I learned a while ago that one of my domains was already registered with a Google Apps account by a previous domain owner. So I wrote to Dreamhost (my webhost at the time) requesting that they set me up with an email alternative. They responded right away saying that I needed to take care of the issue right away with Google. When I thought about it for a moment longer I realized this situation was not acceptable. If someone was using my domain for email purposes they could possibly send spam, and I would be held responsible.
So I went back to the the Google Apps website and asked for a password reset. Luckily Google provided ample options to prove I was the rightful domain owner.
Once I logged into the Google Apps control panel I could see the email accounts that previous owner prior owner used. A quick glance showed that they weren’t very active and that he was using it to forward mail to one of his other domains. In any case, I deleted these accounts right away. I also changed all account settings so he could not reset the password and take over the account. This didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside but nor did finding out accidentally that someone was using my domain to send and receive emails.
I never mentioned to this anyone, but after reading a Dotsauce.com article referencing expired domains and identity theft risks in connection with Google Apps, I decided to mention it here.
So let this be a lesson to you, if you are planning to let your domain expire make sure to cancel any Google Apps domain account you have associated with it first. Secondly if you registered a domain that was previously owned or if you aren’t sure, make sure to check if its registered with Google Apps even if you have no plans on using it.
