Domain Name Scams

[vwblubug]

I am very bothered, and I'm probably not the only one who feels like a total moron after a "potential buyer" pulls one on us. Maybe I shouldn't feel so bothered, but I do. Well, here's what happened:

I got an e-mail from a potential buyer telling me he was ready to purchase 2 of my names through paypal or certified check. He said as soon as I got appraisals through one of "his 3 trusted appraisal sources", he would send the payment. He said he did not trust any of the free sources, but he fully trusts any of those 3, and would only buy based on their appraisal(s).

I chose one of three sources he listed, and paid for the appraisals, as he requested. I knew of course, that this did not guarantee a sale, but it was worth getting appraisals if a buyer was truly interested in it's true value.

I e-mailed him with the links to the appraisal certificates for him to view. Four days passed and I did not hear from him. I e-mailed him again, stating that since I hadn't heard back from him, that I was resending the links in case he did not previously get them.

He e-mailed me the following day, stating that he could not view my attachments. So I sent a new e-mail and included the links once again.

The next day (today) he e-mails me stating "Great appraisal"- and then tells me "I have a RISK-FREE offer....." and goes on about how he can a find a buyer for my names and that I can pay him a 30-50% commission upon sale.

I e-mailed him back stating I would have at least thought about it if he had been honest from the beginning- and I told him this was nothing but a scam, and that if he can get a buyer for these names, then he should buy them from me and sell them himself. I also wished him luck and said he probably makes a fortune by misleading and lying to people.

I would not have minded getting appraisals for someone who had genuine interest in these names, even if they did not purchase them in the end. But I do mind, for some jerk's interest in profiting from my names.

Am I wrong to be upset? Am I just a sucker?

 

[Bramiozo]

search the forums on "scam" and just see how many topics come up, we have all been there .

This smells like allfordomains..but on the other hand, you might as well bé from allfordomains, trying to create grounds on which you could say "you see, it happens all the time and the terms and conditions state that no leads or sales are guaranteed..." , trying to downtalk the misconduct they so often perform.

This is odd you know, first columbia with his bad english and now someone telling the classic tale of alllfordomains without mentioning them.

Is it possible to track their ip...I have a hunch this is a settup.

 

[Webtwink]

your question

to your quesiton, IP address of everyone is logged. So RJ and the admin should know from what ip address they are posting.

 

[vwblubug]

I could give you the guy's e-mail address, but I am not out to hurt people the way he is. I own several names and have no link whatsoever with people like that. I don't know who is behind it, but his e-mail was a [email protected]. After everything happened, I thought he might be related to one of the appraisal companies just out to get people to get appraisals and make more money when they sell your name at a 30- 50% commission. Would anyone in their right mind agree to that? But I will say that the company you mentioned was one of the appraisal sources. I didn't realize people thought of that company negatively, or I definitely would not have used them to appraise my names.

Just another sucker...

 

[Bramiozo]

but his e-mail was a [email protected]

Sorry for the accusation, we are having a thread about this already : http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5138
His name is Anthony Griffin or R.McKay?

They are also mentioned, as part of the mailing list of allfordomains.

How did the correspondence come about, through the Whois-data ?

 

[Tippy]

He should have been honest from the get go.

30%-50% I believe is a fair commission rate to pay a broker, figure they do all the work and I imagine you have the final say on the sale price.

Mike

 

[vwblubug]

Hey, thank you all so much for your feedback. It was Anthony Griffin who sent the e-mail. To think I was trying to protect his identity- i guess i am proud to not be a jerk like him. Anyway, I was so mad that he lied to me and go as far as saying that he was ready to send money via paypal or certified check. It's a very cruel world!

Thank you all very much :blink:

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by vwblubug
Hey, thank you all so much for your feedback. It was Anthony Griffin who sent the e-mail. To think I was trying to protect his identity- i guess i am proud to not be a jerk like him. Anyway, I was so mad that he lied to me and go as far as saying that he was ready to send money via paypal or certified check. It's a very cruel world!

Thank you all very much :blink:

Yes, it's a scam that is hooking a lot of unsuspecting domain owners right now. I have doubts that 'Anthony Griffin' is even a real person.

NEVER deal with a buyer that requests you get a paid appraisal before they're willing to make an offer on your domain. I wish I could broadcast that to every domain owner in the world.

 

[doubledee999]

everydayincome gets another one

I still get spam from them for domains I owned two years ago,

Wait till you start getting snail mail from droa

 

[carmonle]

Can't we ask the buyer to get an appraisal. Then if he buys the domain deduct the cost from the Final Price.

Eran

 

[Tippy]

I dont think that normally a buyer requests an appraisal. They usually want a Domain to develop for their own use and have a price in mind or know what the Domain is worth to them. I guess if you get any appraisal requests its a good sign that this isnt an end user but a reseller or worse a scammer perhaps.

Mike

 

[pelican]

another victim.
I guess most of us gone through this when we are young in this industry.
Now you will be caution when people asking you to appraise a domain.

There are a few threads about how AllForDomains scamming people and what's their tactic.

 

[vwblubug]

DomainSack has a point!

I think that is an EXCELLENT idea! I don't know if people will go for it, but if the buyer is really interested, I don't think it is unreasonable to request that they pay for the appraisal of their own choice if they want one, and that sellers deduct that amount later from the purchase price.

But now I have another question:

Because these companies obviously have such a bad rep, will potential domain buyers accept the appraisals that we suckers bought from them?

I guess I don't want to feel like it was a total loss...

HE ACTUALLY RESPONDED TO MY E-MAIL- CHECK THIS OUT:


Your letter sounds very abusing. Why should I care aboutu you? I only care about making profit. I also don't want to lose money

May I resell your domains?



THIS WAS MY RESPONSE:
(I know I probably should not have wasted my time, but)


Subj: Re: Domains
Date: 8/28/2003 10:57:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: VwBluBug
To: [email protected]



I definitely don't want you to care about me-

And I know all you care about is a profit- no matter what it takes to get it. You lie to make a profit. I don't know if you should be bragging about that, much less be proud of that. While you are making your profit, you are ripping people off by making them get un-needed appraisals- misleading them into thinking that they are the ones that are going to make a profit. People who are greedy and cheat end up with nothing. While you are making your money pissing people off and making people dislike you, we decent trusting people will continue to struggle and get cheated by people like you, but at least we have a lot to be proud of and don't have a problem sleeping at night. And when people ask us what we do for a living, we don't have to leave anything out.

DO NOT RESPOND- DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN-

Thanks for teaching me a valuable lesson.

 

[Tippy]

If I wanted to buy a name I wouldn't consider any Appraisal as being creditable, the Domain is worth what I or the end user is willing to pay for it.

If a buyer requested an appraisal on one of my names I would tell them to get it themselves and wouldn't subtract the costs from the sale amount, I know what my Domain is worth to me and they should have an idea what its worth to them.

Mike

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by Tippy
If a buyer requested an appraisal on one of my names I would tell them to get it themselves and wouldn't subtract the costs from the sale amount, I know what my Domain is worth to me and they should have an idea what its worth to them.

Well said Tippy. Any buyer asking for a professional appraisal would be out of their mind. Most 'professioanal' appraisals give hugely inflated prices that are worthless.

 

[Sharpy]

Re: DomainSack has a point!

Originally posted by vwblubug

But now I have another question:

Because these companies obviously have such a bad rep, will potential domain buyers accept the appraisals that we suckers bought from them?

I guess I don't want to feel like it was a total loss...

Well I can tell you without hesitation that the appraisal(s) you got will be 150+ times what you would get on an appraisal here or on any other domain forum. In other words, if you have an appraisal from them at $15000 you'll be luck to get $100 as a value here. Post the name here and we will give you our opinions. Not trying to be a prick here, I went through it a year ago, so I know. I'll an appraisal I got from them if I can find it.

 

[Coastalguy]

Tippy makes a good point. The value of your domain is what you make of it!

ST

 

[Rico]

I know its been a while, but i got an email from this person too.
He asked me to keep his email and name secret but thats not what intend to do.
Here is our little email conversation:

> Hi there,
>
> After doing a keyword search on Google.com I have found your domain for
> sale. I prefer to make all deals direct without domain brokers so I've
> decided to contact you via email. (I've found your email address via WHO
> IS)
>
> Is this domain still available for sale ? I'm interested in purchasing.
>
> If it's still available for sale please email me your asking price.
>
> If you have other good domains for sale feel free to email me the full list
> with asking prices.
>
> If I can afford your domain I'll contact you. Please don't send me multiple
> emails if you don't receive a reply from me and keep my email address
> confidential. Just email me your asking price. If I decide to buy I'll
> contact you as soon as possible.
>
> I can send you money via PayPal. If you don't have a PayPal account I can
> send you the funds by a certified check.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony GriffinHi,

The domain is still for sale,
i've had several offers, my asking price is $750
if you find this reasonable, the domain is yours.

Regards,

Rico

> I must se eyour uname is worth at least $3,000 before I spend any money
>
> I don't have an idea how much your domain is worth. Do you have an
> appraisal certificate for your name ? I need an independent and
> professional valuation. Please note that I don't trust free or
> unprofessional appraisals. I don't want to overpay. It can be an
> appraisal certificate from www.GreatDomains.com or
> www.FastDomainSales.com or HollywoodDomains.com. It does not matter
> because I trust all these companies.
>
> After I receive your appraisals I can send you money via PayPal. If you
> don't have a PayPal account I can send you the funds by a certified
> check.
>
> If you wish we can use escrow.com to secure the transaction.
>
> Looking forward to your reply.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony Griffin

Yea right :P

And I'm going to pay your partners for a certificate
and you never buy my domain
I will report your Email, Your Name and your company on all the domain forums
I know to warn them for your scam business.

Have a good day.
> Dear Sir,
>
> I consider your letter as a serious abuse. GreatDomains,
> Hollywooddomains and other sites are not my partners.
>
> If you don't send me your excuses with 24 hours my attorney will send an
> official to your ISP and domain registrar. I hope they will shut down
> your Internet access.
>
> I will also post infoirmation about the rude domain seller in all
> forums.
>
> I cc this email to my attorney.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony Griffin

Hi,

No excuse needed, I already have been warned for your email
see:
http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5474&highlight=griffin
If you contineu this scammage you will be known everywhere.


Have a good day!

 

[THESTOKIE]

any1 thought of contacting rock.com and letting them no whats going on as its giving there domain a bad name 2

 

[DrWho]

Originally posted by Rico
I know its been a while, but i got an email from this person too.
He asked me to keep his email and name secret but thats not what intend to do.
Here is our little email conversation:

> Hi there,
>
> After doing a keyword search on Google.com I have found your domain for
> sale. I prefer to make all deals direct without domain brokers so I've
> decided to contact you via email. (I've found your email address via WHO
> IS)
>
> Is this domain still available for sale ? I'm interested in purchasing.
>
> If it's still available for sale please email me your asking price.
>
> If you have other good domains for sale feel free to email me the full list
> with asking prices.
>
> If I can afford your domain I'll contact you. Please don't send me multiple
> emails if you don't receive a reply from me and keep my email address
> confidential. Just email me your asking price. If I decide to buy I'll
> contact you as soon as possible.
>
> I can send you money via PayPal. If you don't have a PayPal account I can
> send you the funds by a certified check.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony GriffinHi,

The domain is still for sale,
i've had several offers, my asking price is $750
if you find this reasonable, the domain is yours.

Regards,

Rico

> I must se eyour uname is worth at least $3,000 before I spend any money
>
> I don't have an idea how much your domain is worth. Do you have an
> appraisal certificate for your name ? I need an independent and
> professional valuation. Please note that I don't trust free or
> unprofessional appraisals. I don't want to overpay. It can be an
> appraisal certificate from www.GreatDomains.com or
> www.FastDomainSales.com or HollywoodDomains.com. It does not matter
> because I trust all these companies.
>
> After I receive your appraisals I can send you money via PayPal. If you
> don't have a PayPal account I can send you the funds by a certified
> check.
>
> If you wish we can use escrow.com to secure the transaction.
>
> Looking forward to your reply.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony Griffin

Yea right :P

And I'm going to pay your partners for a certificate
and you never buy my domain
I will report your Email, Your Name and your company on all the domain forums
I know to warn them for your scam business.

Have a good day.
> Dear Sir,
>
> I consider your letter as a serious abuse. GreatDomains,
> Hollywooddomains and other sites are not my partners.
>
> If you don't send me your excuses with 24 hours my attorney will send an
> official to your ISP and domain registrar. I hope they will shut down
> your Internet access.
>
> I will also post infoirmation about the rude domain seller in all
> forums.
>
> I cc this email to my attorney.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Anthony Griffin

Hi,

No excuse needed, I already have been warned for your email
see:
http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5474&highlight=griffin
If you contineu this scammage you will be known everywhere.


Have a good day!

The full headers of "Anthony Griffin's" email would be very useful :D

 

[Rico]

RE:Re: Interested in purchasing dvdwriters.net

Van:
"A Griffin" <[email protected]>

;p

 

[pelican]

I guess Anthony Griffin owns Rock.com or at least he owns [email protected].

I did email him a few times at the above address and got reply from him.

Wondering, how long does he want to keep trying to scam.

 

[Chosen]

Everyone can get a nice [email protected] email adress

They give away free email at rock.com

 

[Terry]

Thank you everyone for this thread. This kind of stuff is invaluable for newbies like myself. I consider myself "warned"

 

[arpmn]

Rock.com should know that someone is using their email service to scam people. I'm off to send them an email! :kickass: