LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- A Lake Oswego realty team is fuming after they say someone hijacked their website.
Suzanne and Russ Bergeron let their website domain, Bergeronproperties.com, expire and a Tennessee man purchased it.
But the problem was: the website was already on the Bergerons' business cards and realty signs.
Russ tried to buy the website domain name back. He was stunned when he learned the selling price.
"Would you be willing to pay $5000?" the man asked.
Russ said he was disgusted and refused the offer.
Days later, the couple was horrified at the content that appeared on their former website.
It read, "R. Bergeron is a crook and scammer. They claim to be in the real estate industry. This is the last time you see your money!"
"To take it to that level and call us crooks, that's just wrong on so many levels," said Suzanne Bergeron.
It turned out, whole mess could have been huge mix-up. The new owner wasn't slamming the Bergerons in Lake Oswego.
He was slamming a real estate agent named "Bergeron" in Tennessee. Newschannel 8 confirmed the two parties had been involved in a real estate deal gone bad.
PSU website expert Kristin Boden-Mackay said it's an important lesson to never let your website domain name expire.
"Once you lost it, someone's going to pick it up," said Boden-Mackay.
But the Bergerons in Lake Oswego have already had their image tarnished. "It's devastating, " said Suzanne. "We had to change all our marketing materials. We're not Bergeron Properties, we're the Bergeron Team." The switch, ironically, has cost the couple more than $5000.
The Oregon attorney general's office said it was a civil matter and they didn't have the authority to take any legal action.
The Bergerons began consulting with an attorney.
