUR INTERNET BUSINESS.
       
       If someone has the login details to your domain registration account, they can connect your domain name to another web host, transfer the domain name to someone else. Basically take full control.
       
       Tattoo this on your eyelids people:
       "LOGIN DETAILS FOR YOUR DOMAIN REGISTRAR IS THE MOST SENSITIVE AND IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR WEBSITE."
       
       Amanda has emailed me, and I'll discuss her problem in another post.

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          Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          LOL bad wording on my side Eric, I meant to imply I did not see them offering hosting.

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             Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             No wuckas mate (bet you don't know that bit of Aussie slang!)

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                Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Not a slightest idea, so I am at a loss here

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                   Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                   OK: It's short for No Wuckin' Forries. (Tranpose the "W" and the "F" if you're still puzzled"
                   
                   This is then shortened to "No Wuckas" Try it on Earnetshub or some other Aussies. they'll be amazed at your knowledge of Aussie slang.
                   
                   @KCC Big Country:
                   Smart is relative. I've been involved in this sort of stuff for around 10 years, and have picked up a bit of info about it. but I'd probably be totally stupid  on some  of the topics you know about!
                   
                   More Info on domain hijacking:
                   http://www.circleid.com/posts/help_doma … _hijacked/
                   (Read the comments too)

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18. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    sorry, it's hosted by name.com, I wasn't clear. And I can't ring them, they are open every second Tuesday if there is a full moon, or similar.

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19. 63

    Mishaposted 14 years ago

    Did not see them offering hosting services, hence the question. Yes, I think your only option right now is their customer service. Call them ASAP. If they don't answer in UK, call them in USA - but this is only tomorrow. 202 is Washington DC, 720 is Denver CO... http://www.name.com/contactus

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20. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Sadly, "Monday-Friday 9am-5pm Mountain Time"

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21. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    This is the hosting service I use from them:
    
    http://www.name.com/faq/what-is-rapid-blog

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       Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Well, take your time to learn how to deal with wordpress on a standard hosting control panel. Trust me, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier than learning to be a barrister

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22. 63

    Mishaposted 14 years ago

    Yep, it's sad
    
    And frankly, after sorting out this incident, I would move out to a more reliable hoster/registrar. It looks totally their fault based on what I learned so far...

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       Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Totally wrong assumption Misha.
       I'll discuss it soon.

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          Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Well, I don't have all the info Eric. You are da man

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23. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Sorry to hassle you, Misha, but how the hell can this happen?

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       Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       To cut a long story short, lots of people lose control their domain names through simple lack of knowledge and/or carelessness.
       
       The topic of domain name ownership and security is an important part of a book I'm currently writing.
       I'll put the relevant part into a PDF file and email it to you later today Amanda.
       
       I'll also write a short summary into a post here that discusses Amanda's situation in general terms. But I don't have time to do this right now.
       
       It looks like the domain name has been transferred to someone else. If the password for your domain registrar has been compromised, the transfer could have gone ahead under normal transfer procedures.
       
       Amanda, It's vital for you to send an email to your registrar, explaining what has happened (if you have not already done so).
       
       If what I suspect is true, they are the appropriate people to contact at this stage.

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    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Thanks very much.

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       Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Something you can try right now is to see if you can log into the control panel of your domain name registrar. If you can't that's something only your registrar can address.
       
       If you can log in and your domain is not there, then it has been transferred (or in the process of being transferred) to someone else.
       
       If your domain name is still showing there, change the contact email address back to your address. Also change the password of the account to something secure which uses a combination of lettersm numbers, and symbols and
       
       something like rt^5E<=kD (don't use that)
       
       If your domain name is still in your registrar account, then hopefully it's a simple matter of changing the nameservers back to the ones that connect to your own webhost.
       
       (got to go. discussion will be posted later.)
       
       One other question - Was your domain "locked" at the registrar?
       
       See this forum post too:
       http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum25/3795.htm
       It discusses various issues related to domain hijacking, but unfortunately the person concerned did not post the resolution (if any)

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25. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    I've tried to log in at name.com and it won't allow me to do it.

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       flread45posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe by clicking on tools and then internet options,you might find some one has changed your homepage directory.

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          Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          This is not the problem here. Her domain name is no longer connected to her web hosting account.

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    KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

    Eric's so smart.  *sigh*

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27. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Sorry flread, I don't get you.

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28. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    Is it good news that name.com is still shown as the registrar?

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       Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, - because it will make any transfer back to you very simple if you establish that the domain was transferred improperly.
       
       If your password was guessed or cracked, any operations and transfer would be quite correctly treated as legitimate by the registrar.
       
       The important thing to do is to report all the circumstances regarding this hijacking to support@name.com ASAP so that they can commence action to transfer the name back to you.
       
       Action to transfer the name to another registrar could well be taking place, and this would make the process more complex.
       
       Their support may be 24/7, although their phones are only available for normal business hours.
       Good Luck.

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29. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    I have emailed them with all the details, some hours ago. Thanks very much for all your help.

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30. 82

    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    One other query, why on earth is anyone bothering with all this skullduggery in relation to a blog about English history?

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