Dynadot

advice I was scammed and its embarrassing

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I cant believe I am writing this.

I am doing this knowing I will be ridiculed.

I am doing this knowing some people will laugh.

I am doing this knowing some people with be outright nasty

I am not looking for sympathy.

I am doing this to help others.


It started a couple of weeks ago. I posted on Linkedin that I was selling my name MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for 1 million dollars. Sometimes I like to try odd ways of advertising to see if it works. I wanted to see if posting an obviously inflated price would prompt some discussion. Apparently it caught the eye of a Nigerian scammer and I would be his next victim.


Barbara wrote to me about the name technology.com:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/



I was intrigued so I did some research and couldn’t find the domain name or address with any recent action. The name popped up on linked : https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-untergasser-893193144/

She belonged to some domain groups and had a bunch of connections. It wasn’t a brand new account so I proceeded to write Barbara. I asked her how much she wanted - $120,000. I didn’t have that kind of money so I turned to a trusted person I know in the industry to buy the name and pay me a finders fee. We have done that deal before so I knew I could at least a few bucks off the deal.If I could get the price down, I could make more money. Barbara seemed niave and had no idea what she had. I asked if she would take less and we agreed on a price. I explained to Barbara that I had a financial backer and I needed to loop him in, he would handle the deal from here. I loop my backer in and he asks for her escrow information,Barabara writes me back and explains that her husband messed up their escrow account years ago and she cant use escrow. I go back to my backer and let him know the situation and he bails immediately. “Hell no! It’s a scam” I was advised to run. I wrote back to Barbara and advised her that nobody in the industry will touch her name without escrow. I thanked her for her time and went about my way.


I left work for the day and on my way home I received an email from Barabara. She wanted to do a deal and would sell it for less because she couldn’t use escrow. After days of chatting through Linkedin she explained she was from Austria and moved to Texas after she married:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

Her husband ended up turning to drugs and they are divorcing and selling off assets. She needed money to live and their domain portfolio was the only thing worth much money.

We talked for a week, we talked about personal things,domains and everything in between. I was checking stories and looking for clues the entire time. She would have bailed long ago if she was scamming me – right?

I asked for proof about owning the name and she provided it:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I told her that I wasn’t going to transfer money until she transferred the name. We agreed on a small down payment and then the transfer would start. The money exchange would be Paypal. I sent the money to her friend because she didn’t have paypal (another red flag) – I sent the down payment. The transfer started:


http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/


I wired the rest of the money and sent another small amount via Western Union to a friend she owed money to. (Another Red Flag)


I waited for the push to my enom account and nothing. I called enom and they told me the name was registered under them but managed by another party? I called the number they gave me and emailed the account. I still have never heard back from them. I started getting nervous and pressuring Barbara. All of the sudden I get a phone call from her “son” asked me to relax that I was upsetting his mom. He had a heavy accent. I knew at that point I was screwed!


I didn’t want “Barbara” to know I was on to what was happening. I kept talking to her. I was scrambling trying to cancel everything.


1. Western Union – it was already picked up. Im screwed. I filed a report and I still havnt heard anything back – that money is gone.

2. Wire – Bank Of America and USAA. I called them both before they opened to stop the transfer. My bank USAA – told me its instant, its at Bank Of America, call them. I called and talked to so many people who would do nothing. Literally nothing. The bank wasn’t open yet, they could have stopped it. They wouldn’t do a thing. I have since written to the heads of these banks and their management and have heard nothing. How can you not listen to a person who is explaining an outright scam and do nothing?

3. Paypal – what a joke! I paid by friends and family by accident. I wasn’t paying attention, my fault. They froze 2K on his account, I paid 6K. Again, they could have stopped this. I explained what happened and how it was a scam and I could prove it, they didn’t care only to tell me tough, you used friends and family. They still have 2K frozen and wont give it back to me. I even send all the proof to their executive support and their answer was to dispute it with my credit card company. With all the business I give Paypal I was expecting better support.

I tried stopping all of this before business hours and before money was taken, all of these businesses could have stopped the transactions at least to investigate. Nope, not one of them cared.


Enom wrote me back:



The email about the transfer and owning the name were forged. Damn it. It looked real. I started following IP addresses and one hit Nigeria, now I knew I was in trouble



I wrote to Barbara and confronted “her” and I found out it was a scam. It was a guy, he wont tell me where he is from but I know. To this day he still texts me telling me he is sorry.

I found the guy to where I wired the money. He is a Nigerian student at Baylor University. He made the mistake of friending me on Facebook. I went to Baylor and the Waco police to pressure him. I also start bothering his family. He wired back all my money . I never heard from Baylor so I wrote them again, they went to the Waco police because I was harassing them! They never once acknowledged my emails or told me to stop. How do I know the crime wasn’t committed on their computer system?


Here is all the information I have on all of them:

Barbara Untergasser
[email protected]
[email protected]
Oriade Ayemo
Gbemileke Ikugbanmire


Telephone numbers:

737-210-3686 – “Barbaras son”

346-233-0321 – “Barbara” known as Barbie88 on Namepros

217-577-8729 – [email protected] – piece of shit in Atlanta that has my 6K – claims he doesn’t know anything



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Oriade Ayemo Account Number: 004644944793 Routine No: 026009593 Address: 1100 N valley Mills Dr, Waco , Texas 76710 Who is this to you? Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080 Note: Do not use business as the payment type to avoid delay. Just use Family or Personal.

Western Union Details Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA Amount: $2000 Western Union Details Name: Akpevwe Olidge Location: Atlanta, GA Moneygram Details


Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA

[email protected]

Recipient Name: Akpevwe Olidge Destination: Atlanta GA.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. This went on for 2 weeks and he still texts me!
 

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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Sorry to hear your loss mate, Hope we all learned something from your ordeal. Thanks for sharing.
 
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@uglydork Really sorry to hear about this ordeal! What a nightmare!!

I somehow got the feeling that you actually believed the entire story at some point!! Can you tell us at what point you stopped doubting the scammer?? I think that would be really useful for many here and for yourself on reflection.

I remember you mentioning your wife as also part of decision making with hatred.com so what was her take here?? I can't believe that she wouldn't have sensed the scam if she was in the know!!... not to put down guys but imo women really are more perceptive of subtle clues than men.

Thanks for sharing this. It's not going to be easy to put to bed in your mind irrespective of if 2K is big for you or not.

best,
Anita
 
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Thanks for Sharing, valuable information and lessons for us all
 
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@uglydork Thank you for sharing this, at least you still screw those bastard in one and another way by preventing any other else from getting scammed

3. Paypal – what a joke! I paid by friends and family by accident. I wasn’t paying attention, my fault. They froze 2K on his account, I paid 6K. Again, they could have stopped this. I explained what happened and how it was a scam and I could prove it, they didn’t care only to tell me tough, you used friends and family. They still have 2K frozen and wont give it back to me. I even send all the proof to their executive support and their answer was to dispute it with my credit card company. With all the business I give Paypal I was expecting better support.

Any other domainer who put their last hope on paypal digital goods protection should read about this. If you want the protection you should prepare it carefully :
1. use transaction / service option
2. ask for paypal invoice
3. describe the transaction in detailed manner
4. take some ownership proof screenshoot

And still all those hardwork were not fully guarantee your safety :D
 
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Hey Richard,

Hang in there, you are going to be okay. You're a moneymaker. You'll get it back one way or another. You're a smart guy in a world of opportunity.

I have seen children rip off their own parents even. This stuff happens every day. Don't let it slow you down, let it rev you up!
 
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Hey Richard,

Hang in there, you are going to be okay. You're a moneymaker. You'll get it back one way or another. You're a smart guy in a world of opportunity.

I have seen children rip off their own parents even. This stuff happens every day. Don't let it slow you down, let it rev you up!
Thanks - you have always supported me even when people attacked me when I sold Hatred, which is still going on! I dont know why people cant believe I sold that name?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/hatred-com-back-up-for-sale-for-300k-by-richard-dynas.1064944/
 
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you're taking yoru own thread seriously offtopic lol
usually its other peoples job ;)
It amuses me to see people so wrong and stupid :)
 
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Thanks - you have always supported me even when people attacked me when I sold Hatred, which is still going on! I dont know why people cant believe I sold that name?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/hatred-com-back-up-for-sale-for-300k-by-richard-dynas.1064944/
It doesn't matter friend. Some believe, some don't, some can't. Just do what you do. It's good stuff. Hang in there. You are part of a family and families sometimes bicker and go through rough times. We are still your family. Remember that.
 
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Sorry to hear this happened to you and it is a good reminder to be wary. Could have happened to anyone im sure given the right scenario's.
 
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Sorry to hear you got greedy and lost your sense of reason. You should have known better and you know this already. It is admirable of you to admit it and write about it publicly under your own name.

Truly, your first red flag was when a domainer offered you a great domain name like Technology.com. Remember, a true domainer ALWAYS only offers you crappy, pigeon-shit domain names like eTechnologyly.com. Pay better attention next time!
 
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For anyone reading this post, you may copy and paste the following any time you see the need:

"I would never, never, ever send more money to anyone without knowing who they are. If you do not want to or cannot use escrow, for any reason, you must give me the domain first. Otherwise we have nothing more to discuss.

I sincerely hope we can complete the transaction but these terms are non-negotiable."

That wouldn't help with a stolen domain. They could push it to your account before payment (which would surely be a scam), you pay and, pffuff the money would be gone, and sooner or later the domain would go the same way as the money.
 
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That wouldn't help with a stolen domain. They could push it to your account before payment (which would surely be a scam), you pay and, pffuff the money would be gone, and sooner or later the domain would go the same way as the money.
Thanks for that. You are 100% right. I should have explained that possibility.
 
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It's a $6k lesson. Learn from it, grow from it and bounce back. If you do it becomes an investment in your future.

The fact that you got fooled by the scam is proof that you were vulnerable to a scam. Now you are not, if you take the lesson.
 
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Sorry to hear this. Being scammed sucks. But the irony here is, after you made your big Hatred sale, you quickly noted/announced here you were now going to 'broker' domains. So it appears, if there had been one, some potential buyer/client escaped a financial bullet. Which points out another lesson here - 'one good sale does not a domain broker make'.
 
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About the buildup to this, the week of chatting - just google Romance Scams to see how they do it, this way many middle aged women have lost huge sums and even sold their houses to give money to people in foreign parts.
 
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I was scammed by a colleague from college recently so I know how it feels. Hindsight is always 20/20. You learnt a bitter lesson, take it and move on.
 
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He saw you as a potential victim because of your wanna be 'internet get rich quick scheme' by offering MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for $1M!!!!!
 
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He saw you as a potential victim because of your wanna be 'internet get rich quick scheme' by offering MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for $1M!!!!!
And was right!
 
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I guess you could use hatred.com right now ;)

Thanks for sharing, though.
 
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wow, crazy story.

Seems like you knew it was a scam all along, but you wanted to believe it was real because of the lure of such an amazing name. So you made yourself believe a lie. You weren't really scammed, you scammed yourself to be honest. If escrow is off the table, there should be no negotiation. Especially for a 5-6 figure deal. How else can you send so much money and guarantee you'll get the name?

Paypal? Thou shalt not...

if they didn't have escrow.com,they could simply open payoneer or another escrow company account...

Thank God, you got your money back!
It just reminds us that we are all human and we all make mistakes no matter how experienced we are. We just have to stay cautious and focused going forward.
 
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@uglydork - I'm sorry if I missed this part somewhere. But at what point did you get you money back? And how did that go down? By which I mean who paid you and how was the payment made?
 
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