What To Do When Your Adorable Lifestyle Site Is Stolen

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Jordan Reid, a former writer for the now defunct Nonsociety.com, had her personal parenting and fashion blog Ramshackle Glam hacked last week. A man who's internet name is "bahbouh" attempted to auction it off on domain selling site Flippa.com, or sell it straight for $30k.

After realizing Ramshackle Glam was stolen, Reid called her web registrar and maintenance services GoDaddy and HostMonster, noting they were less than helpful despite the fact that the "fifty or so employees" recognized it wasn't a question of whether her site was actually stolen. "From Sunday through Tuesday," Jordan writes, "Nearly every person I spoke with gave me the same response: 'Sorry, can't help you.'"

The scariest part for URL owners is that both companies' responses ran along the lines of "because your site was hacked, we can't help you with the hacking." Or as she says, "HostMonster maintained that because they no longer controlled the domain name, there was nothing they could do. GoDaddy maintained that because the account was private and the person had obtained ownership of the domain through a transfer from HostMonster, there was nothing they could do."

So she called the FBI and "They responded immediately, with follow-up phone calls and emails, an in-person interview with two special agents at my own home within 24 hours, and a follow-up visit from two agents yesterday." If she could give the FBI a Yelp review, it would glow with words of affirmation.

Her website was recovered with a crazy sting operation that involved luring the salesman into selling, money-transfers, and a guy named Anthony. At the end of the post is a step-by-step guide to handling similar cyber thefts. Aka a guide to making hackers your bitch.
· My Website Was Stolen By A Hacker. And I Got It Back. [Ramshackle Glam]
· In Memoriam: DailyCandy [Racked]