Any suggestions on this end-user query: Govt in South America wants to buy

[champ_rock]

Hello

I just got this email http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/4069/211201014504am.png . I have never dealt as such with governmental organisations before (least of all organisations from South America).

Can anyone please share their experiences in these kind of cases?

P.S>: i have complete control of the domain. Bought it through Snapnames few months back.

 

[Michelle]

Did they own it before ?
Forget to renew?

 

[champ_rock]

Did they own it before ?
Forget to renew?

it seems like. i really dont know. i just won it thru a backorder.

 

[Michelle]

I would do some research in google, alexa wayback machine etc etc to see what this was before ..

 

[Ms Domainer]

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Definitely do your research. This could just be a scam.

Even if what they say is true, YOU now own the domain, and it's up to you to decide whether or not you wish to sell and how much to charge for it. It's not your fault that they "forgot" to renew.

*

 

[TestCase]

Does Archive.org show anything for the previous site? If it does, it might provide some insight for moving forward in the negotiations. If you decide to sell, I'd sure as heck use an escrow service.

 

[abdussamad]

Its a scam. Whoever heard of a government sending an email that began with an apology. Governments can afford to hire people who are fluent in English.

 

[ssamriga]

Might not be a scam, just an employee at a hosting company through which the domain was registered. Now he's scared, because he lost the domain...

 

[champ_rock]

I checked the archive and it was indeed the website of this orgaisation.

Here is the reply that I got from them: http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/3298/2112010115533pm.png

Could be a scam/ could be not. In either case, I will use escrow.com so that shouldnt be a problem.