New URL - Old one grabbed by cyber squatter

Notifying those who link

[Liane]

A friend of mine had his URL grabbed by a cyber squatter just days after it became overdue for payment.

I am in the process of notifying all those who link to the old URL of the new domain, but read in another thread that a new site with many links might look unatural to Google. Is this true?

I mean these links were given to his old site and NOT the guy who grabbed it. Why should he be penalized just because its a new site and a new URL. Its still the same company offering the same service?

Any advice appreciated.

[starec]

Liane, I would not worry, transferring the domain is quite common (especially with free hosts), so is taking your links with you (if you can).

I've never heard this would be considered spamming or penalized by Google. Why couldn't a good new site have plenty of links?