Appraisal-scam email... or at least I'm praying it is.

[Archangel]

All righty: I received an email from [email protected] . It was an inquery about a 3-character .net domain I once owned. Apparently, my email address is still in the whois. Anyway, the letter:
Ignore the > >

> >Hello,
> >
> >I came across Internet auctions and found your domain for sale. We
consider
> >investing in names as an additional income. Of course, we are not going
to
> >develop each and every domain name. We prefer to resell them later at
> >higher price.
> >
> >Please email me price for your domain name. If it's reasonable we'll do
> >business.
> >
> >If you have other domain names for saleš please send us the complete list
> >with prices for consideration.
> >
> >Looking forward to do business with you.
> >
> >Regards,
> >James Ueland, Ph. D.
> >President
> >TGR Engineering

I told him in a reply to name a price. And the idiot went on:

How about 5,000 USD?

Do you have an appraisal certificate?

Domain name is an investment for me. In other words I'm going to sell your
name later and make a profit. If I overpay I won't be able to make a profit
in the future. It's very important for you and me to know the current market
value of your domain.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging a reputable appraisal
company. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate appraisals.
I will only accept appraisals from independent sources I know and trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies
in a forum
http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/archive/81035.htm

Juck check this posting.

If the appraisal comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly.
I also hope you can give me 10% - 15% discount of the appraised value.

After I get an appraisal from you we'll continue our negotiations.

How do you prefer to get paid:š www.escrow.com, www.PayPal.com check or
wire?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

My reply to that was, to me, obvious:

$5,000 for a 3-character .net? I've seen 3 LETTER .COMS sell for less than $4,000. You wouldn't be stupid enough to pay even $500 for this, let alone $5,000. I'm not going to get an appraisal at a company only you trust, either. The appraisal-scam is old so I figured you would have brushed up on your tactics. Take your act elsewere.

Ugh... knowing my luck, this might have been a legit offer but $5k for a THREE CHARACTER .NET sounds unrealistic. I won't state the domain for obvious reasons. It was bought for about $10 and sold for about $15. I don't see $5,000 in its future for a long time.

 

[kev]

def scammer. if i had a dollar for every time someone has sent me one of those messages, i swear i would be rolling in money :hehe:

kevin

P.S. i like your last message to him :hehe:

 

[Redleg]

That domaintalk "forum" isn't a real forum either, just 1 page they've created there...

Classic appraisal scam mails..

 

[Archangel]

P.S. i like your last message to him :hehe:

Thanks If by any odd chances he replies, I'll post it here. lol

 

[ff89]

scam!!!

 

[Phronesis]

Always a "PhD" from some engineering or software firm.

 

[Archangel]

I got the same email from the same guy! Hes pretty clever

Does NP have a 'scam alert' thread somewhere? If not, -RJ- and company should make one for ppl to post things like this in. I think we can assume any emails from ToughGuy.net domain is a scam.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Does NP have a 'scam alert' thread somewhere? If not, -RJ- and company should make one for ppl to post things like this in. I think we can assume any emails from ToughGuy.net domain is a scam.

See the "Alerts and Warnings" forum in the community section:
http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/

-Allan :gl:

 

[CrazyTech]

I posted a warning about those from "ToughGuy.net" in the forum, though it's probably at the back of a long line of scams now. I'm suprised that they are still using this name given how long this has been going on. I guess, sadly enough, some are still falling for it.

I admit that I was hooked at first when I received a very similar email, until he asked for that appraisal that is.

 

[Archangel]

I posted a warning about those from "ToughGuy.net" in the forum, though it's probably at the back of a long line of scams now. I'm suprised that they are still using this name given how long this has been going on. I guess, sadly enough, some are still falling for it.

I admit that I was hooked at first when I received a very similar email, until he asked for that appraisal that is.

I wasn't really interested in the offer -- I no longer own the domain. But I was interested to see how much he'd offer for a domain that was worth no more than $20

 

[thaiboy]

LOL exactly the same mail I received. This is how I answer him:

"I want to sell this domain at 500$, but if you want I will let it go for 50$. So there's no appraisal need because it's definitely worth at least 4 times more than 50$ by common sense.

P.S. I know how you do business"

Never heard back from then.

 

[briman1970]

I just got a similar email and this is how I replied:

I'll give it to you for $10. Please send a check or money order to:

Briman Raymondo
(edited for this post)
Irvington, AL 36544

Thanks,
Bri

Lets see if they ask for an appraisal on a $10 name! If they send me the money (they won't) then I'll be $10 richer and still have my domain.

Look out for these creeps!

 

[webfreak]

I just got a similar email and this is how I replied:

I'll give it to you for $10. Please send a check or money order to:

Briman Raymondo
(edited for this post)
Irvington, AL 36544

Thanks,
Bri

Lets see if they ask for an appraisal on a $10 name! If they send me the money (they won't) then I'll be $10 richer and still have my domain.

Look out for these creeps!

If for some reason, you did get $10 for the domain from someone, you're not thinking about keeping it and the domain, eh?