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Escrow.com Is Now Asking For Photos of Personal Docs

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Will You Give Escrow.com Photos of Your ID's And Other Docs?

  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.
  • Yes

    64 
    votes
    27.9%
  • No

    128 
    votes
    55.9%
  • Not Sure Yet

    37 
    votes
    16.2%
  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

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Escrow/com Is Now Asking For Photos of Personal Documents.

I just logged in to Escrow/com and they are now asking for extensive verification including Photos or scans of ID's and other personal and business documents to be stored on their servers.

I have used them for years for all my transactions.

With all the hacks of servers happening around the world and security breaches exposing us to identity theft I have refused to give photos of my ID's and other documents to companies who request it.

I will not do business with Flippa for this reason.

I recently had my account frozen at a registrar that asked me for this and I refused.

Will you give photos of your personal ID's, bank records, etc to Escrow/com or will you use another service?

Personally, I think I am going to take my business somewhere else.

I am really disappointed about this after all these years.



Related:
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I can certainly relate, and I think everyone can (those who have any sense). Recently Dynadot essentially "hijacked" my account while demanding I provide a photo ID in order to regain access to my domains. Reluctantly, I caved in

I had this happen at a registrar recently when I bought domains and I refused to upload these scans to their server.

Pretty sure I have lost the domains.

Flippa will ask you to send a picture of yourself holding your ID next to your face.

Opened and account with them years ago but have never used it because of this.

I wonder if it's only for customers outside of the U.S.

No.
 
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I am gonna contact my friend who is a senior vp at paypal ,and see if they can suggest an escrow program pertaining to domain names ,they may already be working on this ,maybe that's wh the stock looks like its gonna really break to the upside. Based on the transaction numbers on escrows checks it dosent look like they do too much business anyway. but a lot of their payments might go through bank wires
 
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Escrow killed a deal I had with an Iranian company ,I had to contact them and ask them why ,because of an embargo ,funny godaddy has no problem executing the transaction for 20%

i hear gd uses escrowcom for >5k deals
so let's hope this has no effect on gd auction sales
 
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I wonder if it's only for customers outside of the U.S. Yesterday I just got paid for a completed deal and they didn't ask for any of this. I logged into Escrow a few minutes ago and there is no mention of this anywhere on the site or in my account.

I am in the US, so that is not the case.

Brad
 
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i hear gd uses escrowcom for >5k deals
so let's hope this has no effect on gd auction sales
my afternic guy said they use them too which makes no sense to me godaddy can buy and sell them 10 times over not only that godaddy has holding accounts at a bunch of registras ,so they can sit on the name till every thing is Cool with funds and all ,screw escrow, no will have any problem hacking that system. And most of the reps seem a little stu-nad
 
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I really like Escrow.com and don't want to rip them at all since they have always been good to me and all of my transactions. Like I said, they have all of my info already so ID is no new info for me as a seller to send them.

The main new potential problem here is, Do they absolutely make the buyer send in a copy of their license/ID in order to complete the transaction? Is this a definite new rule change?
 
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Just been told by support that indeed all users of Escrow.com will undergo verification by sending the required documents.
 
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Just been told by support that indeed all users of Escrow.com will undergo verification by sending the required documents.

"All users" So, that means one time buyers too then.
Well that kinda sucks.
 
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So, that means one time buyers too then.
Well that kinda sucks.

Yes. Although I am not too sure it is a bad thing. It seems like another level of security for both parties. I know if I was about to pay a large amount of money for a domain name, I would be happier knowing that the seller was verified. But, it is another hoop to jump through.

The biggest potential problem is a checking backlog leading to major transaction delays.
 
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if possible, I'd like to hear whether gd auction sales will in any way be affected by this escrow.com move please.. @Joe Styler ... thanks.
 
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Yes. Although I am not too sure it is a bad thing. It seems like another level of security for both parties. I know if I was about to pay a large amount of money for a domain name, I would be happier knowing that the seller was verified.

But it is another hoop to jump through.
I do agree in a lot of cases. But how many domains are impulse buys? I believe a lot are. I still think there will be some percentage of transactions that will not go thru because of this additional "hoop" to jump thru.
 
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I do agree in a lot of cases. But how many domains are impulse buys? I believe a lot are. I still think there will be a small percentage of transactions that will not go thru because of this.

That's a great point. It allows at least a 24 hour (verification check) cool-off period and in some cases much longer due to the buyer having to get the required docs together.
 
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ok I'm picking up 400 shares of paypal tomarrow ,based on the way the technicals look and
if possible, I'd like to hear whether gd auction sales will in any way be affected by this escrow.com move please.. @Joe Styler ... thanks.
Go daddy sales will probably go up because now sellers will just sell through them and raise the price a bit to compensate a little for the 20 % fee
 
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***Down below is my entire conversation with Escrow.com***


Drew: Hi!

Drew: How may I help?

→Hello Drew, I have a question. I just read that Escrow is asking for personal documents such as Tax ID an or photo ID

Drew: Yes, we do. This has been in placed for the security and compliance purposes.

Drew: To know more, please see link https://www.escrow.com/verify?

→Can you give me an Example please? Because I've used Escrow for years. Never heard about this till today

→Is this something new?

Drew: No, actually it is not. This has been encouraged to users to undergo this process.

→So are you saying is optional?

→I'm a domainer, and this is being discussed on one of the forums. Many are not going to be using your services because of this.

→Thus the reason why I'm asking the questions.

Drew: Actually, the verification is compulsary.

Drew: compulsory*

→What does that mean?

Drew: It means, eventually, all users will be asked to undergo verification.

→Some are saying they have notices when they have logged in. I just logged in and did not see any notice pop up.

→Is this because I reside in the United States?

Drew: No, not exactly. As mentioned, every user will undergo verification.

→Well, there is some concern in regards of private information in the hands of companies such as Escrow.com

→You always hear servers being hacked.

→Well, After many years with Escrow.com, I'm sorry to say I will be looking for other options.

→Thank you for your time!

Drew: We understand. Do note that verification process has been put in placed to safeguard our users and their transaction. Documents are uploaded via a secure https connection and are stored encrypted

Drew: You are welcome. Do you need further assistance?

→No.
 
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ooh encrypted ,sounds so safe
 
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If it is only on the seller side I dont have a problem with it. If it's on the buyer side I have a huge problem with it. My guess is the fact that the buyer have a credit card or some other banking proof by the fact that money is sent to Escrow. But what do they have on the seller? An email address and a whois.

If you are selling Baseball.com for a song, the buyer will do anything to purchase that domain. But with other domains it can just be a hassle a buyer would rather avoid.



https://www.namepros.com/threads/new-escrow-com-account-verification-process.993444/
 
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Earlier today I chatted with one of your reps and asked them if the new procedure is a policy initiated by Escrow.com or if it's something that's being enforced. The reply was that it's a policy initiated by Escrow.com and that security is important to you etc. So- will all escrow services now require this verification process, which complicates transactions both for buyers and sellers since it involves extremely sensitive information and a bureaucratic process that didn't exist before? Because based on the answer your rep gave, it seems like it's something Escrow.com initiated.

During December Escrow.com launched a new platform to securely receive and verify customer ID documents at Escrow.com/verify. Since opening the new platform we've had hundreds of our customers, include our top buyers, sellers and brokers verify their accounts and provide feedback on how we can make the process faster and easier.

Show attachment 46193

To combat the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, US Federal law requires all financial institutions (including escrow companies) to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. This requirement is present in many pieces of legislation, but the strongest requirement comes from FinCEN and the US PATRIOT Act, section 326. You can find more information about the US PATRIOT Act and it's requirements on the US FinCEN site.

Collecting and holding information is securely is vital and absolutely top of mind. Our security safeguards include but are not limited to:

Encryption
Documents submitted via the Account Verification portal are encrypted at all times during both transmission and storage. This is also the reason that we will never request or accept verification documents via email.

Access Control
Access to your documents is tightly restricted to a dedicated customer verification team, who's access is logged and monitored. Other staff members are able to see that your account has been verified but do not have access to view or access documents that you have submitted.

Network and Physical Security
As you would expect, our systems are defended by firewalls, intrusion detection systems and virus scanning tools to protect against bad actors and viruses accessing our systems. We also protect our physical locations against unauthorised access using alarms, cameras and guards.

Destroying data when no longer required

Where practical, we keep information only for as long as required, to meet legal requirements and our account verification needs.

Account verification can be completed at any time by going to www.escrow.com/verify and is only required to be performed once per account, as either an individual or as a company. If you have any feedback to share on how we can make this process easier to complete please send it to me directly via PM or via [email protected]

Jackson Elsegood
General Manager, Escrow.com
 
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@Jackson Elsegood

Can you confirm if this is needed on all accounts or just when using the banking system. It says nothing about receiving a check from a buyer, or if a buyer pays with a Credit Card.

So in short the verification process says bank accounts therefore is that it??
 
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Can you confirm if this is need on all accounts or just when using the banking system. It says nothing about receiving a check from a buyer, or if a buyer pays with a Credit Card.

So in short the verification process says bank accounts therefore is that it??

We're apply this process to all accounts, that way no matter who you transact with on Escrow.com you will know that they have been verified.
 
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@Jackson Elsegood, is verification required immediately or is there a grace period before it'll prevent us from using Escrow.com as usual?
 
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I will take the other side of that ,the buyer can use funds that can be hidden for a long time from the cardholder, or whoever ,the seller has to produce the domain ,and if he does not the registra can just take it from him if he received funds, remember no one gets the domain gift wrapped ,its just sitting in a computer as verisign, in any case the scammer can just go bye bye ,when the cardholder wants his money,''he may leave empty handed but with a lot of hurt to others''. back escrow loses ,I hope this makes sense because I'm rambling
 
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Very happy I learned of all this before ever actually having to use their service. I only signed up for escrow a few months ago and what I liked was the ability to create an instant BUY NOW button. When I started to see all the repeat complaints here, I pulled all my buttons and went back to manual contact. Which is a shame since I think if a buyer clicks buy now and is taken to a payment page, they know they won't have to negotiate or even ever talk to the seller and it's a firm offer..

Out of the alternative options mentioned in this thread, does any other service have this BUY NOW function, to be put on my own lander? Or something similar?
 
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Just uploaded mine, says 24 hours to approve.
 
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