question Am I being scammed by a fake domain broker and buyer?

Appraisal scam

Don’t respond

Thanks

Its the good old appraisal scam..just delete it

This has scam written all over it.

But to prove that this is a scam, there you go. The certificate pitch.

chickenfillet said:

Do you have a certificate for your domain in English and Japanese? It's required by the buyer and his escrow service. They must be sure your domain has no restrictions or problems with law and trademarks in Japan. He won't proceed without it.​

Click to expand...

its scam

if unsure its good thing to ask others and or search google.

unfortunately, some still do not do that.. and fall for it.. I am sure scammers make some money to this day with this bs.

Respond with questions and waste their time. Ask for clarifications etc.

Thanks everyone, I thought so.

I've responded and blocked their email address...

alcy said:

I am sure scammers make some money to this day with this bs.

Click to expand...

You can guarantee they are still making money, hence the scam attempts continue.

This Japanese buyer scam is just slightly better worded than the more obvious Nigerian scam attempts. It just goes to show it's in human nature to want to believe the possibility of 'good news' to even still raise these as questions

Appraisal scam

I had two emails like the same in last July 2017, Don't respond and not spend any money for their certificate.

if you ask them to come via SEDO or Escrow.com they will flee from you

copy of Email :1 I had received:

Hello!

I represent a buyer from Osaka (Japan) who wishes to buy xxxx.com for a new project.

I help our VIP clients to find names for their projects.

Our buyer can make you a really good offer.

If you have more names please email me the list. I may offer them to our buyers.

Sincerely yours,

Ryoko *******

Personal Domain Broker

Core Server Japan Hosting

Yokohama

Japan

Second:

The buyer is an investor from Japan.

He also wants to buy buy .net domain if you own it.

Commission of our company is only 5%. It's paid by the buyer.

He will send you the funds you via an escrow service that accept incoming payments from Japan.
The buyer offers $15,000 - $20,000.

Do you have a certificate? It's required by his bank.

The final sale price will depend on the certificate.

If you don't have the certificate it's not a problem. You can order it online.

Please note he cannot accept it from any agency. He needs a manual service. It also must be a third party independent agency (not your broker our auction site) and must be accepted by his bank.

The certification includes the following:

1. Independent valuation of the market price. It will show your domain name is not overpriced. On the other hand if the valuation comes higher, he will increase the price accordingly. In the domain name industry, there are many appraisal tools that people use to estimate the value of a domain name. My client does not want to risk and doesn't accept services that use scripts. If you are unsure about some service feel free to ask me.

2. TM verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems. He would like this verification to be included in the appraisal report. It's not a problem because some companies include the TM verification for free.

You can read about certification agencies at Google Answers:

Link removed (“Domain Broker” is my nickname).

The process is very easy:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. Just submit your domains and let them know you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer. It will help you to get a better valuation.

If your domain is worth at least $1000, they will send you the payment instructions. If it's not possible, they won't send you the instructions. This way you will not lose anything. It's very convenient and gives you the full protection. Other services charge you upfront even if your domain is not worth spending the appraisal fee, so I don't recommend them.

2. Send the certificate to me and we will start the sale process. As soon as he receives your certificate he will buy your domain.

If you are new to the certification process, I can help you with the step by step instructions.

Hope it will help

^ Thanks to that post above, it is basically the same as the scam email I received.

I find it funny though. The guy in the scam email offered me 15 BTC for my domain name!

It's no wonder people fall for it. 15 BTC = $100K!!!

If you need to ask delete...

I've seen this one quite a few times.

I always think to myself if someone is going to want it anyways why would they even care if it was appraised, and what it was appraised for?
Also, they could always do a TM search themselves if they really wanted the name.

As the owner of the domain you dictate the terms. If they want it they have to follow your rules and not the other way around.

i forget to say one more thing when i was followed the link (currently removed from post) it redirected to a site and ask to pay $200 upfront even without asking the domain name.

I had the same thing for my domain Recruitable.com. Again, a Japanese businessman that wanted to pay $200k for it. I followed along and he asked me to get an appraisal but that is should be from a reputable source and he provided a link. I said I am happy to provide an appraisal but I would do it from a place of my choice like Sedo.com. He said it it had to be from that link as the buyer had asked for this. I said seeing as he is sure the buyer will pay, perhaps he should pay for the appraisal and that once I receive some payment I will give him double what he paid for the appraisal. Never heard back

Below is the scam email I got two days ago. I played along to see how far they would go, and they ended up with an abusive email insulting me when I called them out and told them that I had googled their con and they were a scam Here is the original pitch:


From: Domain Broker
Date: 3/18/20 12:38 (GMT-08:00)

My name is Elizabeth Kobayashi. You were contacted by my colleague Riku. I will help you to finish the sale.

I work for a hosting provider from Japan.

I'm a broker of your buyer (businessman and online business investor). He will use your domain to generate traffic to his new web project.

I act as a broker for 6% commission. It is divided between you and the buyer (50%/50%). Don't worry: you pay it after you get the money.
The buyer is going to pay $35000 USD. He may also pay in Yen (JPY) - 3 785 302 Yen.
I work with many domain investors from Japan, Korea, Singapore etc. If you have other domains I may help you to sell them to my investors.
Please join my Domain Sale Chat in Telegram messenger: Make search for "DomainSaleChat" in Telegram messenger, join our chat and send me a private message (Elizabeth Domain Broker). You may also talk to other domain sellers from the chat who used my services in the past. I have many happy customers.
The buyer keeps a big sum in crypto currency who wants to invest in web projects. The buyer offers this sum in Litecoin/Bitcoin or via International wire transfer/Western Union. Do you also own .net and .org version? The buyer is a professional investor. He earns serious money on web projects. Your domain will generate traffic to hos new project because it has a good potential and search engine friendly. That's why he can offer a good price for your domain. Professional investors buy through personal brokers. They don't use Flippa or GoDaddy Auctions so you cannot sell there for good money.

The payment to you will be made via escrow service to protect both parties during the transaction. You will get 50% before the domain transfer and 50% after.

To proceed with the sale, the buyer requires certification of compliance with Japan law and trademarks because he will run his startup in Japan.
The buyer pays good money but he must be sure he will not be sued for using it in his country. He needs an independent certification of compliance with Japan law that proves it can be used in Japan.
Please don't worry. If you don't have it you can order it online. I will help you with instructions and will not leave you along with this.

Please note this is not a SSL certificate. I hope you understand it.

The certification must include the following:
- The certification agency must be certified to verify domains in Japan.
- Verification of compliance with Japan law and trademarks.
- Legal restrictions for his country.
- Independent valuation by market experts.
- The certificate must be up to date (issued during last 30 days).
- Official copy of the verification in English and Japanese.
But the certification gives a big advantage to you. If the certification shows a higher value he will pay the higher price. If it comes lower he will pay you the sum I mentioned earlier.
We asked him if GoDaddy and Sedo certificates meet the requirements.If you are ready to to sell to my client please let me know.Best regards,

Elizabeth Kobayashi
.




On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 brokerage

Hi!
If interested we will send you all the details.
Please confirm you are the owner and you have received this email. We will send you the offer details.
Do you have Paypal or Blockchain/Helio wallet?
Riku Kojima
Chief Operating Officer
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo,Japan

Their final response:
On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Domain Broker wrote:

Di you read my email or not? The escrow may chanage crypto to usd. You will get USD.

Go get the certificate, buddy. Hurry up, boy. thebuyer cannot wait long.

katzgroove said:

Below is the scam email I got two days ago. I played along to see how far they would go, and they ended up with an abusive email insulting me when I called them out and told them that I had googled their con and they were a scam Here is the original pitch:


From: Domain Broker
Date: 3/18/20 12:38 (GMT-08:00)

My name is Elizabeth Kobayashi. You were contacted by my colleague Riku. I will help you to finish the sale.

I work for a hosting provider from Japan.

I'm a broker of your buyer (businessman and online business investor). He will use your domain to generate traffic to his new web project.

I act as a broker for 6% commission. It is divided between you and the buyer (50%/50%). Don't worry: you pay it after you get the money.
The buyer is going to pay $35000 USD. He may also pay in Yen (JPY) - 3 785 302 Yen.
I work with many domain investors from Japan, Korea, Singapore etc. If you have other domains I may help you to sell them to my investors.
Please join my Domain Sale Chat in Telegram messenger: Make search for "DomainSaleChat" in Telegram messenger, join our chat and send me a private message (Elizabeth Domain Broker). You may also talk to other domain sellers from the chat who used my services in the past. I have many happy customers.
The buyer keeps a big sum in crypto currency who wants to invest in web projects. The buyer offers this sum in Litecoin/Bitcoin or via International wire transfer/Western Union. Do you also own .net and .org version? The buyer is a professional investor. He earns serious money on web projects. Your domain will generate traffic to hos new project because it has a good potential and search engine friendly. That's why he can offer a good price for your domain. Professional investors buy through personal brokers. They don't use Flippa or GoDaddy Auctions so you cannot sell there for good money.

The payment to you will be made via escrow service to protect both parties during the transaction. You will get 50% before the domain transfer and 50% after.

To proceed with the sale, the buyer requires certification of compliance with Japan law and trademarks because he will run his startup in Japan.
The buyer pays good money but he must be sure he will not be sued for using it in his country. He needs an independent certification of compliance with Japan law that proves it can be used in Japan.
Please don't worry. If you don't have it you can order it online. I will help you with instructions and will not leave you along with this.

Please note this is not a SSL certificate. I hope you understand it.

The certification must include the following:
- The certification agency must be certified to verify domains in Japan.
- Verification of compliance with Japan law and trademarks.
- Legal restrictions for his country.
- Independent valuation by market experts.
- The certificate must be up to date (issued during last 30 days).
- Official copy of the verification in English and Japanese.
But the certification gives a big advantage to you. If the certification shows a higher value he will pay the higher price. If it comes lower he will pay you the sum I mentioned earlier.
We asked him if GoDaddy and Sedo certificates meet the requirements.If you are ready to to sell to my client please let me know.Best regards,

Elizabeth Kobayashi
.




On Wednesday, March 18, 2020 brokerage

Hi!
If interested we will send you all the details.
Please confirm you are the owner and you have received this email. We will send you the offer details.
Do you have Paypal or Blockchain/Helio wallet?
Riku Kojima
Chief Operating Officer
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo,Japan

Their final response:
On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Domain Broker wrote:

Di you read my email or not? The escrow may chanage crypto to usd. You will get USD.

Go get the certificate, buddy. Hurry up, boy. thebuyer cannot wait long.

Click to expand...

Wonder if Elizabeth a fan of the Usual Suspects?

I was offered $75k, can you believe this? What a desperate fools!

BTW, this blog blocks names, addresses, links. These SHOULD be EXPOSED. WTF is wrong with you, admin folks???

I just got a similar message Looks like they are starting to use a short intro message first.
--
Hello! I'm reaching you out regarding your domain mentioned in the subject line. We want to acquire it and offer $60000 usd to secure the sale. Sincerely yours, Nasrula Badawi Customer Support NOBALAA HOSTING LTD. SA
--

Searching in google gives another forum with the exact same email and price. They then reply with exact message asking for certifcate.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/scam-email-2018.1064159/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/certificate-scam-email-to-buy-my-domains.1038874/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/popular-email-scam-is-baaaack-red-flags.970275/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/new-spammer-in-town-xinnet-domain-brokerage.1064151/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/domain-appraisal-scam-from-sarah-swiss-lawyers-info.974443/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/please-beware-of-this-email-scam.1163863/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/another-scam-i-replied-to-this-one.1022406/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/re...-others-from-a-fake-japanese-company.1050415/
https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-appraisal-scammer-is-on-the-move-again.1142234/

Had just posted the above to another thread when I came across this thread.

Funny little add to these type of threads. Had an email from somebody who identified themselves as a Japanese Agent/broker last year, who said the same sort of thing as all the scam emails. Of course I knew full-well if I responded that the Appraisal certificate request email would follow.

The domain was already listed at Dan for $1.5k , So despite knowing nothing was going to happen. I did just send the link to the Dan page. Buyer PAID for domain same day and then sent me a thanks email. - yep shocked, why do people not check if a domain resolves. Plus the bugger left me wondering what I could've negotiated outside the Dan page

Agree that was a one in a thousand co-incidence - but I will always send a sales page link in return these days (If there isn't a certificate requested in that first email)

“Hello! I'm reaching you out regarding your domain mentioned in the subject line. We want to acquire it and offer $60000 usd to secure the sale. Sincerely yours, Nasrula Badawi Customer Support NOBALAA HOSTING LTD. SA “


Another attempt
Received it just today
Seems like it is a scammer standard template where specific domain name is not mentioned (and only says ‘mentioned in the subject line’). Standardisation at scammers end. He’s saved himself changing the names again and again lol
Plus the asking price is still the same $60,000 USD as of previous years with no effect of changes in interest rates! Pity

I was contacted by someone directly on my Sell Domain post here on Namepros. He said he could only pay with Crypto as he was having problems paying with 'real' money because his Government (chinese) wouldn't let him. After a couple of weeks of back and forth I RAISED the price of the domain by 2k and he accepted the new price! He then said I had to go Crexsat.com and that we would do all the transactions through that site, that we would have to sign a contract first. I'm not tech savvy but just the fact that I had to open accounts on Crexsat and also on Telegram to keep in touch with him kind of made me nervous. I checked Crexsat.com on whois and noticed it was registered less than two weeks ago, I also checked Crexsat on ScamDoc and it only got 1% trustworthiness with lots of red bold lettering advising you to STAY AWAY. I sent him the pic of the analysis and he got pissed off and started using the f word. Anyways, I have blocked him now so that's the end of that. His user name here on NamePros is Abyzer0001.