Holy panic, Batman.I think I've been hacked!

14
1.5K followers

It's March 16th and I went from being on page 1 of the Big 3 to disappearing off the face of the internet.

Not being able to log onto my site on any device, I immediately went into panic mode thinking someone hacked into my site and stole it. I emailed a friend asking if she could access my site...nothing, zilch. It's like Table 38 never existed. In Live Chat I asked if anyone else was experiencing a problem, got no response so I submitted a support ticket and sat back and waited. My eyes filled with tears, couldn't eat dinner and just thought that the worst scenario had taken place...remember what happened to the wicked witch of the West when Dorothy spilled water on her? I thought of who I knew that may be able to tell me what happened.

By this time support responded stating my domain had expired with Namecheap on the 16th and to contact them. Shawn responded with even more help. He not only knew what happened but he told me exactly what to do to renew it and gave me a link to use. Namecheap was great and I had a support person assigned to me via their live chat.

By the time I went to bed - all was fixed and my site was back right where it belonged.

So what happened?

I've only been with WA since March 16th, 2015 so I'm still a "grasshopper"...a newbie. Shortly after purchasing my domain from Namecheap, I changed my email address to one more conducive and totally designated to my site. So, unbeknownst to me, Namecheap expiration notices went to my old email and I never received them. Hey...I'm new here, guys, and I guess I assumed that these things rolled over automatically, kind of like our monthly or annual WA fees. I'm sure all you "old timers" are smirking and rolling your eyes...and yes, I did learn a lesson. But shouldn't there be a checklist of certain things we, as newbies, need to know to maintain our sites so nothing slips through the cracks and to insure this sort of thing doesn't happen? It's very scary.

So, yesterday morning I woke up bright and early and the first thing I did was to check and make sure my site was still here and breathing...sigh of relief.

Thank you support staff and special thanks to Shawn...you're a lifesaver and I'm very appreciative.

Until next time,

Karen


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Recent Comments

36

Hi Karen , that would of caused much concern, so glad you got it sorted. Thanks for reminder, it can happen so easy if we take our eyes of the ball. Especially when we have so much going on. I recently lost a couple of domain names, just wasn't thinking lol. I will be looking to use the WA domain platform for future purchases. Just streamlines the process.

I totally agree with you...and will be following suit.
Best wishes,
Karen

Karen, I'm glad your site is working now.

Thanks!

Hi Karen, We joined about the same time! Still a newbie, I know enough just to be dangerous... I would have freaked out too. Thank goodness you were able to get it resolved somewhat quickly.:) ~Gina

Gina...I learned that we can lose our domain within a week if we don't renew it...or even shorter if it's a popular domain. Hope this is a good wake up call for other newbies out there.
Best wishes,
Karen

Karen...Glad everything worked out for you. I can imagine the relief you had when you discovered what was going on. A big, "Whew!"...P.S. Love the title to your blog. =)

Thanks, Susan...I saw this entire year of work flushed down the drain. haha

Oh, that must have been a terrible feeling. Just awful! So glad everything is okay now. =)

Wow! I would have lost my mind!!! I'm glad you got it figured out.

Thanks...I did and I am!

If you purchase your domains at Namecheap.com, it is out of our control and we have no way to notify you about domain expiries. That is their job and unfortunately it would come down to the email address you used there as well. Whoops!

If you purchase your domains here at WA using SiteDomains they are very easy to manage and we do send out renewal notices here at WA as well as to your email so you know about any expiring domains.

Can I switch my Namecheap domain to WA? If so, how?
Karen

We are pretty close to allowing for this, less than 2 weeks away and you will be able to transfer domains over from Namecheap.com to WA. ;)

Fantastic! Thanks, Kyle :)

I would have panic too, and I am just like you, and forget such things easily

I don't panic when I lose my keys or forget where I parked the car...this was life altering unless you know something I don't know. For example...if WA backs up our sites daily, could we bring it back up under the same domain but now purchased via WA? I wonder if that would work.

Nice thought, but I think it doesn't work that way:)

Kyle says that within the next 2 weeks, we'll be able to transfer Namecheap domains over to WA. This is great news

That'll be nice! mine have to be renewed in July and September

I'm so pleased you got it sorted out :)

Thank you!

We have all had moments of panic I do have my sites on auto renew just in case, glad it is all working just fine have a good weekend

Auto renew....that's just what I thought I had with Namecheap. I've gotta look into that. Better yet, I responded to Kyle's comment by asking if I can transfer my Namecheap domain over to WA. Waiting to hear as this would solve the problem going forward.

do not think we can do that as yet, however if I am going to get anymore domains will be getting it here at WA

Katie...Kyle says that within the next two weeks we'll be able to transfer domains from Namecheap over to WA.

That is great shame I have just had to renew my domains, still next time round

Hi Karen!

And do you know you can now also purchase your domain through WA? For your next website, you can keep that in mind. :)

Yes and I'm excited about that!

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