Possibly Fraudulent eBay Domain Auctions - Fight Back!

Troops.com - A nice patriotic name, too bad it's fraud

Domain: Troops.com
Auction Link: Click Here
Item Number: 150070143820

Reasons why it could be fraud:

• Seller has only 2 feedbacks
• Listing has no other description besides "great single word domain."
• Troops.com is the website for Troops incorporated, which does, among other things, web development. Does it make sense that a company that designed a site like this would make an ebay listing that looked like that?
• The only feedback the seller has is from last year, from sellers. I'm thinking hijacked dormant account, that way the real "spiter72" won't even know

Reasons why it might not be fraud:
n/a

I like what your doing, but, i think that you are jumping to conclusions to quick when looking for fraud. You should email the user first to double check whois info.

domainer50 said:

I like what your doing, but, i think that you are jumping to conclusions to quick when looking for fraud. You should email the user first to double check whois info.

Click to expand...

You're right, the last thing I wanted to do was jump to conclusions. I was hoping this would spark more interaction with people posting their thoughts on the name. As far as contacting the seller directly, I think I'll leave that up to people who are seriously considering bidding. My intent with this thread was to just make people aware of red flags.

No i understand, and i think ill speak for everyone when i say thank you for what your doing. I just dont want anyone being offended if they are in fact the owner of the specific auction. But keep up the great work, rep added!

for item 30759192, the auction ended with no sale, even though 31 bids. So do you think it was fraud or not?
I think it was not fraud.

Since eBays fraud policy is VERY strict but the enforcement equally lax, i believe this idea to be a GREAT one! No one paints someone with a red "X" on their back, however, no one has yet gotten hurt by being a bit cautious, especially when one is dealing with someone they probably never see, know or meet.
Maybe the php script needs to be reworded from definitive "Fraud" to "Caution", then we should all be on the same page.
just my 2 cents..

I support your work RegFee.

Rep added.

Everyone should do their own homework on domains they are purchasing. Generally, you should be very skeptical of any domain that is up for auction below market price. Ebay is notorious for scammers, caveat emptor.

Bump -

fonzie_007 said:

Ebay is notorious for scammers, caveat emptor.

Click to expand...

Too many phishing schemes have hijacked accounts. Do be vigilant.

There are also scams or schemes (is there a difference) out there to increase you positive feedback into the hundreds in a matter of a couple of hours. These are penny sale auctions that post automatic feedback once the auction is paid. Cost for 100 positives? $1.00.

I have been an ebayer for nearly 9 years as both a buyer and seller. There is no end to the scams out there. I have helped uncover many of them including a vintage guitar scammer out of Nevada bilking tens of thousands of dollars out of people as well as a massive outdoor sporting goods products ring involving nearly 25 sellers that were bidding on each others items running the price up to the penny away from the reserve only to have the next bidder end up meeting the reserve. All were caught and prosecuted to the best of my knowledge.

It was electronic, digital cameras, and jewelry. Now I even see it on high dollar violins (okay, so I'm learning to play...midlife crisis:lol. Naturally, the press that domain names are getting for such high prices will get the attention of the ass wipes out there. Exercise caution.

Don't just look at the feedback...LOOK AT THE FEEDBACK! If they are in the hundreds in a matter of days, then stay away. It's trumped up and bought feedback.

If there is a message in the text promoting a buy it now and an email address...STAY AWAY! 99% of the time it is a hijacked account and the scammer is posting this message to divert the account to him.

Always, always be aware...if you use PayPal to pay for a domain name, PayPal will not refund for the domain name under any circumstances. They will not even investigate. PayPal views domain names as nontangible property and will not refund for such. You are talking to someone who paid for 19 domains to one seller on ebay via PayPal. PayPal would not even investigate, just sent me a copy of their policy. 140 days later I got the domain names only after taking matters into my own hands and working with US and UK authorities.

It is...buyer beware.

Thanks to rocknrollo for pointing this one out (click their name to see their original thread).

Domain: John.com / JOHN .com
Auction Link: Click Here
Item Number: 160086894262

Reasons why it could be fraud:

• UPDATE: The name is currently being auctioned off at Sedo.com: http://www.sedo.com/auction/auction_detail.php?auction_id=6200
• Seller has low feedback and joined only recently
• The only sales this seller has made have been "ACURAASCC.COM" "HONDAREMIX.COM" & TAYLOR-ANNHASSELHOFF.COM , each for around a dollar. The same buyer purchased the first two names, and that buyer only has a feedback score of 1 and they too just joined eBay in January.
• A premium name like John.com would probably have a more professional looking template, rather than a few vague words regarding the domain.
• The seller mentions "This domain is parked on Networksolutions.com" which only shows they have access to the same whois information as everyone else.
• Paypal is the ONLY accepted form of payment, which doesn't make sense considering a name like John.com is easily worth $xx,xxx

Reasons why it might not be fraud:

• None

Additionally, take a look at the Bid retraction and cancellation history:

Bidder Action / Explanation Date of Bid and Retraction
Bidder 4Feedback score is 100 to 499 Cancelled: US $110.76
Explanation: unable to verify the bidder's identity Bid: Feb-18-07 14:36:40 PST
Cancelled: Feb-18-07 16:41:25 PST
Bidder 2Feedback score is 50 to 99 Retracted: US $444.00
Explanation: Entered wrong amount Bid: Feb-17-07 22:21:08 PST
Retracted: Feb-17-07 22:28:27 PST

These two red flags pretty much convince me the auction is fake.

I believe there are certain things that should come standard on auctions to make people feel more secure with bidding on names, and the auctions listed in this thread do not meet those criteria.

Good Job Regfee. Those rotten rastards! Keep up the good job.

Frank

Thanks again for another great post Regfee!

It will certainly help other users.

.

what bothers me more than outright fraud are the people bundling so called "great" names and asking bizarre prices 3000 4000 etc for domains that are literally worth only the reg fee

but the ads are flashy and sound good and the text is convincing

they are really $%^^#$ people and making all domainers look bad

Don't just think it happens in Ebay either.

I bought a name in Ebay about six months ago and I went to Afternic to import it and found a "this names is already for sale in Afternic". So I got to looking at the sellers domains for sale and he had hundreds of names he listed in Afternic and not one of them were registered to him.

After contacting security at Afternic they did look into it and kicked the guy out of Afternic for life!

The next month I won the Discuss names best contributer for the fourm for among other things " speaking my mind".

I was in the middle of leaving them because of the new policy. Needless to say I did not "cash in my prize, a free featured spot on Afternic homepage.

Anyway, even if the name is in a big auction house, check it out to make sure the name is really owned by the seller.

John.com auction on Ebay

A little more information regarding the John.com auction....

There was a previous John.com auction ending on Feb. 8th with a winning bid of $15,100. I was a bidder in that auction (my max bid was much less than than the winning bid and there were several bidders ahead of me) however several days ago I received a "second chance offer" at my bid price. Suspicious of the circumstances around the auction I sent the seller an email with several questions. I also advised the seller that if a deal was made that I wanted to use escrow.com with me paying all costs. I never received a reply.

While researching john.com there was no history for the domain at places such as urltrends, archive.org and google. Anybody have any idea why what would appear to be a popular domain name would have such a nonexistent past?

For another sleazey ebay auction look at the "lincoln.com" auction which is actually "Iincoln" if you copy and paste it.

It was just pointed out that John.com is also on auction at sedo right now, I wonder if that one is legitimate.

http://www.sedo.com/auction/auction_detail.php?auction_id=6200

Ugh...

So I guess John.com wasn't enough.
Here's a
Link to DomainKing07's newest shady auction for Mike.com!

I would write up another "Why & Why Not", but let's just say replace John.com in the report above with Mike.com.

Auction Number: 160088752171

Beware!

I think an automated system for this type of thing would be more suited to its purpose, rather than using a forum thread. I like the idea of having a warning about potential scams though.