discuss Certification Scam?

[ddfenton]

Got an inquiry "via whois," about a site listed on Sedo for $2k. This person, "Yoshihiko," goes by the handle "domain broker," wrote an almost identical letter to scams identified on the internet involving ICCAN.

Says client is offering $15K-$20K but client's bank in X? country needs a certification and trademark check from some third party agency. Wants to pay through "Authorize Merchant Escrow service." This is the link he/she referred me to http://answersgoogle.org/answers/threadview/id/40351682.htm, which referenced http://names.authorize-merchant.net

Haven't heard back from him/her since I invited him/her to BIN on Sedo for $2K and/or arrange for and finance this "certification" themselves and I would deduct it if purchased.

Has anyone dealt with this or heard of this person or company?

Damn. I was paying my debts off in my mind after the first letter.

 

[Bertrell]

I, too received 2 emails like the ones described above: 1st, the inquiry and 2nd, the "offer," which began as follows:

Commission of our company is only 5%. The commission is divided between you and the buyer and paid after you get the money.

The buyer offers $40,000 or 5 BTC. If it's not enough please let me know and we will negotiate.

He will pay you money via Authorize Int. (Swiss Escrow). They support Japanese language and buyers from Japan. It's important for my buyer to read everything in his native language. This escrow service supports many payment methods and you will be able to receive the money easily. They also support 50% advanced payment before you transfer your domain. The last 50% are released by the escrow after the transfer.

Do you have a certificate in English and Japanese? It's required by the buyer's bank.
...
​

Shortly after receiving the 2nd email, I looked up "Authorize Int Escrow," which brought me here.

I did reply to the 2nd email, pretty much directing them to one of the services where the domain in question is listed for sale.

I kinda figured it might've been too good to be true.

#OhWell

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Omar.]

thanks to the godaddy Whois Mask, this scammer will have a hard time to send his scam emails, at least from godaddy new registrations...

 

[Francine Callahan]

Yup. Although part of me wants to play along for apprehending purposes but probably dangerous and waste of time.

They're still out there. I just got one yesterday...

 

[Rafael Hernandez]

Thanks guys! this is the new email template, that they are using, I found the link of this thread on Google and now they are improving their techniques, using better domains and just 99$, I'll copy the complete email for SEO with the new domains to helps others, I was really happy, I think I won the lottery XD but the domain "swissescrow.world" from Vietnam with poor SEO on Google turns on the alarm.

Hello XXX,

Thank you! Your domain bid has been accepted by my buyer.


He will pay you 3,706,336 JPY (About $35.000) as he promised. Let's initiate the sale process.


We will transfer via Escrow Service. In this case, both buyer and seller will be protected during the transaction. The process will following steps:

1. You make a bid on website Escrow service.

2. Buyer will make an offer on your bid.

3. Seller will accept buyer offer via Email with them.

4. Buyer sends money to Escrow service

5. They release 50% funds to the seller.

6. Seller transfers domain to the buyer.

7. They release the rest to the seller.



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



The certificate must include the following to be accepted by my buyer:
- Ownership verification (the certification agency must confirm you are a legal owner).
- Legal verification (proves the domain has no problems with trademarks or other problems with the law in Japan).
- Restriction verification (the domain must not be pledged or sold to third parties).
- The certificate must be up to date (issued during last 30 days)
- Copy of the certificate in Japanese (required by the buyer's bank).
- The certification agency must be authorized by my buyer and his bank.

My buyer is a professional investor and he won't be able to send you the payment without this certificate. There is no other way for you and us to finish the sale. The payment to you will be made via escrow service to protect both parties during the transaction.

The process is very easy (you can do everything online in several minutes):


1. Please pick up one service and give you an appraisal in order to improve that you are the legal owner of your domain.

2. Go to the certificate agency site accepted by my client and order the certificate. The service recommended (they support Japanese and English languages).

3. After they approve your request please make the payment. The certificate will be sent to your email within several hours. Send the certificate to me and we will start the sale process the same day.



Sedo

Sedo also handily has the worlds largest database on website sales in its possession, which gives it a sizeable edge over its competitors when accurately sizing up a domain.

Domain Appraisal service costs 99 EUR (About $125) for one domain.

Of course, Sedo’s quality as a premium choice in evaluating websites is clear to see. The tool takes ten factors into account when looking at domains, including search engine suitability, advertising effectiveness, and buying/selling prospects.

Epik

Domain Appraisal can help you save money by giving you an expert opinion on a domain's value before you buy. Appraisals and fairness opinions are often used in negotiations.

Epik offers an analysis for a fixed fee of $395. Within 7 days of your order, you will receive a written report based on a custom analysis completed by a domain industry expert.

swissEscrow

Simply way where you are needing a one-time assessment of fair market value. Use swissEscrow (owned by a large Internet payment processor). Their certification includes a professional manual valuation (no scripts are used) and a trademark infringement verification.

Their Premium Domain Certification Service costs $99 for one domain and they offer volume discounts for bulk orders!

They support copies in Japanese (upon request). facebook.com/kenta.fujimoto

heteml.bid/
Fanpage: facebook.com/heteml/
Twitter: twitter.com/heteml

 

[Frank Waltham]

Darn, I got the same scam. Here is the latest email template. It's believable because they pose as Japanese, but lucky to find this thread!

You must have the certification to prove your domain have no problem with legal trademark and ownership verification.



The certificate accepted by his buyer’s bank :

- Ownership verification (the certification agency must confirm you are a legal owner).

- Legal audit (proves the domain has no problems with trademarks or other issues with the law in Japan).

- Restriction verification (the domain must not be pledged or sold to third parties).

- The certificate must be up to date (issued during last seven days)

- Copy of the document in Japanese (required by the buyer's bank).

You should use one service and get a proper appraisal.

 

[TKN5]

Their latest tactic is to send you an email from quicca.info representing quicca.com and quicca.info with an email template very similar to the ones described in the earlier comments.

The certification agency is authorize-japan.net.

Beware, guys.

 

[Jeffrey Jones]

I just was contacted for the same thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello!

I'm interested in purchasing @@@@@

The buyer offers $35000.00 usd. If it's not enough we may negotiate.

I've found your address via public WHO IS.

If you have other names I may help you to find buyers for them in Japan. Please email me the list. We work with many large investors.

Looking forward to your response.

Sincerely yours,

Akari Oyama

Vice Presiden

Future Spirit Inc.

Osaka

JAPAN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Response after I said, sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The buyer will send crypto-currency to escrow. They send 50% to you. You may receive the payment in crypto-currency or they may convert it in USD to send via wire/Paypal. You transfer the domain and get the other 50%. It's safe and easy.

But you need to certify your domain for Japanese market first. His lawyers prohibit him to buy non certified names and the Japanese escrow also accept certified names only to avoid selling illegal goods. After you send us the certificate we will proceed with the sale the same day.

Our authorized certification agency is a GMO DigiRock in partnership with Swiss Escrow: digirock.org They provide full refund if your domain is not sold. It's safe to use them.

Go to this site and select Certification. Specify in the comment field you need a copy in Japanese. Submit your request. If they approve it you will get payment instructions. The main certificate in English and a copy in Japanese will be sent to you within 24 hours after you make the payment as PDF file. Send it to me and we will proceed with the sale/transfer the same day.

It will be easier if you follow instructions of their customer support. Please send me your Telegram user name and I will ask @RobertReese to help you. He is responsible for customer support for the certification service.

If you don't have Telegram you may install it from Google Play or AppStore.
The sale process is very easy:

1. You send us the certificate in Japanese.

2. We transfer the funds to you.

3. You transfer the domain to our buyer through your registrar.



They contacted me through telegram, then I asked them to go through GoDaddy if they are interested. Pretty sure they aren't buying

 

[kevinp8192]

Ha ha! I just had this same happen--almost the same email. Mine said they needed a copy in Korean. But they've tweaked their process and refined their language to become even more believable in the past month. Still, eventually they wanted me to go to their clunky digirock.org to buy a $259 certificate.

I've been in messaging for many years, and this is actually one of the more personal and sophisticated scams I've seen.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.

 

[dazentaki]

Received same email today lol with same telegram account. Just replied and said we changed our mind from $55K, now we want $150K lmao .

 

[RubenDario]

IS SCAM, I RECEIVED THIS MAIL, NOW AUGUST 2019

My name is Elizabeth Eung. I work for Sakura Ltd (hosting services in South Korea).

I act on the behalf of our VIP client (domain investor) and will help you to sell your domain. The buyer purchases several domains to generate traffic to his new web project. If you need faster response please contact me in Telegram messenger.

Please send me your Telegram messenger user name. My user name in Telegram: Eung_Legal (@Eung_Legal). Our commission is only 6 %. The commission is divided between you (3%) and the buyer (3%) and paid after you get the money.

The buyer offers $42000 USD in Litecoins/Ether crypto currency or $41000 via bank transfer/paper check/Paypal.

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 a verification of compliance with Korean law and trademarks because he will run his startup in South Korea.

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 Korean law that proves it can be used in South Korea.

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 South Korea.
- Verification of compliance with Korean law and trademarks.
- Legal restrictions for his counrty
- Independent valuation by market exerts
- The certificate must be up to date (issued during last 30 days).
- Official copy of the verification in English and Korean.

If the appraisal comes higher the buyer will increase the offer accordingly. If it comes lower please don't worry. The price for your domain will be the same.

We asked him if GoDaddy or Sedo appraisal certificates will work as a verification for him. I'm not sure they have a license to verify domains in Saudi Arabia. Now we are awaiting for his answer.

If you are ready to to sell to my client please let me know.