Slashdot Mirror
Defending Self In a Case of On-Line Identity Theft?
SoccerDad41 writes "I am a systems administrator for an Indiana-based bricks-n-clicks retailer currently suspended because an unscrupulous typosquatter stole my name and registration information for his/her fraudulent domain registration. My company hired a third party service to protect their trademark by identifying and terminating infringing web sites. The third party identified a domain name, performed a WhoIs lookup & issued a complaint in compliance within ICANN's rules. This was presumably all reported back to our Legal department and it was noticed that the name on the domain registration matched mine. I have a locally uncommon ethnic last name so an immediate connection to me was made & although I protested my absolute innocence in the matter, I have been suspended on grounds of violating non-compete policies pending proof that it isn't me. The fraudulent domain registration was made with a different registrar (let's call them Registrar B) than the one my company uses (let's call them Registrar A). The public parts of the registration information at Registrar B match pretty exactly those of my legitimate domain registrations at Registrar A, including Registrar A's mailing address and phone number. The only things left out in the mailing address are the reference to a domain name and ATTN: Registrar A. Of course the anonymized email address differs as well. Surely I'm not the first in the Slashdot community to find myself in this situation. I'd like to avoid incurring the cost of a lawyer but I am intent on maintaining my good name and continued employment. What are my rights and responsibilities in this matter? What is my best course of action? How did you resolve this issue? How can I prove it's not me?"
...that it wasn't you? Seriously, folks: Maybe this individual is guilty as charged, and he's asking us about ways to defend his actions, or how to create a web of plausible deniability. Think about it: If this situation really happened to a truly innocent party, with looming consequences of job loss (especially in the current economy), don't you think said party would seek the advice of counsel before airing out his laundry on /.?
I know some of us are always willing to lend a hand to a fellow geek, but sometimes I have to shake my head at how quickly some of you jump to defend an individual who claims to be innocent, framed, whatever.
>>>Why should they invent an excuse or lie?
They did it to me. I was signed to a 6-month contract, but the company suddenly decided to cut costs by getting rid of half the staff. Since I was only 1 month into the 6 month contract, they invented a bunch of lies: "You eat too much food at lunch time," and "You showed up late for the 11 o'clock meeting [even though I was there at 10:55]," and "You charged 45 hours when you were not given permission [even though just one week earlier the boss said we could go upto 50]."
They had to Lie to make it appear I had broken the terms.
Otherwise my termination would have been a breach of contract.
(BTW don't ever work for Rockwell Collins in Iowa; they treat you poorly.)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall