NameClerk.com

I just came across this auction on Ebay where the seller is offering DRLNK.COM but has made obvious efforts to disguise the name to look like DRINK.COM

In the listing description, the seller uses capital D,R,N and K but mixes in a lowercase L (l) so that it looks like an I (i).

The auction is up to $3k at the time of this post. I hope this isn't a NP member pulling this crap.

View it

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antman

Wow, when I saw the title, I thought it was another IDN scam.

This is unbelieveable, what will the buyer say? [Unless s/he really knows its drlnk]
The seller is probably not showing all the questions he's been asked about it.

Thanks for sharing.

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lazyleo

Saddd it looks very very close though no wonder people fell for it

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6 days left on this one so I highly doubt it will see the finish line.

It's amazing to me that someone cares so little about their reputation that they would list something like this for thousands of people to see.

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circa1850

Thanks for pointing this out! I noticed this also.

Have contacted ebay and will contact the owner of drink.com.

Here is my post to ebay.
-----------------------------------------------------------

To: eBay Customer Support
Subject: You suspect that a listing is fraudulent you didn't bid
Enter item number(s): 190075480157

Seller is supposedly auctioning off the domain name DRINK.COM but this is not true. The seller is auctioning off DRLNK.COM but made the letter "i" a lower case letter "l" to appear as if it was the word DRINK.com.

The seller time and time again claims that the word is drink but tries to decieve by saying, "(Exactly as written above)
This is NOT a dynamic name, it is the actual domain: DRlNK.COM".

The seller presumes that by stating "Exactly as written above" would release him from all liability, wrongdoing, and fraud.

The seller is listed in the WHOIS directory:

DRLNK.COM

Services from Network Solutions:

Domain Name: drlnk.com
Registered at http://www.dynadot.com

Registrant:
edited: see updated post #22
Worthing, west sussex BN14 9AG
United Kingdom

That address corresponds to the address as shown listed for the seller.

The actual owner of DRINK.COM is as follows:

DRINK.COM

Services from Network Solutions:

Domain Name: DRINK.COM

Registrant [21027]:
NetIncome Ventures Inc
345 Lower Bench Road
Penticton
B.C.
V2A8V4
CA

This is blatantly fraud:

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
fraud (frôd) Pronunciation Key n.

1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
2. A piece of trickery; a trick.
3.
1. One that defrauds; a cheat.
2. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

I will contact the rightful and legitimate owner of DRINK.COM.

This person should be banned from ebay.

NameClerk.com

Nicely done. It'll be interesting to see if eBay actually does something about it. My guess, they'll end the auction but they won't actually suspend the account.

Bid is now up to $3150.

EDIT: The auction has been ended early by the seller.

I hope the seller isn't successful in arranging a private sale with one of those bidders.

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mis_chiff

Hey, the drink.com owner lives around the
corner from me. (about 5 mins away) so if
ebay doesn't do anything, let me know and
I'll drop a note in his mailbox

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dnb8

why drop a note ?
better invite him for a drink

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mis_chiff

Not sure if security will let me past the gate

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mirrorcube

Wow Circa, nice piece of writing. If your not a lawyer, you should be. I would hire you.

circa1850

Thanks, I just play one on TV, and you can not afford me.

Speaking of affording me, I must say I am honored.

Ben, aka Mr. Extra, aka domainz-n-stuff obviously did pay this thread a visit. Or, perhaps it was another forum.

At any rate, Ben contacted me to confirm that he had indeed viewed a post somewhere, being that we all have something in common...we are domainers. This episode has also garnered the attention of folks over at DNforum.

So without further delay, I would like to post a personal not of thanks that I received at 1258 pm EST, 1858 pm UK time, from the one and only Mr. Extra.
---------------
So, you have a repuation for not letting down anyone.

Try me and see where you get.

You have 24 hours to remove your post.
---------------

I have not posted my response to Ben as it is a rather personal nature, you know...boy talk.

As the emails come in, I will be glad to share them with you if Mr. Extra continues to send them to me. And if that is the route he takes, then I will be most happy to share my responses as well as each and every email address that is attached to the message.

Everyone join me in welcoming Ben to our community.

EGS

Mad nice sighting...damn, what a scammer though; trying to hide the L like that. I hate people like that...they should all die from the powers of my wrath.

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Bill

Nice bust.... Might be forwarding this thread to the media as more people need to be aware of these Ebay scammers!

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RegFee

Nice job circa.

I would like to make another plug for the thread I started where I ask everyone to post as much information as possible on eBay auctions for domains that are possibly fraudulent, that way we can have an archive of names to search when we're thinking about bidding on a name:

http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-...ons-fight.html

So, what does the question/answer that they posted on the bottom of the drLnk.com auction mean?

Q: is this domain - D-R-I-N-K . com ?
Jan-25-07

A: no. It is always the way though, as soon as a domain name gets upto a good price on ebay, people start snapping up all variations. You will also notice from the who is, that this was registered after the auction started, if i was selling d-r-i-n-k.com , i would have at least registered it BEFORE I started my auction! [I got some nasty pop ups from visiting d-r-i-n-k.com and had to restart my computer because it crashed, just to warn you]


huh?

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circa1850

Not a bad thing for the NamePros name, by the way.

There were many who became suspicious to it from the get go so there are many here and on the other forum (DNF) who saved someone out there a boatload of money, legal expense, and hassle.

I have no doubt you would have received a domain, but the money would have been long gone.

huh?

It is not just circa. As mentioned, there are many others that deserve credit.

Your idea of eBay fraud has some merit. eBay certainly does a terrible job policing itself. Not to mention PayPal.

mis_chiff

Same with his 3 Letter .com C-ET
He doesn't count the characture or mentioned it
and advertises it as CET.com
I would have fell for it! Well ok...maybe not
I had to look really hard at drLnk.com before I noticed it though!

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IconPacks

They should have a entry field when selling domains so you put in the name and it displays it in fairly large text in UPPER and lowercase automatically in the custom field section.

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NameClerk.com

Afternic Bazaar does that automatically. It's a nice feature.

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RegisterRants

It would not surprise me if he is referring to the actual domain d-r-i-n-k.com (That's d dash r dash i dash n dash k dot com) when he says this.

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Peter

looking at his other domains he also is selling puggled.com claiming it to be a dictionary word yet it does not seem to appear in THIS dictionary.

Also he has relisted drlnk but is now showing the correct spelling in multiple ways HERE

circa1850

I have edited this post to remove the name of the individual who had pulled this stunt. I have received a couple of emails from him that I will also post. I think the humiliation plus the realization of how serious this could have been and the potential consequences has sunk in. I think it is only the proper thing to do. Besides, it’s a matter of the public WHOIS record anyways.

And I think Ben is now quite aware that he is under scrutiny along with other domain sellers on eBay.

Sorry for the long post but it kind of sums up everything.

----------

1/26 1258pm
So, you have a repuation for not letting down anyone.
Try me and see where you get.
You have 24 hours to remove your post.
----------

1/26 354pm
Glad you liked it.

Name one thing, just one little itsy bitsy thing that I posted that was false or a lie, like some we know.

And if you did nothing wrong, why is the auction not still up and running? My, 3100 YANKEE bucks for DRLNK.COM. That's what, about 1700 GBP?

If you want to try to sell DRLNK as a typo for DRINK, then say so. If you want to sell it as DrLnk.com as some Dr. Link, then say so.

So, please do keep emailing me and we'll keep adding to the post.

The choice is yours...don't email me and perhaps this will die down in 24 hours. Or keep emailing me, the post keeps getting added to as I submit your emails and my responses, it keeps getting bumped up to top of the list, more people have an opportunity to see what fools are made of, and you stay in the spotlight. I will allow you this one and only one opportunity to come to your senses and be reasonable, go away, and you can come back and play another day on ebay or somewhere.

Besides, I can not "remove a post". You can, however, contact the owner/administrator of ebay, DNforum, NamePros, and others that I have not mentioned yet, and petition those entities to remove the post or the complaint and have me banned or kicked off.

By the way, dumbass, I am hardly the only one to report you to ebay. Or start a thread about you.

Cheers!
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1/26 834pm
N0, N0NE 0F WHAT Y0U P0STED WAS A LlE. l WAS TRYlNG T0 BE CLEVER, H0PEFULLY THlS WlLL BE A LESS0N T0 ANY0NE TRYlNG T0 PULL A SlMlLAR STUNT lN THE FUTURE, D0N'T D0 lT. l SH0ULD P0lNT 0UT TH0UGH THAT l DlDN;T AT ANYTlME USE THE TEXT drink lN MY LlSTlNG AT ANYP0lNT. YES Y0U WEREN'T THE 0NLY PERS0N T0 P0lNT THAT 0UT T0 ME, AS WELL AS S0ME LEGAL ASPECTS SH0ULD l S0LD DRLNK.C0M
SlNCE CL0SlNG THE LlSTlNG l HAVE RECElVED A NUMBER 0FF 0FFERS F0R THlS D0MAlN, 0UTSlDE EBAY. THE QUESTl0NS lS: SH0ULD l REP0RT THEM T0 EBAY? MAYBE l C0ULD SELL T0 THEM, AFTERALL THEY W0ULDN'T HAVE ANY C0MEBACK..................
l GUESS l SH0ULD THANK Y0U ST0PPlNG ME MAKE A C0MPLETE A**E 0UT 0F MYSELF, ENDlNG UP lN JAlL 0R S0METHlNG.
----------

1/27/07 807am
Ben,

I appreciate your email and having come to the realization what you attempted to pull was not only wrong but criminal. Most likely a felony in any country. Deception is deception no matter how you want to look at it or word it. Deception for personal gain is fraud. You were close to violating international laws and not only committing fraud but wire fraud had you accepted money for this under false pretenses. These are very serious offenses. If they crossed international borders, it would have been interesting to see who wanted you the most; the FBI, Interpol, UK authorities. Then there would have been the matter or where to extradite you to stand trial. The real fun would have been deciding which prison to put you in.

Of course providing someone had not come after you personally.

The point is it did not happen and the worst of it is you made yourself look foolish. If your pride is the only thing that took a hit, consider yourself fortunate.

Had it gone on and people thought it was actually drink.com, it may have gotten as much as 30-50K or even more. Don't be stupid. You would have never gotten away with it in the long run and people end up dead for much less money than that.

If you get an offer from someone to buy it, be truthful and honest as to what it actually is. Most likely they still think it is drink.com.

Ebay does not like it when you sell off eBay but it is a matter of public WHOIS database. It is not the way eBay sees it but it is no different from someone looking up a domain name that I own and contacting me through a WHOIS contact listed. The reality is I can not advise you either way, but I am offering you some alternatives that eBay may not agree with but it is a public database. Just be truthful and forthright. Simply because you pulled it off eBay does not exempt it from any of the legalities mentioned.

Also, a word of caution...I have no doubts that some individuals making the offers off ebay have actually been kicked off ebay themselves for scamming or defrauding others. This is where you run the risk of becoming the victim. Not a comfortable feeling to be in, is it. Stolen credit cards, hijacked PayPal accounts, credit card charge backs. It would have never made through escrow.com. The seller does not get the funds released until the buyer indicates receiving the goods and is satisfied. No buyer would have been satisfied.

Here is what I will do.

I will remove your personal information from the post. That I can control. I can not totally remove the post or the threads. It is not my forum and it stays.

If anyone else has placed a quote with your personal information, I will ask them to consider removing it.

You will find that we all have many things in common on these forums...domains, internet, and website interests. The majority of the folks on the two forums are pure hardcore domainers.

Your eBay stunt could have ruined potential sales for all domain sellers as word got out about this. Every domain seller or every domain for sale would come under serious scrutiny. Most importantly, had this made the news, no one would trust any domains or domain sellers for quite some time until this settled down.

I will go ahead and post your response as well as my reply. Hopefully this will restore some respect and credibility, perhaps to both of us.

Nothing is worth going to prison, getting your ass beat, or ending up dead because you defrauded someone and stole their money. Don't be stupid. If you want some advice, join one of the forums. Learn how to go about doing this legitimately and becoming respected in the domain business.

Plus your real name and address was on the WHOIS. This may have made the news on the BBC as WORLD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS which would have even been more embarrassing.

Take care and, this time, thanks for the note.

Regards,

B33R

This thread is funny.

I see he still hasn't learnt anything as the auction filth@flexiwebhost linked to still tries hard to deceive.

The main image still says, in bold font, DRINK and giving 5 different interpretations doesn't exactly help matters. He doesn't even state the domain in the title, so the first thing you see is the bold "DRINK .com" in the image.

Kudos to circa for his emails but I think this is one dumbass who'll never learn.

benjimon

It was me, and it wasn't a clever idea. In a way I though it was a good idea, typing in various domain names and see whats available, and then see DRLNK. I would like to point that, from the people who contacted me via the listing, both by message and phone, I was honest and did explain that it was DRLNK not drink.

With reference to the question and answer D-R-L-N-K.COM in my listing and post above, I took it that the question was regarding that domain with hyphens.

I understand that sometimes, things seem like a good idea sometimes, fortunately I'm a member of the DNF forum, I couldn't comment or post as I was out of credit, but picked up pretty quick that people were under the impression that I was trying to mislead people. I should state that I was trying to clever with my description of the domain name, partically over the past few months after see various other domains using 0 (zero) and l (lower case L), I must confess that I even fell for it and bidded.


I think that the idea above to list domain names in upper and lower case letters in domain listings, it's certainly something I will do in the future to prevent this happing to me again in the future. I will consider asking a question to any seller I might buy from, to confirm the domain name in UPPER and lower case letters.

I'm hope this whole episode has been an enlightning one for members of this community, amusing or otherwise, and hopefully it will stop you getting caught out, either as a buyer or seller.

CTRL+C CTRL+V - two very useful key presses to check a domain name!!

circa1850

Dude, you're awesome!

Peter

lol i like the changes made to the listing now.

The title reads:-

And the descriptions reads:-

So far the auction has been viewed 95367 times which i find amazing.


Hopefully Ben you have learnt your lesson. When selling something ALWAYS be clear what you are selling. If the sale went through without the buyer noticing you would have eventually had an extremely peeved buyer and your name would likely have been made mud. As well as possibly being considered fraud it is highly unethical to carry out such practices and just because other users have successfully sold domains like this does not make it right. Treat everyone the way you expect to be treated especially in business.

Very true provided you have a tool that will convert the string into upper and lower cases.