Another scam letter "Elite Investment Group"

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Just recived this scam letter:

Hello,

We buy and sell domains and web pr®jects. What is your price for the domain?

If you have other domains for sale feel free to send your list.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,

Brian Samuelson

CEO

WHC Web Hosting Consulting & Investment LLC

I looked them up on the internet, and here they are::

Domain valuation scam targets Sedo users « That Danny!

Of course, I knew it was scam right off. :zzz: Not even a good scam letter.

Frank

 

[jwdomain]

appraisal scam

here is my correspondance with name-business/Michael Steinberg CEO NB&T LLC Web Hosting & Name Investing

re: webvideohosting.net
[email protected]
Hello,
How much do you want for your domain?
We have found it listed for sale and we have a good offer for you.
Our company invests in domains and developed sites. If you have a list of
domains for sale, please send the list with prices in plain text.
We prefer ".com", ".net", ".co", ".co.uk", ".us" and easy-to-remember
names with other extensions.
Regards,
Michael Steinberg
CEO
NB&T LLC (Web Hosting & Name Investing)

H Michael,
what is your "good offer' for webvideohosting.net.
you can find all my domains for sale here:


Reply
Michael Steinberg
Hello Jay,
Can you accept 9,000 USD?
I have a 48,000 USD budget for 5-8 domain names. Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? Without a valuation certificate we cannot be sure in the sale price. Moreover, my accountant and tax services always ask for valaution certificates . On the other side, it's very important for me in terms of reselling too. Of course, we must engage a valuation company with a REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my accountant trust.
To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies. Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15% discount.
After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations. Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name? Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.
What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else?
Hope we can come to an agreement fast.
Looking forward to your reply.

Reply
Michael,
What is the 9000 USD offer for exactly?
(for that amount we would use escrow.com)
I have attached two certified domain name appraisals from GoDaddy -
for classmate.tv and outpost.tv.
Both these domains are developed and aged for 5 years in google.
These are the only appraisals i have.
They are 2 years old, so considering the increased popularity of "dot tv" domain names over the last 2 years, the values are higher now than 2 years ago.

Reply
Hey Michael,
I did some research on thenamepros.com
I turns out that you are running a domain name appraisal scam. I have reported you and your domain name to my ISP and to Google's inhouse spam team run by Matt Cutts.
I hope you are forced to suck gangrene infected coxxx in hell you useless piece of human sh!t.

 

[bulkdomainz]

I got the samee intro from Michael Steinberg today too. Thank God for google as his name and email address came up very quickly with waht he's been up to.

I wouldn't have fallen victim anyway as I will only accept what I am happy with for my domain name. Will not shell out $80 to anyone to appraise 1 or 1000 domain names!

 

[anoblemind]

Got Scammed

Dang I cannot believe I fell for this. I just made the order to [email protected] and made the purchase through swreg.com. I have already asked for a refund from swreg.com and called American Express. I have been doing business on the net for many years and am really careful. American Express said the charge was pending and cannot be stopped but I can file a complaint when it is posted on my account. I am glad to see that swreg refunded nielsencl money. I hope I can get mine refunded also.

 

[nielsencl]

anoblemind: I didn't get a refund because I didn't get scammed, but others that have been scammed did get refunds, so you should as well. When you talk to SWREG tell them if the appraisal company DID NOT WARN you about this scam. They need to know if their customer is a scammer or just uncaring about being part of a scam.

And if you could post some or all of the emails you got, it will help this thread to stay alive and warn others. [sig surpressed by Nielsencl]

 

[domainer700]

Scammer alert

Hello everybody,

I remember reading somewhere either here or at the domainstate forum about some guy from an appraisal company contacting domainers pretending to be interested in purchasing their names from them. Well I think the same guy contacted me this morning offering to purchase my StockClimb.com domain name from me. Luckily I read about him and this practice before today so I was able to recognize his contact details before allowing it to go any further than the bogus 9k he offered me for the name.

Here are the two emails he sent me (note near the ending how he employs a fear tactic to prevent his scheme from being publically exposed) :

------------
EMAIL 1
------------

Hello,

How much do you want for your domain?

We have found it listed for sale and we have a good offer for you.

Our company invests in domains and developed sites. If you have a list of
domains for sale, please send the list with prices in plain text.

We prefer ".com", ".net", ".co", ".co.uk", ".us" and easy-to-remember
names with other extensions.

Regards,

Mark Groover

CEO

Name & Hosting Businees LLC
========================================================
NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privileged
information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any
viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by
unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message
and deleting it from your computer.
========================================================


I reply with "what's your offer?"

------------
EMAIL 2
------------

Can you accept 9,000 USD?

I have a 48,000 USD budget for 5-8 domain names. Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? Without a valuation certificate we cannot be sure in the sale price. Moreover, my accountant and tax services always ask for valaution certificates . On the other side, it's very important for me in terms of reselling too. Of course, we must engage a valuation company with a REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my accountant trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies. Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:
www dot thenamepros dot com/Archive/9217506.htm

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15% discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations. Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name? Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

-----end


I couldn't help but laugh out loud.LOL

 

[JohnyUSA]

FYI .. I've received same email as well .. lolz .. I put reply back .. eg. I've reported you to police

lolz..

 

[sunnylondon]

I got this email funnily enough the way I cam across this site was by doing a search under the guys name to see his credentials. I was disapointed to find out that somebogusdomainnameihadregistered.com wasnt worth £1m but at least I found this site

 

[anoblemind]

I found this thread right after I made the purchase. It made me sick. I immediately requested a refund through swreg, I called American Express, and I emailed. [email protected] canceling the order. I got an email back from the scammer saying they cancelled my order. My credit card was never charged. I was lucky.

Here is the email I got back from them.

Dear William,

We have refunded the order. Please let us know if you need more assistance.

Sincerely,

Martin Anderson

Customer Support

Here is the original email.

Hello,

How much do you want for your domain?

We have found it listed for sale and we have a good offer for you.

Our company invests in domains and developed sites. If you have a list of
domains for sale, please send the list with prices in plain text.

We prefer ".com", ".net", ".co", ".co.uk", ".us" and easy-to-remember
names with other extensions.

Regards,

Mark Groover

CEO

Name & Hosting Businees LLC
========================================================
NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privileged
information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any
viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by
unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message
and deleting it from your computer.
========================================================

Can you accept 49,000 USD?

I have a 480,000 USD budget for 25-28 domain names. Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? Without a valuation certificate we cannot be sure in the sale price. Moreover, my accountant and tax services always ask for valaution certificates . On the other side, it's very important for me in terms of reselling too. Of course, we must engage a valuation company with a REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my accountant trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies. Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:


If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15% discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations. Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name? Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

Mark Groover to me
show details Oct 6 (5 days ago)
Ok. Let me know the appraisal results.

I've found not all the appraisals are accurate. So I accept real manual appraisals from trusted sources only.

I don't trust $14-$20 services. Nobody will do a research for $14. We need a real manual service.

I researched several companies and here are the results:

As to the most known brands: the more orders the company gets, the less time they can afford to spend on each appraisal.

I wanted to use AccurateDomains.com but looks like this company has a bad reputation.

I was told about manual research service from cccccccc. It costs - $200/hour.

Unfortunately, Sedo is not acceptable as an appraiser because your names are listed with them and they are not independent.

Many experienced sellers suggested us xxxxxxxx as a trustworth manual service. They charge per name not per hour. We've read only positive comments about them. And I have my own positive experience with this company and their support.

----- Original Message -----
From:
- Show quoted text -

 

[nielsencl]

I have just sent an email to Godaddy who is the domain registrar and providing hosting for CertifiedDomainValue.com. I also copied SWREG on the message.

Please take a little time to write a factual, professional email describing the situation to the hosting providers and registrars if you get contacted by scammers, it really helps to get them shut down. They can register new domains like they are doing now, but at some point they will be shut down if enough complaints are filed.

 

[nielsencl]

I think the link to that old forum post is interesting. It sounds like this scammer used to park with SEDO, sent a lot of junk traffic to his parked domains, then got pissed off because they closed his account due to TOS violations. Not having a good command of English or even a mildly elevated IQ, they turn to fraud as a way to get back at an unfair world.

Thanks for posted the latest about this scam!

 

[nielsencl]

Domain appraisal scams

There was just a new post where it turns out someone fell for this scam and used the site CertifiedDomainValues.com. I hate to think how many other people are falling for this scam. If you can do anything like post to your blog or on your site, please consider doing it.

Thinking that people "deserve it" is stupid and the same attitude the scammers have. If you would never steal or scam someone, you won't think that way...!

[Update: I have just sent an email to SWREG, Godaddy, Hostgator, and many other companies requesting that they warn customers about this scam. I think if people are just warned about it they will think twice about getting the appraisals.

 

[icantinternet]

I got the same email yesterday, only different names and numbers (12.000$ for the site, 80.000$ total budget). The sender was [email protected]
I checked out name-business.com, which forwards to
Then searching google for James Zielinski I came across a whole lot of legit looking (and probably real) LinkedIn profiles.
I replied to the first email, and got a second mail too, which asked for the appraisal service, and sent me to

When I searched google for more details (before having the domains appraised), I luckily found this site!
So thank you for stopping me before the appraisal, too bad I already ordered my new BMW after getting the email

 

[nielsencl]

Thanks for posting the new information they are using to scam people.

By the way, if you look at the forum on thenamepros.com you will see some old posts going back to 2009, yet the domain was Created: 2010-06-23.

The "archive" page they send people to in the emails seems to be the only one that you can look at. Clearly a fake page designed to send people to the company involved with these scam appraisals...!

And some providers have responded to my email indicating they will be warning people about this type of scam in general, which is what I had hoped for.

 

[domainhotspot]

Here is my recent email from this joker

Hello,

How much do you want for your domain?

We have found it listed for sale and we have a good offer for you.

Our company invests in domains and developed sites. If you have a list of
domains for sale, please send the list with prices in plain text.

We prefer ".com", ".net", ".org", ".co", ".us", ".co.uk" and easy-to-remember names with other extensions.

Regards,

James Zielinski

CEO

......................
Hello James,

Please tell me what you can offer best for this domain.

Thanks
.....................
Can you accept 12,000 USD?

I have a 80,000 USD budget for 10-15 domain names. Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? Without a valuation certificate we cannot be sure in the sale price. Moreover, my accountant and tax services always ask for valaution certificates . On the other side, it's very important for me in terms of reselling too. Of course, we must engage a valuation company with a REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my accountant trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies. Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:


If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15% discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations. Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name? Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.
........................
Hello James,

I have not got my domain evaluated in the past.If you wish you can get the domain appraised.I am willing to make a deal of $10,000 USD .I accept paypal or escrow.

Thanks
Steve
.............................
I see, but it's a standard practice to show independent valuation to
buyers/resellers. Nobody will do business without it. I'm a businessman and
have no intention of changing rules which help both parties to avoid
additional risks.

Of course, investors never take into account auto-generated valuations. So
manual valuation is a "must" too.

I read the following information about appraisals at:




Without the independent valuation from a trusted source we don't spend a
penny. This is our financial policy. So our offer is just a rought estimate.
If the appraisal comes higher we are ready to offer a bit more. If it comes
lower we will discuss the price with you again.


Thank you for understanding. I'm looking forward to doing business with you.
.........................
James

So are you a scammer please see this link to know how and why you are a scammer
http://www.namepros.com/639974-another-scam-letter-elite-investment-group-8.html

LOL hahha scamster...

 

[nielsencl]

Name appraisal scam

Thanks for posting.

Say I was looking at the page they tell people about at TheNamePros.com and I saw where they tell people that accuratedomains.blogspot.com is a fraud site...? Well, I checked and it turns out that that domain was available at Blogger.... so I got it and put up a warning blog for people to find.

There are no ads on the blog and we do not offer appraisals. If people want to post they can email me or they can post comments so people have another way to find out about this scam. I don't mind if people post links to their sites or domains either, it's just a free blog after all.

Please post to your blog or other forums about this scam to get the word out.

 

[Bespokemedia]

I just got scammed $100

I should have checked here first, here is the information;

>> How much do you want for your domain?
>>
>> We have found it listed for sale and we have a good offer for you.
>>
>> Our company invests in domains and developed sites. If you have a list of
>> domains for sale, please send the list with prices in plain text.
>>
>> We prefer ".com", ".net", ".org", ".co", ".us", ".co.uk" and
>> easy-to-remember names with other extensions.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> James Zielinski
>>
>> CEO
>>
>> Name & Hosting Business Solutions LLC

----------------------

> I have a 10,000 USD budget for 3-5 domain names. Have you had your domain
> names evaluated in the past? Without a valuation certificate we cannot be
> sure in the sale price. Moreover, my accountant and tax services always
> ask
> for valaution certificates . On the other side, it's very important for
> me in terms of reselling too. Of course, we must engage a valuation
> company
> with a REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from
> independent sources I and my accountant trust.
>
> To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal
> companies. Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and
> buyers:
>
>
> If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking
> price
> accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15%
> discount.
>
> After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to
> obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations. Do you sell domain with a web
> site or just the name? Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is
> not
> necessary.
>
> What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire
> transfer, PayPal.com or something else?
>
> Hope we can come to an agreement fast.
>
> Looking forward to your reply.

 

[nielsencl]

Sorry to hear that, but read through all the messages.

Contact the appraisal site and ask for a refund if they did NOT warn you about this scam. If they refuse, and you have made a payment via SWREG they will give you a refund if you explain what happened. If you used a different payment method please let us know and we will help you get a refund if we can. I know you feel bad, but getting a refund will help you and it will help others if the payment process gets tired of losing money this way and drops the scammers.

 

[Adam Dicker]

If everyone emails the offending website to [email protected] it will be taken down.

These guys are assholes, ripping off honest domainers.

-=DCG=-

 

[namenut]

I always tell an inquiry YES! YES! get an evaluation. Go and get the evaluation, from any place you wish, and then get back to me.

Why should I evaluate a name you want? If you want it ... evaluate it.

 

[doc24]

Emailed GD

 

[homeandl]

GoDaddy do NOT care

It seems to me that GoDaddy does NOT give a shit, I almost fell for this scam, I've emailed GD twice already, most of you already have but they just don't care,

worst of all these scammers didn't even bother to hide the fact that the WHOIS info for all of their domains like name-business.com or name-investors.com is all the same

 

[nielsencl]

Glad you didn't get scammed. If you still have the email the scammer sent you, can you forward it to [email protected] with a link to this thread. I have talked to Godaddy and they know about it, but we have to keep pushing them to take some kind of action. And if you can post about this on some blog or forum that doesn't have any information yet, that would help a lot!!! Thanks!

 

[alebda]

Hello ..

I also got me the same thing ..

This is the message:


From: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 5:51:22 PM
To: **********@hotmail.com


I have a client that is interested in buying. Please email us your price. My client can offer you a good price for this domain name US dollars. We can also pay all escrow fees. If you have other names for sale please email us your list with prices. Can we get your answer this week if possible? Regards, Thomas Ssteinmeyer, domain broker Domain Business Brokerage Inc.

========================================================
NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privilegedinformation that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Anyviewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message byunintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received thismessage in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the messageand deleting it from your computer.
========================================================

 

[chat111]

Name-Deals.com scam - again?

A person who calls himself different names, and whose registered name is (which is likely fake too)

Registrant of Name-Deals.com (GoDaddy)
James Whitham
1 Regent Close Saxton Road
Hull, Willerby HU10 6HJ
United Kingdom


is still sending his scam emails. If you search for "Name-Deals.com" on this forum you will find several threads of people reporting this scam.


So Name-Deals.com pretends to be interested in the domain you have for sale, and asks you for the price. Then he invites you to appraise your domain at services they and their "accountant" trust. The appraisal must be paid for, and once you've paid you won't receive any more emails from Name-Deals.


Is it worth notifying GoDaddy in the sense, will they do something about it? The scammer has been around for quite some time now. Pity that some people may lose their money for nothing because of it.

 

[Jordan22111]

As someone who did banking machines reprogramming, these scammers are fucking idiots...the scam seems good, but they have way too many paper trails and the like that haunt them. If they are not scammers and the customers are not understanding their business practices, well that is on the customer, but either way, I'm staying away from these types of companies.