Because of a serious heart condition, I had to stop work, so wanted to start a site to keep myself occupied and needed someone to help me.

A friend recommended an "experienced site owner" that would help me set it up. DUH! Like a naive fool, I trusted him and asked that site owner, "Mike" for help.

He asked me for US$500 to start and buy the Domain name etc, which I paid him. He then asked for another $500 to buy software and server set up, which my friend paid him, but I first asked Mike why I was paying all this into his private paypal account and why he didnt start a paypal account for the new site. He did and gave me access. (I know I know, what an idiot I was, but he seemed genuine and seemed to be getting on with things and my friend kept saying dont worry you can trust him.)

The site was set up and I spent up to 22 hours per day setting up all the sections with help from the original friend and another admin. It took off and was going great,,,,,until the donations started coming in. Then I noticed they were being taken by Mike for personal things and when I confronted him about it, he said he wouldnt do it again and he was desperate for money.

I gave him another chance and then it happened again. So he blocked me from the paypal account by changing the payword and when I asked him why, he blocked me and my IPs from the site.

It was a terrible time, as you can imagine and broke my heart. Many tears were shed believe me and then it became more stressful, as when I reported him to vbulletin, the server and paypal, nothing could be done, as he had set up everything in his name. So I lost all that money.

I had taken on all the staff and promoted one great staff member to Admin. When the staff found out what happened they all left including that Admin and that Admin helped me start another site. The staff joined me on it, except a couple who remained "undercover" but operating as staff to watch Mike. He had no choice but to promote one of them to Admin.

It meant I had to pay/buy everything again and I bought the same Domain name but just added a 1 to the end of it before the .com

It was a dreadful time, but I set it all up exactly the same as the old one but made some additions and improvements. When other site owners found out what had happened, (many knew my name and reputation as a SuperMod on other sites), they posted everything on their sites.

Some other owners contacted me and told me that thief Mike had done the same thing to them! 3 sites had to close and one is struggling because of all the money he stole from them.

Then I noticed my old site was going down a lot, and the loyal (to me), staff member that had stayed with thief Mike and was promoted to Admin, told me he was bringing the site down deliberately. He was doing it for further scams. He would close it for a few days, write begging emails to all members saying he couldnt pay the server, then bring it back up again and take the donations, wait a week or so, then do the same things again. That loyal to me admin, said that thief made thousands of $$$ from innocent people.

The domain name expired on 24-Feb-2012 @ 7:00 PM (EST - GMT-5)
He did not renew it and apparently does not want to. He has not paid the server again also.
So the site is down for good by the look of things. That makes me very very sad. Destroying a good site just for greed and money!

for more info, see here:

Code: 
http://cqcounter.com/whois/
Well today is the 25th of Feb and when I checked godaddy and tried to buy it cheaply, it said that domain name was already taken, the other message read;

Domain Buy Service: Just $69.99 per domain name + commission! *
Our Professional Domain Buy Service provides personal Domain Agents who will:

* Complete a Certified Appraisal within 2 business days of service purchase.
* Attempt to contact current domain owner, to determine interest in selling their domain.
* Negotiate the sales price of your desired domain (if the owner is willing to sell their domain).
* Help facilitate the sales transaction (if a sales agreement is reached).

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.COM
I am not sure if I can post the site's name on here without breaking the rules by posting the full name, but I wont just in case.

Thats way too expensive for me.
Sad though, that now I have an opportunity to buy the domain name I already paid for and he stole it and the site from me,,I cannot afford to buy it back!
All because of the new expense when I had to pay for everything again to start up my new site

Sorry for the saga but it was necessary as I need your advice and help.
Do you think I should wait and the price may come down? or how does godaddy work? is there a time limit they allow for domain owners to renew or not? will it stay dormant? or do you think it will ever come up for sale in the future, under one of their normal prices or offers (normally $9.99)

I would appreciate any help you can offer and please dont critisize me for my stupidity, I have learnt the hard way and this was not about lost money, this is about the pain of losing such a wonderful site and the "backbreaking work" and long hours setting it up. I am sure all you site owners will understand how I feel.

Thank you in advance.
Ladybbird1 Reviewed by Ladybbird1 on . Help- My Site was Stolen From Me- Scammed Because of a serious heart condition, I had to stop work, so wanted to start a site to keep myself occupied and needed someone to help me. A friend recommended an "experienced site owner" that would help me set it up. DUH! Like a naive fool, I trusted him and asked that site owner, "Mike" for help. He asked me for US$500 to start and buy the Domain name etc, which I paid him. He then asked for another $500 to buy software and server set up, which my friend paid him, but I first asked Rating: 5