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New GoDaddy Scam?

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Volontier

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Hello guys, I am aware of the scam going on where somebody reaches out to you and offers you XX.XXX for your domain name, claiming they are a broker and buying it on a behalf of the company etc...

I received a similar email couple days ago but this time there is something different.

Here is the first email:
"
Hello! We've found your email via WHO IS. Are you interested in selling your domain? We can make an offer in $XX,XXX range. How do you want to get paid: Paypal, Bitcoin or wire? E. Rosenberg, Ph.D. Haifa, Israel Galcomm Co.

"

Nothing unusual, seems like the one I got last time. I did reply saying I am interested in selling the domain name.
However the next email surprised me and supposedly it came from GoDaddy :

"
Thank you for confirming you have received our email. We're required by ICANN regulations to forward these types of requests to you. However this is our obligation to verify the legitimacy of such requests.


To protect you we have verified this contact and may confirm the legitimacy of the request to purchase your domain. The buyer has provided the proof of funds so now you can communicate with the buyer safely.


To respond safely to the domain buyer, simply reply to this email and he will receive your response on his email account. Then you will be able to communicate direct without GoDaddy.




Copyright © 1999-2020 GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC. 14455 N. Hayden Rd, Ste. 219, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA. All rights reserved.

"

Than I got another email from the buyer again which reviled that it was the same type of scam that was going on for a while:

Hello!


We have passed the GoDaddy buyer's verification and now we can send you a message. Now this is a Godaddy's certified offer and you can be sure the buyer has serious intentions.


My name is Elisa Rosenberg. I work as a broker of International clients in a hosting company - Galcomm Co. from Israel. I will help you to finish the sale.


I am reaching out to you on behalf of a buyer from Tel Aviv. Your buyer is a company from Israel. Your domain will be used to generate traffic to their new mutli-million dollar web project so they offer a good price. Commission of our company is 6%. It's paid when you get the money.


They will pay you via the Escrow.com or Swiss Escrow service. You can be paid via wire, Paypal, check or any other method you prefer.


The buyer offers $60,000 usd.


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


The final sale price will depend on the certificate ($60,000 minimum - if it comes higher they will pay more).


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 and law compliance 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.


3. Copy in Hebrew.


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 $10000, 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 the buyer receives your certificate they will buy your domain.


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


To read the review you must have Telegram Messenger installed on your smartphone. To communicate with me online please use Telegram messenger. Here is the invitation link to our Domain Sale Group: https://no_url_shorteners/godaddysales


Add me (@ElisaAttorney) to your contacts and we will be able to chat in Telegram. If you don't have Telegram you may install it on your smartphone from Google Play or AppStore.


One of my sellers already sold to this buyer from Tel Aviv. You may read his review at https://no_url_shorteners/godaddysales/1754 Feel free to contact him.


Please respond ASAP. No risk for you to proceed since this is a certified by GoDaddy domain offer with full proof of funds. If you send the certificate the buyer will have to pay you the same day.


Elisa Rosenberg


Vice President


Investor Relations


Galcomm Co.


Aba Hillel Silver St 99


Haifa 3269514


Israel


Did anyone get a similar email? I realize this is scam and just want to make sure people know about it.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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Those emails are a lot more elaborate than most I’ve seen.
 
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it's clearly a scam but it has nothing to do with GoDaddy
 
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Wrong title. Godaddy did not scam.
 
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it's clearly a scam but it has nothing to do with GoDaddy

The point these people are trying to make is how it's suspicious that godaddy would send an email of verification the scammer's funds. I don't believe godaddy are doing this and neither do most others, but it's strange.

I think I remember reading a previous thread where someone proved that the email came from godaddy. How do they manage to slip through the cracks? Maybe they send a photoshopped bank account balance?
 
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don't believe godaddy are doing this and neither do most others

Op apparently suspects GoDaddy for being involved otherwise the title does not make any sense
 
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Op apparently suspects GoDaddy for being involved otherwise the title does not make any sense

Well, not necessarily. It happened through the godaddy platform. Like loads of eBay scams. They're not scams done by eBay staff, just scams that happened through eBay.

OP might as well be accusing godaddy but to me, that's not necessarily implied by the title.
 
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I am aware that it is not GoDaddy trying to scam me, it is just happening through their platform so that is why I chose that title.
The weirdest thing is the "official" email that I got from them saying that they have verified the buyer's funds and pretty much telling me that it is okay to proceed with the transaction.
 
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The weirdest thing is the "official" email that I got from them saying that they have verified the buyer's funds and pretty much telling me that it is okay to proceed with the transaction.
Are you sure that email came from Godaddy?? Have you checked the email headers and FROM where it really comes??

That email saying "The buyer has provided the proof of funds so now you can communicate with the buyer safely." really, I don't see that one coming from Godaddy.
 
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In resume, that is a scam, but it is NOT a Godaddy scam, so you should edit the thread title.

Just say that you have received the typical certificate scam by email.
 
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I am aware that it is not GoDaddy trying to scam me, it is just happening through their platform so that is why I chose that title.
The weirdest thing is the "official" email that I got from them saying that they have verified the buyer's funds and pretty much telling me that it is okay to proceed with the transaction.
How did you verify the email came from Godaddy? If you read between the lines, then you would have understoos that that email is not from Godaddy. Why? They will tell you to deal with the buyer when they verified the money
...they would handle it and get commission :-P

So ,no, no way that email is sent from Godaddy.

And oh, Godaddy DID NOT scam you so the title is misleading and you should change it.
 
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typical "godaddy" scam.. leveraging email from godaddy to scam people.
 
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The crappier the name the better the scam works as when everyone tells them their name is worthless they get all defensive as think they have an offer and still pay for the appraisal which they don't even get as it is all about the money. There have been people that refused to hear advice and still pay.
 
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Cool thing about GoDaddy is that you can pick up the phone and call them any time.

No good excuse for the post title. Op knew what they were doing with that title.
 
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i received similar email and just give a reply to test and see.

To my surprise, after my reply, GoDaddy send a reply to me that they have confirm the buyer identity and verify buyer fund.

After that the scammer reply on top and use that to make it look like a real interest. (even says the cert is from GD, lolz)

This is shocking, not from the scammer but GoDaddy!!
 

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i received similar email and just give a reply to test and see.

To my surprise, after my reply, GoDaddy send a reply to me that they have confirm the buyer identity and verify buyer fund.

After that the scammer reply on top and use that to make it look like a real interest. (even says the cert is from GD, lolz)

This is shocking, not from the scammer but GoDaddy!!
How is this possible? @Joe Styler , I still believe it is impossible Godaddy sent you these emails
 
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We do send the emails from the whois - with a pretty big disclaimer. This copy does not align with what we send, so I do not think we sent this particular email.
 
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We do send the emails from the whois - with a pretty big disclaimer. This copy does not align with what we send, so I do not think we sent this particular email.

I got on this morning too and the disclaimer is there and 100% clear that the email is sent through godaddy, but not from a godaddy representative.

Remember, we have no information on the legitimacy of these contacts, and scammers have been known to attempt to pose as representatives of GoDaddy or other companies. Be cautious when viewing or responding to unsolicited messages from third parties. If you determine that you wish to reply to this message, please note that you are deciding to reply directly to a third party that has no affiliation with GoDaddy.

Here is the message from e.rosenberg @ galcomm-il . info. Again, this is NOT from a GoDaddy representative.
 
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I got the similar message from Godaddy and from the broker that someone is interested in buying your domain. Saying they need certificate to sell domain. Do you have certificate?? It's strange how godaddy can do this??
 
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To save people time, I received the same emails and can confirm it's SCAM.

Here is my analysis:

1. First Email is Legit. The scammer used the GoDaddy platform to contact you. So the email came from GoDaddy. This was done by the scammer to establish some misleading trust (oh it's from godaddy, must be legit). Please note that GoDaddy clearly says:

Once again, this is NOT from a GoDaddy representative.

2. You reply to the person directly to let them know you're interested.

3. The scammer sends you 2 emails carefully timed to look like godaddy reported that they verified them then a personal email from them claiming that they passed the godaddy verification.

In reality, the second email from godaddy is not really from godaddy for 2 reasons. First, you replied to the scammer directly so godaddy wouldn't know about it. Yet the reply claims to come from godaddy. Second, if you use a web email client, you'll see that the sender is in fact:

donotreply att godaddy via galcomm-il


Unfortunately some emails clients will only show the first string donotreply at godaddy and you're not able to spot that this is a phishing type of email

4. The last email is directly from the scammer and is supposed to lure you with the large $XX,XXX amount into giving in to the scam.

My advice is to just delete the email and ignore the scammer. I hope this helps others.
 
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To communicate with me online please use Telegram messenger. Here is the invitation link to our Domain Sale Group: https://no_url_shorteners/godaddysales

That's the problem: they pretend to be godaddy.

@Joe Styler
 
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I received an email similar to this. "Hello! We saw your name listed for sale. We can offer a good price in five figure range. How do you want to get paid: Paypal, Bitcoin or wire? E. Rosenberg, Ph.D. Haifa Israel Galcomm Co."
 
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