Cybersquatting Summary

Cybersquatting Summary of domain name: PetRescuesByEmily.com

Intent, Discovery and Impact

Intent

I have no idea who the Cybersquatter is who purchased the domain rights to my previously held PetRescuesByEmily.com and I am also unable to determine what the INTENT for purchasing my expired domain was.

What I do know is:

  • To my knowledge, I have never been contacted by anyone via eMail, USPS mail, or phone call offering to sell the domain rights back to me. As the original Registrant, I never intentionally purchased any privacy or proxy wall to hide behind or prevent my public information from being displayed.
  • To date, I have not received any form of offer or ransom demand.
  • Our once multipage website, filled with custom graphics and photographs as well as numerous internal links and external links, was not working properly.

In the past years, I have had GoDaddy do site migrations that broke several of my websites, and Emily, my niece and titular name for PetRescuesByEmily.com, has inadvertently been duped by scam emails to the site, which ultimately led to the site not working properly and my having to spend hours and hours basically rebuilding the site from scratch.

I knew at first glance on July 31, 2025, that our website looked off. Header was missing and so were our mascots’ front page pictures. It looked like a website under construction but definitely not the digital work of art that it was when I last worked on it.

Because of previous broken domain issues with GoDaddy and Emily, I was not suspicious at first. My custom code and coloring were still in place and the Mission Statement, the 2019 Copyright notice, and placeholders for missing pictures were listed.

What I can say with certainty is that since the site was lost — and I was unwittingly clicking on numerous dead and broken links — I have experienced a tremendous amount of aggressive and increasingly sophisticated spam and scam contacts. Whether related or not, the scammers have significantly upped their game. With coordinated USPS mailings and matching phone calls, the sophistication is alarming, and I still cannot rule out a connection to the broken domain links I clicked while trying to understand why our website was not working properly.

Our section devoted to our “Happy Tails” rescue stories — individual pages celebrating successful adoptions — was missing. The front page links I clicked to test several times were missing, and each click simply returned me to the broken front page.

However, what was still clearly visible included:

  • The custom fonts and custom color-coded website design, created specifically for Emily’s visual impairment
  • Our Mission Statement
  • Our 2019 Copyright notice

The discovery happened during a tech support phone call with Ron Vogel of GoDaddy regarding another one of my domain websites, www.zPartyAnimals.com. While on that call, I mentioned my inability to sign into WordPress for PetRescuesByEmily.com, which was visibly online but broken-looking. What began as an innocent tech support call became the shocking discovery that I had failed to properly renew my legally blind niece’s pro bono domain.

While still in shock, I insisted it was one of the many domains I had included in my pre-surgery renewal preparations in January 2025.

Upon hearing that I had failed to renew, I immediately developed a severe migraine headache. I have had migraines off and on for decades, mostly off, but this one was different. This was the beginning of a months-long, 24/7 migraine that persisted through my October 10, 2025 eye surgery and ultimately required medical intervention with an occipital nerve block.

Beyond the physical toll, I was overwhelmed by the emotional weight of the situation:

  • I had no finances available to begin domain hostage negotiations
  • I knew how much Emily loved this website and how much work we had both poured into it
  • Emily had just had to say goodbye to her dogs Jill and Zoe, our online mascots and ambassadors of Happy Tails
  • The thought of informing Emily that she hadn’t lost her password back in May’s sign-in attempt, but instead that I had accidentally allowed someone to take our website, was overwhelming
  • Questions flooded my mind: How were they using my hosting content? How did this happen to a site with an SSL? Why were all the links dead? What is in it for the person who purchased the rights to our domain?

Both Ron Vogel and I were confused as to how the squatter had accessed our WordPress website content. In hindsight, it was not my WordPress account that was compromised. They had copied my website source code — a practice known as “scraping” — and they did a convincing enough job to fool both of us initially.

I attempted reverse engine searches to find them and request goodwill negotiations on behalf of a pro bono animal rescue advocate’s site. However, they made it extremely difficult to be contacted directly by hiding behind proxy walls.

According to WHOIS and Cloudflare information gathered during my investigation:

  • GoDaddy legally sold the unintentionally expired domain at auction in June 2025
  • GoDaddy is the Registrar
  • Cloudflare was the hosting provider initially identified
  • The squatter’s intent, as defined, includes registering names — such as misspellings (typosquatting) or trademarked names — with the hope of selling them back to the rightful owner at a high price

Additional cybersquatting types and legal notes provided by Cloudflare include:

  • Legal Action: In the U.S., cybersquatting is actionable under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), allowing trademark owners to sue for damages and domain transfer
  • Types: Common types include typosquatting (e.g., “gogle.com”), identity theft/impersonation using a person’s name, and domain warehousing (holding lapsed domains)
  • Impact: Victims often face reduced brand reputation, customer confusion, data theft, and financial losses

Additional Impact and Strategic Considerations

The impact of this situation extends far beyond the loss of a domain name and a broken website.

Physical and medical impact:

  • On the day I learned that I had failed to renew PetRescuesByEmily.com, I experienced an immediate and severe migraine — a continuous, 24/7 migraine that persisted for months and ultimately required medical intervention, including an occipital nerve block
  • That migraine lasted through my October 10, 2025 double ptosis eye surgery
  • My vision is now beginning to come back into focus, and my retinal surgery on April 1 has made a significant difference
  • However, whenever I work intently on finalizing this project — including presentations, summaries, and website materials for Mark — I develop intense retinal pain, eye strain, and aching that makes it difficult to continue

Professional and creative impact:

  • This matter directly interrupted my ability to work. At the time, I was purchasing domain names and working with AI to create original Mrs. Claus and Mrs. CLAWS materials, including a custom font and related branding initiatives
  • I was also working with North Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation. I was too emotional to explain the domain loss and therefore could not comfortably provide PetRescuesByEmily.com as a true portfolio link representing my work
  • I do not feel comfortable properly following up with Vocational Rehabilitation while this matter remains unresolved

Personal and cognitive impact:

  • My ADD, ADHD, and OCD make it difficult to finish anything under normal circumstances. This has now become my must-do project, pulling focus away from other incomplete work and even from ordinary responsibilities, including paying bills on time
  • This has caused me pain, suffering, stress, frustration, and depression. It has affected my demeanor, my outlook, my work, my creative output, and my reputation

Impact on Emily and the Animal Rescue Community:

  • PetRescuesByEmily.com was not just a domain name. It was a labor-intensive and meaningful work of art, a custom-built website, and a representation of Emily’s name, mission, and reputation
  • Seeing it altered, broken, copied, and misrepresented has been deeply distressing for both of us and our ability to not properly say good bye to our website Mascots, Jill and Zoe to the public record and inability to properly say hello to our new rescue girl mascots and post their incredible journeys as well as DNA evidence trying to help connect to their parents and siblings has been disappointing to say the least. In addition, the inability to post strategic medical surgical advice for the community from the doctor who performed Jill’s life saving syncope surgery has harmed the entire animal world community. The harm is unacceptable and unmeasurable. Who knows how many adoptions and rescues were delayed or even canceled without this public source of information.

Strategic considerations and path forward:

  • I believe I have gathered sufficient evidence and documentation to independently pursue recovery of the domain through a UDRP filing, if necessary
  • However, several factors suggest this matter may extend beyond a straightforward domain recovery case:
    • Use of proxy and privacy registration services
    • Involvement of Cloudflare infrastructure
    • Apparent hosting associated with OVH / France, introducing international and GDPR considerations
  • The presence of international hosting and layered infrastructure raises concerns regarding:
    • Jurisdictional complexity
    • Enforcement challenges
    • Potential intentional structuring to obscure ownership and accountability
  • Preliminary research indicates this may not be an isolated incident:
    • Possible pattern of domain acquisitions under similar infrastructure
    • Potential evidence of broader bad-faith registration activity
  • Based on these factors, I believe it is prudent to proceed with experienced legal counsel rather than act prematurely
  • While my immediate objective is recovery of the domain, I also want to ensure all appropriate legal avenues are considered, including:
    • UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy)
    • ACPA (Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act)
    • Any additional remedies available based on jurisdiction and scope
  • I respectfully request that counsel review the full body of evidence, timeline, and documented impact and advise on the most effective and strategic path forward
  • I wanted and still want to follow up with Mark, or another qualified attorney if necessary, with the most efficient presentation of proof possible — which is part of the reason for organizing and documenting this matter so carefully, including through www.KarmaKarmaKarma.com

Author’s Note / Disclosure

  • I am not an attorney, and this document reflects my personal understanding, research, and lived experience related to this matter
  • I am trying to put this in my own words, but I still need AI assistance to help me complete and organize this work due to my medical limitations and the complexity of the issues involved
  • I have made every effort to present this information clearly, accurately, and in my own words
  • Due to ongoing medical challenges, including vision limitations, I have utilized AI-assisted tools to help organize, format, and refine this document
  • I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following tools in helping me complete this work:
    • ChatGPT
    • Claude
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Google Gemini
    • Apple iPhone Siri
  • These tools were used solely to assist with structure, formatting, and clarity. All facts, experiences, and conclusions presented herein are my own
  • I respectfully submit this and hope that I have caught any and all errors, but they are probably still out there
  • I will gladly provide clarification or additional documentation upon request