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Jom Cuba · Try this week · No. 3

Who holds the keys?

Your domain name, website, Facebook page and Google listing were set up by someone. People move on, change roles or lose their phones. Can you still get in?

About 20 minutes, nothing to buy

Before you startDo not put IC numbers, bank details, passwords, or personal details about the people you help into any message or AI tool. Read everything before you use it.

How this page works. Press Copy under any box. Paste it into WhatsApp, Word or your AI chat. The highlighted [brackets] are the parts you fill in. Part 1 is for now, before you ever need it. Part 2 is for if you are already locked out.

Part 1 · Before you need it

Who can get in?

About 20 minutes. Write names, never passwords.

  1. Fill in the table below, one row for each account the NGO uses.
  2. Next to each, write who can log in today.
  3. For the domain name, write whose name it is registered in. It should be the NGO's. You can look it up at mynic.my/whois (.my) or lookup.icann.org (.com, .org, .net), though the personal details are often hidden.
  4. Where only one person can get in, add a second person you trust as owner or administrator.
  5. Check that each account's recovery email and phone number belong to the NGO, not to one person's own phone.
  6. Keep proof in one folder: your registration certificate and the receipts for the domain and hosting. Keep passwords in a password manager or a sealed note with the chairperson, never in a shared document.

Your table

Press Download for Word to get it as a Word file, or Copy to paste it as text.

[NGO name], checked on [date]
AccountWho can log in todayA second person added?Recovery email and phone belong to the NGO?
Email (the one used for sign-ups)
Domain name (also: whose name is it registered in?)
Website login
Hosting account
Facebook page
WhatsApp group
Google listing (Business Profile)
Bank (online banking)
Where to click to add a second person

Read on the services' own help pages. Menus change, so follow the screen if it differs.

  • Facebook page: switch into the page, open its settings, then Page access, and give someone Facebook access with full control. Full control includes managing everyone else's access, so that person can remove others, including you. Give it only to someone you trust.
  • WhatsApp group: open the group, tap its name, tap a member, then Make group admin.
  • Google Business Profile: Business Profile settings, then People and access, then Add, and invite by email as Owner or Manager. Each person needs their own Google Account. There is one primary owner, who must transfer primary ownership before leaving.
  • Domain, hosting, email and banking: each company is different. Look for words like “users”, “administrative contact” or “authorised person”, and ask the company if you cannot find them.

Part 2 · Already locked out?

Work through it in this order

Start with what to gather, then find out who holds each account. Do not send passwords by email or WhatsApp.

  1. Gather your registration certificate (for a .my domain, MYNIC lists these forms under Supporting Documents at mynic.my/faq: companies Borang 8, 9, 13, 19, 83 or 83A; businesses Borang D; societies Borang 3), the receipts for the domain and hosting, emails from the person who built the site, and the names of everyone who may have had access.
  2. Search the domain at mynic.my/whois (.my) or lookup.icann.org (.com, .org, .net) to find who holds it. Write down the registrar and the expiry date. For a .my domain, a change of registrant must be submitted before the domain expires.
  3. Contact the registrar first. It is on the search result. For a .my domain, if the registrar does not help, write to MYNIC Customer Care at customercare@mynic.my with your certificate and receipts. MYNIC says a change of registrant can only be submitted by the Administrative contact, who must be an authorised employee of the organisation. For a .com, .org or .net domain, ask the registrar for the transfer (auth) code; the table below says what to expect.
  4. To get into the website, find the hosting company, then send it the email below. We read the terms of four Malaysian hosts and none publishes a process for this, so ask in writing and keep the reply.
  5. For Facebook and Google, use the table below.
  6. If you cannot reach the person, or they cannot help, write down the dates, what you asked for and what they said. Keep the receipts. For a contract or money dispute, talk to a lawyer. You can also ask the Legal Aid Department (JBG): 03-8885 1827 for civil matters, advice for Malaysian citizens for a RM10 registration fee. Or ask the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre in your state: the list is at malaysianbar.org.my under Find Legal Aid Centres (Kuala Lumpur: 03-2691 1121). Their pages do not say whether they help an organisation, so ask first. We cannot give legal advice.

Who to contact

The problemWho to contact firstWhat to bring
You do not know who holds the domainFor a .my domain, search it at mynic.my/whois. For .com, .org or .net, search it at lookup.icann.org. Either shows the registrar and the expiry date. The owner's personal details are often hidden.The domain name
A .my domain: it is not in the NGO's nameThe registrar from the search. If that does not work, MYNIC Customer Care: customercare@mynic.my. A change of registrant can only be submitted by the Administrative contact, before the domain expires.Registration certificate, receipts (step 1 lists which form)
A .com, .org or .net domainThe registrar, found at lookup.icann.org. Ask for the transfer (auth) code. It must be given to the registered owner and must not be refused only over a payment dispute. The registrar does not respond: icann.org/compliance/complaint (this does not cover .my).Proof you are the owner, receipts
Website login lostWordPress “Lost your password?” only works if you can open the inbox on the account. Otherwise the way in goes through the hosting company.The domain name, the hosting receipts
Hosting account: you do not know who or howThe name servers in the domain search often show the host. Open a support ticket from the email the account was registered with.Registration certificate, receipts, the email below
Facebook pageAnyone who ever had full control: ask them to add you. If a Business Account owns the page, use “Request release” (Page setup, then Page access). Facebook gives the business account 30 days to respond.The page name and link
Google listingbusiness.google.com/add, find your business, select Request Access. The owner has 3 days to respond. If they do not, you may be able to claim the profile. Google says this option is not always available.The business name and address
Search Console or AnalyticsProve ownership with a file, tag or DNS record on the website. Whoever controls the domain and website can do this.Access to the domain's DNS or the website files

Emails to send

To the hosting company

Send it from the email address the hosting account was registered with, if you can still open it.

Subject: Request for access to our hosting account, [organisation name]

Hello,

I am writing for [organisation name], a [registered society / company] in Malaysia (registration number [number]). Our website [domain name] is hosted with you. The account was opened by [name of the person who set it up], who can no longer help us.

Please tell us what you need from us to give the organisation access to the account, or to move the account into the organisation's name. We can send our registration certificate and the receipts for the hosting.

Could you tell us:
1. Which documents you need.
2. Whose request you will accept.
3. How long it takes.

Thank you.
[Your name, role and phone number]

To the person who set it up

Keep it friendly. You are asking for details, not blaming.

Subject: Our website and account details

Hello [name],

Thank you for setting up our website. We are moving all our accounts into the organisation's name, and we need your help with a few details.

Could you please tell us:
1. Where our domain name [domain] is registered, and whose name it is in.
2. Which company hosts our website.
3. Who has an administrator login for the website.

Please add [name and email of the NGO's person] as the owner or administrator, or tell us how to move each one. If you have a copy of the website files and the database, please send them to us.

Thank you.
[Your name, role and phone number]

So it cannot happen again

Put this in place

  1. The domain is registered in the NGO's name, with an NGO employee as the administrative contact.
  2. Hosting and email accounts are opened with an NGO email address, not a personal one.
  3. At least two people can log in to everything.
  4. The proof folder from Part 1 is kept up to date.

Where we read this

Sources, read on 7 and 9 November 2026

Or use your AI tool

Let an AI list your first steps

One prompt. It tells you who to contact first and what to bring, for your case.

Do not pasteIC numbers, bank details, passwords, or personal details about the people you help. Check everything the AI writes against the official page it names.

  1. Press Copy prompt and paste it into your AI chat (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or similar).
  2. Replace the [square brackets] with your own details, then send it.
  3. Open each official page it names and check the step before you act.
I work for an NGO in Malaysia. We have lost access to [our website / our domain name / our Facebook page / our Google listing]. The person who set it up [has moved on / cannot be reached]. Our domain is [domain name, or "not sure"].
Tell me, in order, who I should contact first and what I should bring. Say which steps are for a .my domain and which are for .com, .org or .net. Use only the official help pages of MYNIC, ICANN, Facebook, Google and the hosting company, and name the page for each step. If you do not know, write "I do not know" and tell me who to ask.
Do not ask me for passwords.