'Halvarez' at Snapnames auctions uncovered

prague7 · Nov 4, 2009

Ooer - this one's going to run for a while... :O

From DomainNameNews:
SnapNames User Name “Halvarez” Was Nelson Brady, VP of Engineering Bidding on Domain Names [Updated]

[Updated] According to a statement from Oversee.net’s SnapNames, an employee was found to have bid in 5% of their auctions since 2005 and in some cases arranged for a partial refund of the sales price after winning an auction. DNN also confirmed the bidder as Nelson Brady, the VP of Engineering. He was bidding under the username “halvarez”.

From Snapnames:
SnapNames User Name “Halvarez” Was Employee Bidding on Domain Names

To avoid any question about whether the company benefited from this conduct, SnapNames will offer a rebate to impacted customers, including 5.22% interest (the highest applicable federal rate during the affected time period), of the difference between the prices they paid in winning auctions, and the prices they would have paid had the employee not bid in the auctions. Impacted customers will be notified by SnapNames or its representative with instructions for the offer of a rebate.

SnapNames also has taken further action to ensure its policies regarding auctions are followed, and the company remains committed to taking whatever action is necessary to protect the integrity of its auction platform.

SnapNames deeply regrets this situation and is committed to addressing its customers’ needs quickly and fairly.

There's also a FAQ page at Snapnames

Alex · Nov 6, 2009

Well, I guess Wikipedia's standards are clear in this sense. Halvarez is not that important for an encyclopedia article.

I still can't figure out his motivation though for Brady to shill bid as a "single person" in the Oversee.net era.

And let's role play a bit. If I were Brady, I would have used more accounts, not just one that gathered so much attention over time. Wouldn't you?

And if I were Oversee, I would have 100% figured out that halvarez is using a bot. It is/was perfectly clear because of the time the bids were placed. Is that in accordance with Snapnames TOS?

Domo Sapiens · Nov 6, 2009

frame this;

"Originally Posted by Kjel
SnapNames Inc. does not participate in the auctions that we run. To do so would be both very illegal and wildly unethical.

gazzip · Nov 6, 2009

Hal Varez Information - How to make money from domains.

.....RIP EVERYONE OFF BY THE LOOKS OF IT

No idea if he actually own this or not as whois privacy is set.

.

RogueWriter · Nov 6, 2009

Eh, SnapGate dot com is taken, doggonit. Ah well, someone else will think of a good name for this event.

mobigod · Nov 6, 2009

maxeaus said:
Nelson brady - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

this is the one that needs editing too :talk:

Nelson Brady - ICANNWiki

jmcc · Nov 6, 2009

RogueWriter said:
Eh, SnapGate dot com is taken, doggonit. Ah well, someone else will think of a good name for this event.

The Brady Crunch?

Regards...jmcc

SJM211 · Nov 6, 2009

I've just received an compensation offer of $32.99 for auctions between the end of October 2007 and end of October 2009. I'm sure it is all legit but it does seem a bit fishy that I won over 400 other auctions before October 2007 that apparently were not affected by this (in comparison to the 6 of 107 that were affected in the last two years). I'd really like to see my pre-2007 bidding history..

cmason · Nov 6, 2009

SJM211 said:
I've just received an compensation offer of $32.99 for auctions between the end of October 2007 and end of October 2009. I'm sure it is all legit but it does seem a bit fishy that I won over 400 other auctions before October 2007 that apparently were not affected by this (in comparison to the 6 of 107 that were affected in the last two years). I'd really like to see my pre-2007 bidding history..

Definitely wait until that other history is released. There should be some independent integrity checks on the previous data to ensure that it has not been tampered.

How was the offer received? How was the legalese? Anyone else receiving compensation offers?

sdomains · Nov 6, 2009

I received a compensation offer for one auction totalling about $55. That is the correct figure in my case

canswift · Nov 6, 2009

SJM211 said:
I've just received an compensation offer of $32.99 for auctions between the end of October 2007 and end of October 2009. I'm sure it is all legit but it does seem a bit fishy that I won over 400 other auctions before October 2007 that apparently were not affected by this (in comparison to the 6 of 107 that were affected in the last two years). I'd really like to see my pre-2007 bidding history..

If whoever is compiling the compensation offers can see the past history (which is what they would be basing any offer on) then YOU should be able to see the same history. No-one should accept any offers, or sign any waivers, until all past Order History has been restored.

It is beyond understanding that Snapnames (who are presumably checking what is posted on this and other forums) don't seem to comprehend the depth of anger caused by their seeming unwillingness to allow us access to what is a matter of record. If this past history is not restored than I truly believe Snapnames is totally toast, and not the jewel / cash cow in the Oversee crown.

gmac17 · Nov 6, 2009

i just got my $250 offer, but it seems odd - it's only for 5 .info auctions. i don't remember what he was in auction-wise, but would figure he was in more than those 5 stinkers - i won about 70 auctions at snap.

MicroGuy · Nov 6, 2009

Can someone who has received an offer post details of the legal waiver. Thanks.

DN BROKER · Nov 6, 2009

anyone who accepts the offers, is also agreeing on not suing!

Makis.TV · Nov 6, 2009

copied from another forum:

[...] "I, the undersigned, individually and jointly, for myself and my successors, assigns, trustees, partners, joint venturers, directors, officers, affiliates, associates, managers, licensees, and for any other claiming through or under each or all of them and for any person or entity with or for whom I may have purchased the above mentioned names (collectively, the “Releasors”) hereby release and forever discharge, acquit, covenant not to sue and acknowledge complete satisfaction from, SnapNames, and its past and present parent companies (including Oversee.net), affiliates, successors, assigns, agents, attorneys, servants, representatives, employees, independent contractors, trustees, administrators, predecessors-in-interest, insurers, partners, joint venturers, stockholders, members, directors, officers, parent companies, associated companies, holding companies, subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, associates, managers, licensees, accountants and consultants of any of the foregoing (collectively, the “Releasees”) for any and all claims, actions, arbitrations, charges, complaints, grievances, hearings, causes of action, actions, suits, damages, costs, expenses, judgments, liabilities, demands, inquiries, investigations, proceedings or suits of every kind and nature whatsoever, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, previously existing, or now existing, or hereafter arising, in law or in equity (collectively, the “Claims”), which the Releasors or any of them had, may have had, or now has, from the beginning of time to today’s date against the Releasees, collectively, or any of the Releasees, individually, for or by reason of any matter whatsoever relating to the auctions for and acquisition of the Domains, including without limitation, any Claims relating in whole or in part to the bidding activity of the SnapNames user associated with the user name “halvarez” (the “Released Matters”) for damages, restitution, disgorgement, unjust enrichment, civil penalties, statutory penalties, injunctive and/or declaratory relief, whether class, individual, representative, or otherwise in nature, including costs, expenses, penalties, and attorneys fees.

I, the undersigned, hereby covenant and agree that I shall not hereafter sue or seek to establish liability against any of the Releasees based, in whole or in part, upon any Claim relating in whole or in part to the Released Matters. I further covenant and agree that I shall, hereafter, opt out of any plaintiff class or other representative action of which I might be a member in any action against any of the Releasees, based, in whole or in part, on any Claims relating in whole or in part to the Released Matters."

deb · Nov 6, 2009

Mine is about half what i expected....whilst he was in a lot of my auctions he "mostly" never bid above the minimum.

Snapnames HAVE NOT restated our Order History and until they do RUST's figures cannot be confirmed.

If Already RUST has the figures back to 2004 why cant we? to verify their calculations!!

"If" these lower figures are correct and the compensation is under US$5-10,000,000 Snapnames will be Fine imo

RogueWriter · Nov 6, 2009

Radiator said:
I've dusted off the crystal ball, and deep within I see a list forming...

lmao, yes, exactly...

deb · Nov 6, 2009

24HourDomainer said:
anyone who accepts the offers, is also agreeing on not suing!

Be careful not to sign anything too quickly....Check and double check everything and seek legal advice.

DN BROKER · Nov 6, 2009

deb said:
Be careful not to sign anything too quickly....Check and double check everything and seek legal advice.

Agreed, we need to take action as a community - if we decide to cash in for our damages then this company will get away with fraud!

Peter · Nov 6, 2009

WebInceptions said:
One thing is for sure - Rob is NOT who he says he is.

Everyone involved in this knows halvarez did not stop in 2007, and anyone working for Oversee would know that and not be posting such nonsense here.

Noone has claimed it stopped in 2007, they simply said the bul of auctions were between 2005 and 2007 this means that there were still some auctions after that period.

Also people by all means yes there has been clear fraud here but do not shoot Rob the messenger. If anything you will discourage him in posting here which can only hurt you in that it will be harder for you to find out any information

Also the people claiming that they are lying when they say that all auction info prior to November 2007 is archived. What would they have to benefit in lying? If they were lying how hard do you actually think it would be to prove them wrong?

canbrit said:
Shill bidding (artificially driving up the end price of an auction) doesn't benefit an individual working for an auction company. It benefits the auction company only. It is very difficult to believe that "Halvarez" was working on his own for his own benefit. He did win (and seems to have later sold) some domains, but shill bidding (and not actually winning)is what seems to be the major issue...

Actually he would have benefitted greatly from shill bidding. He was a major share holder prior to snapnames being bought. The inflated selling prices and profit this brough in inflated the value of the company thus also increasing the value of his shares. Also as has been pointed out many times, he was selling the domains he won quite possibly to companies he knew damn fine would buy them at inflated prices.

Alex said:
Bidding in the 2005-2007 period might be understandable as he was a shareholder, but after that, it makes no sense to me. I guess we will find out a lot more on this subject.

Why does it not make any sense to you? You buy domains to sell on or to profit from parking revenue? Why would he not be doing the same with the domains he won?

Ms Domainer said:
Halvarez/Nelson Brady must have some buds over at Wikipedia.

Why? as you can see from the wikipedia deleted page info it was an attack page IE it was used to post disparaging messages about the person. Wikipedia is not a resource to attack people.

RogueWriter said:
Eh, SnapGate dot com is taken, doggonit. Ah well, someone else will think of a good name for this event.

Lol yeah I looked that up yesterday. Someone must have had a feeling 5 years ago what was going to happen :p

GF · Nov 6, 2009

Has anyone been approached by attorneys regarding a class-action lawsuit?

labrocca · Nov 6, 2009

I still can't figure out his motivation though for Brady to shill bid as a "single person" in the Oversee.net era.

Well apparently he had the ability to rebate part of the sale price to himself. So imagine buying a $xx,xxx quality name at half price and then flipping it quick. Heck you would even have a snapnames history to show what it previously sold for.

We don't even know the discount he gave himself. It could have been even higher than 50%. I any case this is an example of corporate greed and what happens when things are not regulated. Also fair competition in the marketplace imho does not exist for domain drops. The very few auction houses could seriously be in bed with the registry. I am deeply troubled by the mention of NetSol in this. If Verisign is part of this via kickbacks then someone has to be acocuntable in their organization as well.

I applaud the feds for investigating a Rico case. This is a serious matter.

IAmAllanShore · Nov 6, 2009

Can anyone who has received an offer post the email address from which it came?
Also, is there anyone else who is expecting an offer who has not received it yet, or are they doing these in "batches?"
And finally, those of you expecting a certain amount, how were you able to expect a certain amount without being able to confirm your 2004 to Nov 2007 bid history? Did you preemptively save it all locally, or did you not bid prior to Nov 2007?
Best,
-Allan :gl:

deb · Nov 6, 2009

IAmAllanShore said:
Can anyone who has received an offer post the email address from which it came?
Also, is there anyone else who is expecting an offer who has not received it yet, or are they doing these in "batches?"
And finally, those of you expecting a certain amount, how were you able to expect a certain amount without being able to confirm your 2004 to Nov 2007 bid history? Did you preemptively save it all locally, or did you not bid prior to Nov 2007?
Best,
-Allan :gl:

SnapNames Rebate Administrator <[email protected]>

HALVAREZ First Stole from me on APRIL FOOLS DAY 2005 How appropriate Nelson Thanks_\|/_

---------- Post added at 01:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------

Galel said:
Has anyone been approached by attorneys regarding a class-action lawsuit?

It will be interesting to see what grounds they would base a suit on. (i know there is a lot)

I think snapnames are being pretty reasonable in resolving this.

BUT i want the history in my Snapnames account reinstated asap to verify RUSTs figures.

gazzip · Nov 6, 2009

IAmAllanShore said:
Can anyone who has received an offer post the email address from which it came?
Also, is there anyone else who is expecting an offer who has not received it yet, or are they doing these in "batches?"
And finally, those of you expecting a certain amount, how were you able to expect a certain amount without being able to confirm your 2004 to Nov 2007 bid history? Did you preemptively save it all locally, or did you not bid prior to Nov 2007?
Best,
-Allan :gl:

[snapnamesrebate @ rustconsulting.vertismail.com

I only got screwed $14 plus interest on 10 domains so I'm not that bothered about the money - it was pretty much what I expected, I made far more on the other pile of names where it was just me and him and he did'nt bid :lol:

They only sent me a list of the ones where he bid in or I had to bid over his $60 order to win, they go from Oct 2005 to December 2008

I still think the correct thing to do is put everybody's history back so they can check it themselves.

.

npcomplete · Nov 6, 2009

I bet the paper shredders and hard drive wipers are going 24x7.

Brady acting alone, and *nobody* knowing about this fails the smirk test.

I am Shocked, SHOCKED I tell you that there was fraud in the auction business!

I wonder who will get caught in the cover up?

'Halvarez' at Snapnames auctions uncovered

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