Why has my domain been suspended?

Domain suspension can happen for a number of reasons.

In most cases, suspension occurs because your registrar (Namecheap!) sent a domain information request via email, and you didn’t respond. Domain screening tools can flag your domain or account for issues, leading Namecheap to get in touch with you for clarification.

For more severe issues, your domain could be suspended immediately without warning.

Often, all it takes to lift the suspension is responding to the email sent by Namecheap, helping to understand why your account or site should be unsuspended. Information problems, like missing contact details or payment issues, are common causes of domain suspension.

So, lifting a suspension in low-risk cases should be quick and easy.

However, if your domain practices continue to breach Namecheap Terms of Service (TOS) , or other reasons outlined in this post, then alternative actions may be required.

What is domain suspension?

Suspension can apply to different areas of your domain.

It’s possible that, if your domain is suspended, account access will be blocked, your site will be locked, and transfers will be prohibited.

You may be subject to one or more of these domain suspension states, depending on the alleged breach.

In some cases, your site remains active, but domain transfer and account management are prohibited. Domain account lock prevents unauthorized access, protects sensitive information, and mitigates potential security risks.

Site lock, on the other hand, activates when your domain has been flagged for security issues. Access to your site will be prohibited, but account management, i.e. file access, applications, and network services, may function as usual.

All of these depend on the reasons for your domain suspension, as well as service halting when the information request sent by Namecheap was not responded to.

If it’s determined that you are in breach of TOS by registries, registrars, or other authoritative organizations, your domain will be suspended and, in some cases, terminated.

Why is my domain suspended?

TOS breaches are the most common reasons for domain suspension. At Namecheap, these issues fall under Legal and Abuse and Risk Management departments.

Legal and Abuse reasons for suspension:

Phishing/fraud/scam

Malware

Illegal pharmacy/controlled substances

Child sexual abuse material

Spam

WHOIS inaccuracy

Activities violating our Universal TOS

Failure to verify contact information (an ICANN requirement)

Court order from trademark or copyright infringement

Registry serverHold

Risk Management reasons for suspension:

Payment verification

Payment issue (resulting in an unpaid service)

Chargeback

Activities violating our Universal TOS

There can be other reasons for domain suspension. In the case of a domain being locked but remaining active, the reasons may be as follows:

Investigation of reported unauthorized activity associated with the domain

Investigation of a pending domain transfer dispute

To identify which breach(s) apply to you, check the email associated with your domain account — the relevant information should be included, detailing the specifics of your domain or account suspension.

Email and ticket ID resolution

The reason for your domain suspension will be outlined in the notification you receive via email.

The notification should clearly tell you what the issue is, and your response to Namecheap should address the specifics of that notification.

Each issue is assigned an issue ticket ID number, helping to categorize the issue and speed up resolution.

The email ticket ID, a copy of the issue ticket ID number, will be included also. Again, making it easier for you to find the email and track the issue. Please see an example below:

[#ABC-123-456789 ]: IMPORTANT: Domain domain [.]tld suspended due to Issue

Problems with notifications, ticket IDs, and account information

If you’re unable to access your account due to it being locked, please submit a ticket to Namecheap’s Risk Management team, or send an email to security@namecheap.com.

If you’re account is locked, you’ll receive this notification:

If you cannot find a reference ID to the ticket, please contact our Legal and Abuse team at legalandabuse@namecheap.com. Our team will be able to provide you with more information about the suspension and, if possible, help you take the necessary steps to get your service unsuspended.

Issue dispute

If you feel that the grounds for your domain suspension are unfair or incorrect, you have the right to dispute the suspension. To do so, contact legalandabuse@namecheap.com with the grounds of your appeal.

To help you resolve a dispute, here’s an example of what the process may involve:

Specify the purpose of the service registration.

Confirm whether your service has been registered for lawful purposes only and will not be used for abuse.

If you believe that your website has been hacked, you will need to clean it up and take security measures to prevent future attacks.

If the TOS was violated by a domain, you’ll need to remove the violating content and confirm that you’ve read and are in compliance with the rules.

If you have a registered company and the service in question is related to it, you need to provide us with a document confirming the legitimacy of your company.

Disclaimer: Please note that these steps do not guarantee that the service will be unsuspended. Our team will evaluate all the details provided and inform you of the decision and/or whether anything else should be done to consider the unsuspension.

If any aspect of this dispute process can’t be completed or doesn’t apply to you, Namecheap support will direct you with the aim of solving the dispute as quickly as possible.

For cases of transfer disputes, please contact transferdisputes@namecheap.com.

In order for our team to assist you even faster, please specify your Namecheap Username and Support PIN in your response to any of our relevant emails.

What if my domain can’t be unsuspended?

In more severe cases, your domain could remain suspended until either a multi-tier investigation is complete, the domain is transferred to an authoritative organization, or it’s terminated completely.

In some cases, your domain could be suspended under a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceeding, an investigation generally reserved for legal cases or high-offense issues.

If that is the case, it’s recommended that you direct your inquiries to the Panel and work with the Complainant on this matter — their contact details can be found in the case details sent to your email address associated with the domain.

In other cases, the registry may order the suspension of your domain.

If the lock reason states the domain was locked as suspended by the Registry, it means that Namecheap has received a notification from the Registry that your domain is on serverHold, a term referring to the suspension of your domain.

In such a situation, please contact the email address specified in the reason.

If you see a recommendation to contact legalandabuse@namecheap.com, then the Registry does not directly support clients, and the assistance of the Namecheap Legal and Abuse team is required.

What to do

Follow the steps outlined in this post to maximize the chances of your domain or account being unsuspended. If further assistance is required, please get in touch through the relevant email or submit a ticket as detailed.

Namecheap will always strive to make this process as quick and pain-free as possible. Unfortunately, however, if a domain can’t be unsuspended, a refund or transfer isn’t possible in accordance with our TOS.

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Updated

6/23/2023

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