[leveraction]

I now use aws to register my domains. I started with GoDaddy. I remember searching for some names (on GoDaddy) and found something that was reported as available. I went to register it and GoDaddy tells me that it is no longer available, but that they have some service that I can pay for where they will help me to negotiate/handle the purchase from the owner. I called the customer service to ask about this. I found out that it was GoDaddy itself that had purchased it right up from under me. That was the last time I ever dealt with GoDaddy.

[fumblebee]

This same thing happened to me. I was trying to register an obscure domain name (never before registered), left it for several hours, then came back to find it snapped up. The chances this was done without inside information on my lookups are surely slim. And with all the personal stories flying round like yours, I'm also inclined to believe a GoDaddy employee (or GoDaddy themselves!) sniped it.