NameSilo

Finally happened to me..... grrr!!

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WEll, i finally got stung by a scammer. Bought 2 names off of JohnBolg here on NP last night. I thought i did things right since he was new on forum...... I had domains pushed first AND checked whois and sent a 'confirmation of intent to sell' email to the admin email listed, and then only sent payment after i received a response from the same admin email. everything seemed to check out fine, the names were pushed and email answered. so i paid. sadly with moneybookers. :td:

hours later i see his account was closed shortly after our deal, got in contact with bill, then waited to see. Checked whois on the names when i got home from work and not only were the names not updated to my info, but werent showing his anymore either. so i logged into my enom account and.... they were gone D-: . called enom and they said that the previous owner contacted them and said he/she did not authorize the transfer so they were given back..."their hands are tied". which is fine, of course i dont want stolen names, but i was VERY upset that i only happened to find out the names were no longer in my account only because i happened to check. ZERO communication from enom to the effect 'the ownership of the names was in question, to be safe they were being returned until clarified' etc.... nothing. It couldve been weeks before i realized i was out money AND domains if i hadnt happened to check. so i ranted about that, and they said they are looking into a wide spread fraud case stemming from possibly this one person/ ip address etc.... i gave them what i know, but still feel like what the heck just happened?!

anywho, for what its worth this was the admin email listed on the names i bought (if thats the right word anymore): [email protected]

and this was the moneybookers email: [email protected]


could/should i have done something more to be cautious (aside from avoiding deals with new members, since we were all new at one time) than i did: checking whois, contacting the admin email myself and not sending payment until confirmation was received from admin email and name was pushed and in my account? i guess with my limited computer savvy and fledgling experience in domaining i felt i had covered my bases and that NOT sending payment shortly after these precautions seemed to be met would only be unfair to him as a seller. i dont want to become jaded, but i certainly want to at least learn something from this expensive lesson (as getting my money back from moneybookers is highly unlikely) and be a better domainer. any tips and help from more experienced/knowledgeable would, as always, be much appreciated. and cudos to Bill for honing in on him so fast and closing his account so he didnt scam more people....... couldve been a LOT worse.

Watch out for yourself and watch out for each other!! Denver
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
New members + Moneybookers + free email account = SCAM in 95% of cases :(
It's difficult for new members who are not scammers to become verified members of NP :( I remember that it was difficult for me. Happily I had DigitalPoint and one Russian forum history with a lot of positive feedback, so it was easy for me to start selling-buying here.
 
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This dude tried to scam $850 for LLL net. I actually wanted to contact you last night to see which names he sold you but you weren't online.

The old mantra of "if it's too good to be true"......

PS. I know PayPal sucks but Moneybookers? Hmm, I don't know.



Bill said:
sf2010 said:
hi bill-

i would like to request that one of you guys investigate an np user, JohnBolg.

He approached via PM, proposing to sell all premium LLL net for cheap. The whois record and the email he provided to me ([email protected]) did not jive so I ended up not going through with the deal.

See below

Regards,

Kevin

============================
sf2010 said:
i'll need to fax them my cc tomorrow.

what number can i reach you at? do you work for alr or gap?



JohnBolg said:
Damn,escrow is taking a bit longer.. i was need quick funds,np yes we do escrow.you can start it.

sf2010 said:
shit. i'm locked out of mb account.

can we do escrow? i'll pay the fee.



JohnBolg said:
[email protected] and pm your enom username for the push.

sf2010 said:
what's your email address to send the mb payment?


JohnBolg said:
Alright let me know.

sf2010 said:
brb. gotta check my mb balance...

JohnBolg said:
mm..ok i can accept 700$,you can do immediate payment after i push the name?


sf2010 said:
700. that's it


JohnBolg said:
Thats a bit low.

sf2010 said:
$500


JohnBolg said:
sf2010 said:
what do you have and what's the price?

JohnBolg said:
Sorry for disturbing you but i seen that you placed a bid on a LLL.net and i have one for a quick sale,are you interested?

alr.net 850$ for a quick deal,moneybookers payment.

============================

No reply was received.

Had fraud all over it -

IP traced to Germany, Whois traces to NY....

Thank you!

-Bill
 
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Hello Denver,

I was actually contacted through multiple PM's about these 2 names since I was the first to ask "him" about them. I sent him 2 offers around the same time you posted sold. He also offered me alr.net which is registered to a Don Daniels. If you need any copies of his PM's I would be glad to send them your way. What does the user JohnBolg say about this?

Jeremy
 
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i am really sorry to hear what happened to you Denver

you did many things to avoid scamming but they werent enough
i would have waited a little more to send the money
besides, i think it is a good precation if we make a call or email the registrar where the names are to check if there is any issues with them and depending on the answer we would cancel the transaction (in this case not sending the money)

you have been a great domainer and you will have a great profit rom your sales which will cover this lost for sure!

thanks for sharing this as you will help other people dont lose their money!
 
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Sorry to hear what happened to you, bro. But this moron has also robbed someone at DNF.
http://www.DNF/f26/bought-via-pm-stolen-domains-thread-299312.html (If that's not your DNF nick.)
 
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thanks for the consolation, all! yeah, of course i wouldve liked to have waited longer to pay, but i really didnt want to be unfair simply because he is new.... i figured if the admin email listed with whois is legit and enom allows the push, i dont want to leave a seller hanging with names gone and payment 'pending indefinetely'....i know i would be sweating bullets if it was me, new here and not knowing the buyer! so, i got burnt, but again glad that others didnt! well, im not holding my breath on a refund from moneybookers, but if anyone has ANY good advice on the matter of moneybookers and refunds in cases of fraud, please share with us all! thanks again, everyone! denver
 
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:td:

Sorry to see this happen....

Last night I received a PM from sf2010 about ALR.net and it did look very suspicious. His IP went to Germany, the whois went to NY. Then he used some other whois address for the LLLL.com domains. If you could post the names here in public, so others can watch for them, that would be a big help.

At least we caught him in the early stages, it could've been a lot worse.. :(

Thanks again sf2010 for the report.

Watch out for the following domains involved in the scam:

RGBS.com
GAPI.com
ADDZ.com
ALR.net


-Bill
 
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He offered me gapi.com by pm.
But I did some checks and it looked suspicious, so I contacted the previous owner, don daniels, and he confirmed that the domain was stolen.
 
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sorry to know about this scam.
another reason not to trust a new member in a forum.
next time you'll know better.
 
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Sorry to hear about the scam. Thanks for the heads up.
 
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Sorry to hear about this dude. Thanks for the heads up.


I wish I knew where to get copper sinks.
 
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so usually when i sell a domain i wait for the money first and than push the domain 2 days later, in this case why was it that it happened the other way around?? can someone please explain
 
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I'm sorry to hear what happened to you

It has flagged concerns for me.

I was the highest bidder at the Auction here the other day
PM him
Could not accept paypal and insisted on Money bookers.
Creating an account with them is an absolute nightmare.
Guys in chat suggested I offer to pay with NP's
Sent a PM
He won't accept NP's only Money Bookers

Zero Trader Rating
gmail email

Just checked whois
Created On:20-May-2008 Wild West Domains

Isn't there a 60 restriction for newly regs names

I need advice urgently.

I want to do the right thing but also don't want to be scammed
 
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Sorry to hear about your loss.
 
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well, not all that glitters is gold.... and not all that goes bad ENDS bad.....

through this all i came into contact with the actual owner of one of the names i 'thought' i bought.... took some time and determination on my part (was as much sheer principle to see something 'good' come out of this as anything) but FINALLY wound up buying one of the names for real! am VERY pleased, even though i had to buy it twice! :red:

so, although i still hope the fraudster is caught, on some silly level i am also grateful that they brought me in contact with a name i would have probably NEVER considered inquiring about, let alone an actual purchase (to be honest, probably wouldn't have happened outside of the context that it did...), and am really glad it turned into something good.

will be looking for appraisals soon to see if i can recoup some loss! :snaphappy:

cheers, denver
 
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Live and learn.. I'm so careful who I deal with these days. Luckily I've dealt with some new members here who didn't scam me.
 
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This is a really frightening prospect.
And from what OP said, he did take precautions
Sorry this happened to you OP...and glad to see there was a bit of a silver.
.
So I wonder...I am new to Name Pros.
How can I, as a new member (and others in my position), trade successfully here, without being viewed with suspicion?

The only thing I can think to do, is point potential trading partners to my extensive 9 year eBay history of 100% (but then again, does an eBay "resume" really help here?) D-:
 
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Start from small sales and purchases. Don't use free email account, don't protect whois of your names. Ask you eBay sellers/buyers from NamePros to put positive trading history here as well. Since you have eBay history I think you will not have problems here.
 
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