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The below quote is being posted on behalf of Becky, who was the target of a broker scam naming her the beneficiary of a domain that sold. Just to clarify a little, Becky did not own the domain at all but was unsure at the time of the call whether or not it was in one of her portfolios. As we all know, sometimes large or multiple portfolios can tend to cause forgetfulness.
I'm still not sure, nor do I have all the details as to how he convinced her she might have owned the domain. Luckily she discovered she didn't own it before she sent any broker fee's to claim her sold funds.
I'm thinking the point of this "Phone Call Broker Scam" is to catch individuals off-gaurd and away from their PC so they don't have an opportunity to check whether or not they actually own the domain in question. Furthermore, they seem to target individuals they feel have large enough portfolios Or individuals who have their portfolios managed by someone else, so they don't know what they own. That may keep the victim wondering and halfway believing.
Lesson: Be careful of brokers calling you and asking for fee's over the phone. Especially if they are using urgent closing tactics to secure the funds before you have a chance to check your portfolio(s). While Becky didn't own this domain & was able to avoid being taken to the cleaners on a bogus fee, It's quite possible that some scam brokers may attempt to set-up fake sales of a domain that actually is in your portfolio & claim to have listed it on your behalf.
Avoiding being scammed by one of these brokers if you aren't sure: Tell them to take the fee out of the sales total & send you the remainder. There should be no need at all for you to send them any money when they supposedly facilitated the sale. Once you have the money, then you can transfer the domain to them to complete the deal.
Below is Becky's initial message about the incident:
I'm still not sure, nor do I have all the details as to how he convinced her she might have owned the domain. Luckily she discovered she didn't own it before she sent any broker fee's to claim her sold funds.
I'm thinking the point of this "Phone Call Broker Scam" is to catch individuals off-gaurd and away from their PC so they don't have an opportunity to check whether or not they actually own the domain in question. Furthermore, they seem to target individuals they feel have large enough portfolios Or individuals who have their portfolios managed by someone else, so they don't know what they own. That may keep the victim wondering and halfway believing.
Lesson: Be careful of brokers calling you and asking for fee's over the phone. Especially if they are using urgent closing tactics to secure the funds before you have a chance to check your portfolio(s). While Becky didn't own this domain & was able to avoid being taken to the cleaners on a bogus fee, It's quite possible that some scam brokers may attempt to set-up fake sales of a domain that actually is in your portfolio & claim to have listed it on your behalf.
Avoiding being scammed by one of these brokers if you aren't sure: Tell them to take the fee out of the sales total & send you the remainder. There should be no need at all for you to send them any money when they supposedly facilitated the sale. Once you have the money, then you can transfer the domain to them to complete the deal.
Below is Becky's initial message about the incident:
I received a phone call from someone saying they were a broker and that I had a website domain name that I had through fidelity merchant solutions and that my domain name sold on 11/6/2013 for [XX,XXX] dollars. I looked it up on dnjournal and I see the Domain name and what it sold for but before I send them broker fees I am trying to find out if I am the beneficiary before I send them the broker fees.
How do I figure out if this is real?
I never received an email of any kind just phone calls.
The name of the person that is suppose to be the broker is Thomas Edwards. He said he was with Engage Business Services. The phone number he gave me to call back is 718-755-6626. He said I had 45 days to respond and send him [X,XXX] dollars or I would loose the money that my Domain name sold for.
Thank You,
Becky
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