discuss [Resolved] Domainer Loses $26k On A Stolen Domain!

[Silentptnr]

Darn! Another scam and this time it is an experienced domainer James Booth.

James must have thought he was making a sound acquisition as he transferred approximately 26k to escrow for CQD.com. Instead, after completing the escrow, the domain was taken from his account by the registrar without notification and returned to the "true" owner.

Turns out the person that sold him the domain CQD.com, may not have been the true owner.

Apparently this incident involves several parties including the registrar and the escrow.


Thanks to Theo over at DomainGang for the tip on this.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

(see above)...
no. he has not. as previously stated, miles ago, the only known communication from him to me was a phone call that went straight to my VM at 2AM in the morning regarding "why are you taking back the domain i just bought". i did not call him back, therefore i have never spoken to him. ohhh... and 3 emails he and his "team member" sent me after the sh*t hit the fan.

I see, can you share them?

 

[BoothDomains]

Rebecca is now clearly lying.

• Message Details:
• • Name Rebecca Burns
  • Email [email protected]
  • Subject CQD.com
  • Message james, you stole my domain when it was purchased through escrow.com by you through a person not authorized to sell it, and with zero affiliations to me. It was a hacker who fraudulently conducted business with you. I have worked all my life, and owned this domain for 22 years. it is my business. Please return it to me. I did NOT receive any money. The "seller" was not me. This will ruin my life. i have been crying all day over this. PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND GIVE IT BACK TO ME. As God is my witness to do the right thing you will be rewarded 10 fold. Just as if you do the wrong thing you shall be punished. Colossians 3:25 Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. I was never contacted. I was not a part of this transaction. I am a victim here. I would appreciate your acknowledgement and return CQD.com to her rightful owner. I created her. She is like my child and she is worth way more than what you spent, you know this. -Rebecca Burns ComQuest Designs 352-870-5282
• Sent on: 8 March, 2018

info <[email protected]>
Mar 8

to spoiltrider

Hi Rebecca,
I am willing to work with you to get this resolved. I don't appreciate you making accusations at me though as that is unfair. The total amount paid was $25,000 plus Escrow fees. I am curious to where you got the number of $19,000 from. I also have proof of the Escrow transaction. The Director of Fraud and Abuse at Web.com did a 3 MONTH investigation in to this case and returned the domain to me as I purchased the name by all the relevant legal channels. Suing 7 different people is going to cost you high 5 - low 6 figures. Even though I know the domain name is worth more than what I paid I am happy to resolve this by selling the name back for what I paid. The law suit will also take years to resolve.
If you have any interest in getting this resolved, communicate privately.

Regards,
James

RJB
Mar 9

to me, Zak

james and zak (whoever you are)

do you think what you have done is the right thing?
can’t you call escrow.com and get refunded through this. that is what i would do for you if shoes were on the other foot.
i have the email that was being used in my cqd.com web mail, and my hosting company is currently pulling all ip address assocated with the hack.

can you not recoup your money from the platform you used?

i am not party to this transfer and i never authorized it, verbally or in writing in any way.

i am filing for a court order to get it back.

the right thing to do is give it back to me.

the self-roughoues thing to do is not giving it back. that’s greed.
and that is where karma will come back on you ten-fold.

i will work as long as it takes to get my 22yo domain that has been abducted, stolen, hijacked from me. that’s the right thing for me to do.
this domain is like my daughter to me. it’s also 22 years of business, corp id, emails and web presence that you are not interring with.
to you it’s just a 3 letter domain to make you flip money.

i will march the steps of the law makers and make it much more legally damning (felony) for buyers and sellers of known stolen domains which are legally known as personal property. i am the neice of law makers. sometimes it’s not what you know but who you’re related to.

i aim is also to tom lam, the “investigator” (a ghost) fired when i am done with this.

so hopefully you will do the right thing, and i will help you anyway i can show proof that my email account was hacked and a user with a gmail account not associated with me crafted all the emails between you him and escrow.com

what say you?

the right thing?
or karma coming after you 10 fold?

i am a middle aged woman. this domain is my nest egg. you have stolen more from me than you will admit to yourself, i am sure.

but whatever you choose, and no matter the outcome, i will be doing the right thing, and doing unto others as i would have them do unto me.

-rebecca burns
rightful owner of CQD.com
352-870-5272.

you know my domain was stolen. i am stating this as such.



info <[email protected]>
Mar 13

to Rebecca, Zak, David

Hi Rebecca,

I have tried to be as reasonable as possible and offer an amicable resolution that is not ideal to either party, but that nonetheless is a compromise that makes the best of a poor situation. You chose to ignore my lawyers and me and instead continue to write on public forums.

Let me be perfectly clear: my position is that I am a bona fide purchaser of the domain and the rightful owner with ample proof of this fact. I will vigorously defend myself against any and all lawsuits. You have posted defamatory and false information about me and my company all over the internet and in places where that information will remain forever.

You say I should contact Escrow.com; I say you should contact the FBI and find out who the “thief” is, if there was in fact a thief. Let me also be clear: I purchased this domain name for $25,000 and have proof. I will NOT give this domain name away and incur that loss.

I am willing to give you 2 options to resolve this amicably:

Option 1: You pay me the amount I paid for the domain name through my lawyer and I return the domain name to you.
Option 2: If you cannot afford the domain name upfront, we can work out a payment plan for the full amount through my lawyer.

If I do not hear from you by 17.00pm EST on Friday 16th March, you will be contacted by my lawyers for the damages you have done to my name and reputation.
If any more posts are made publicly all of these options are off the table.


Regards,
James

 

[BoothDomains]

no. he has not. as previously stated, miles ago, the only known communication from him to me was a phone call that went straight to my VM at 2AM in the morning regarding "why are you taking back the domain i just bought". i did not call him back, therefore i have never spoken to him. ohhh... and 3 emails he and his "team member" sent me after the sh*t hit the fan.

And NO I did not call you and leave you a voicemail. This is getting ridiculous and a lot of lies are being thrown around.

 

[BoothDomains]

The emails are not from a team member. It's called a lawyer.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Rebecca is now clearly lying.

• Message Details:
• • Name Rebecca Burns
  • Email [email protected]
  • Subject CQD.com
  • Message james, you stole my domain when it was purchased through escrow.com by you through a person not authorized to sell it, and with zero affiliations to me. It was a hacker who fraudulently conducted business with you. I have worked all my life, and owned this domain for 22 years. it is my business. Please return it to me. I did NOT receive any money. The "seller" was not me. This will ruin my life. i have been crying all day over this. PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND GIVE IT BACK TO ME. As God is my witness to do the right thing you will be rewarded 10 fold. Just as if you do the wrong thing you shall be punished. Colossians 3:25 Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. I was never contacted. I was not a part of this transaction. I am a victim here. I would appreciate your acknowledgement and return CQD.com to her rightful owner. I created her. She is like my child and she is worth way more than what you spent, you know this. -Rebecca Burns ComQuest Designs 352-870-5282
• Sent on: 8 March, 2018

info <[email protected]>
Mar 8

to spoiltrider

Hi Rebecca,
I am willing to work with you to get this resolved. I don't appreciate you making accusations at me though as that is unfair. The total amount paid was $25,000 plus Escrow fees. I am curious to where you got the number of $19,000 from. I also have proof of the Escrow transaction. The Director of Fraud and Abuse at Web.com did a 3 MONTH investigation in to this case and returned the domain to me as I purchased the name by all the relevant legal channels. Suing 7 different people is going to cost you high 5 - low 6 figures. Even though I know the domain name is worth more than what I paid I am happy to resolve this by selling the name back for what I paid. The law suit will also take years to resolve.
If you have any interest in getting this resolved, communicate privately.

Regards,
James

RJB
Mar 9

to me, Zak

james and zak (whoever you are)

do you think what you have done is the right thing?
can’t you call escrow.com and get refunded through this. that is what i would do for you if shoes were on the other foot.
i have the email that was being used in my cqd.com web mail, and my hosting company is currently pulling all ip address assocated with the hack.

can you not recoup your money from the platform you used?

i am not party to this transfer and i never authorized it, verbally or in writing in any way.

i am filing for a court order to get it back.

the right thing to do is give it back to me.

the self-roughoues thing to do is not giving it back. that’s greed.
and that is where karma will come back on you ten-fold.

i will work as long as it takes to get my 22yo domain that has been abducted, stolen, hijacked from me. that’s the right thing for me to do.
this domain is like my daughter to me. it’s also 22 years of business, corp id, emails and web presence that you are not interring with.
to you it’s just a 3 letter domain to make you flip money.

i will march the steps of the law makers and make it much more legally damning (felony) for buyers and sellers of known stolen domains which are legally known as personal property. i am the neice of law makers. sometimes it’s not what you know but who you’re related to.

i aim is also to tom lam, the “investigator” (a ghost) fired when i am done with this.

so hopefully you will do the right thing, and i will help you anyway i can show proof that my email account was hacked and a user with a gmail account not associated with me crafted all the emails between you him and escrow.com

what say you?

the right thing?
or karma coming after you 10 fold?

i am a middle aged woman. this domain is my nest egg. you have stolen more from me than you will admit to yourself, i am sure.

but whatever you choose, and no matter the outcome, i will be doing the right thing, and doing unto others as i would have them do unto me.

-rebecca burns
rightful owner of CQD.com
352-870-5272.

you know my domain was stolen. i am stating this as such.



info <[email protected]>
Mar 13

to Rebecca, Zak, David

Hi Rebecca,

I have tried to be as reasonable as possible and offer an amicable resolution that is not ideal to either party, but that nonetheless is a compromise that makes the best of a poor situation. You chose to ignore my lawyers and me and instead continue to write on public forums.

Let me be perfectly clear: my position is that I am a bona fide purchaser of the domain and the rightful owner with ample proof of this fact. I will vigorously defend myself against any and all lawsuits. You have posted defamatory and false information about me and my company all over the internet and in places where that information will remain forever.

You say I should contact Escrow.com; I say you should contact the FBI and find out who the “thief” is, if there was in fact a thief. Let me also be clear: I purchased this domain name for $25,000 and have proof. I will NOT give this domain name away and incur that loss.

I am willing to give you 2 options to resolve this amicably:

Option 1: You pay me the amount I paid for the domain name through my lawyer and I return the domain name to you.
Option 2: If you cannot afford the domain name upfront, we can work out a payment plan for the full amount through my lawyer.

If I do not hear from you by 17.00pm EST on Friday 16th March, you will be contacted by my lawyers for the damages you have done to my name and reputation.
If any more posts are made publicly all of these options are off the table.


Regards,
James

Thank you James, I have no doubt you bought the domain with 100% belief it was from the rightful owner and these emails help that belief, that was never doubted I merely am gauging Rebecca's honesty.

 

[DNWon]

I am willing to give you 2 options to resolve this amicably:

Option 1: You pay me the amount I paid for the domain name through my lawyer and I return the domain name to you.
Option 2: If you cannot afford the domain name upfront, we can work out a payment plan for the full amount through my lawyer.

Lol, 2 options to resolve this amicably:
1.) Pay me 25K
2.) Pay me 25K in installments

That's your idea of "amicably"?

Zak Muscovitch I presume?

This is getting ridiculous and a lot of lies are being thrown around.

What lies James?

 

[BoothDomains]

Lies being I called her at 2am and left a voicemail saying give me the domain back - False
Lies that I didn't contact her to try and resolve it privately - False

 

[BoothDomains]

Let me also be clear. I have several emails from [email protected] and the Yahoo email that was on the Whois confirming all details about the transaction etc. I am not going to keep posting screenshots and evidence on NamePros. A 3 month investigation by Web.com found I went through all the relevant legal channels. Several lawyers have also confirmed this. Rebecca needs to be chasing the actual thief instead of calling me a thief. She also needs to know how to protect herself online. I would have been far more reasonable if she had kept things private and not posted my name and company everywhere online. That option is now out of the window.

 

[Josh R]

"Option 1: You pay me the amount I paid for the domain name through my lawyer and I return the domain name to you.
Option 2: If you cannot afford the domain name upfront, we can work out a payment plan for the full amount through my lawyer."

This is incredibly fair IMO.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Let me also be clear. I have several emails from [email protected] and the Yahoo email that was on the Whois confirming all details about the transaction etc. I am not going to keep posting screenshots and evidence on NamePros. A 3 month investigation by Web.com found I went through all the relevant legal channels. Several lawyers have also confirmed this. Rebecca needs to be chasing the actual thief instead of calling me a thief. She also needs to know how to protect herself online. I would have been far more reasonable if she had kept things private and not posted my name and company everywhere online. That option is now out of the window.

James, just one question and no need to post a screen shot, unless you'd like to, it helps.

Was the escrow transaction with Rebecca's full and exact details in all respects? No differing names, locations, emails etc.

 

[DNWon]

James, do you believe the name CQD.com was stolen from Rebecca Burns and sold to you by the thief?

 

[BoothDomains]

The transaction stated 'CQD' - with the Yahoo email on Whois.

I made sure with my rep at Escrow that everything matched up wit the KYC and the seller on Whois. They said yes so I proceeded.

There is nothing more for me to do at this point then let my lawyers deal with it. Thank you.

 

[DNWon]

This is incredibly fair IMO.

Fair for whom?
James: definitely!
Rebecca: Hardly!

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

The transaction stated 'CQD' - with the Yahoo email on Whois.

I made sure with my rep at Escrow that everything matched up wit the KYC and the seller on Whois. They said yes so I proceeded.

There is nothing more for me to do at this point then let my lawyers deal with it. Thank you.

James with all due respect that is not an answer I wanted to hear, I wanted to hear yes Josh it matched perfectly. Forget what escrow said to you, you saw it right in front of you, still can in fact.

You saw the sellers info so did it match perfectly, no differing names, locations or emails and phone number? Yes or No

 

[BoothDomains]

James, do you believe the name CQD.com was stolen from Rebecca Burns and sold to you by the thief?

In all honestly I go by 'actual' facts. when buying the name everything looked as if it was any other deal I was doing. It was suspicious when I got the name and then it was taken from 'my' account after a few weeks. Web.com Legal Team stated someone from CQD said the name had been stolen by an employee and the owner said the transaction was unlawful hence them taking the name from my account. I then provided them all my evidence. They conducted their 3 month investigation and returned the name back to me. Rebecca does not respond to my lawyers on the email she emailed me on. At this stage it is all very suspicious. Anyone can make up a story even for $25,000 USD. I go by evidence and facts as do courts and law enforcement.

 

[BoothDomains]

Yes JP. I was just stating what it said. CQD - With the Yahoo email as the seller.

 

[Keith]

The transaction stated 'CQD' - with the Yahoo email on Whois.

I made sure with my rep at Escrow that everything matched up wit the KYC and the seller on Whois. They said yes so I proceeded.

There is nothing more for me to do at this point then let my lawyers deal with it. Thank you.

I’m late to the party but this strikes me as odd. Why would a person who claims this was their long time biz domain, have a yahoo email? Is that the address you used to make the peace offering to Rebecca? If not that should be a huge red flag to you.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Yes JP. I was just stating what it said. CQD - With the Yahoo email as the seller.

Well, if all the escrow info matched and I believe you of course then I understand your situation, feel bad for you this happened. Need to stand your ground than and see where she takes it, if anywhere.

 

[BoothDomains]

I’m late to the party but this strikes me as odd. Why would a person who claims this was their long time biz domain, have a yahoo email? Is that the address you used to make the peace offering to Rebecca? If not that should be a huge red flag to you.

Hi Keith, Please read the post. The Yahoo email was confirmed by Rebecca 'herself' on NamePros to be her email address. She confirmed she had the admin email as [email protected] and the registrant email as her Yahoo email. I emailed and had correspondence on both emails.

She emailed me from a new email address. This time a Gmail one demanding I hand the domain back ([email protected]).

The only red flags I am seeing are some of the things being posted here.

 

[Keith]

Hi Keith, Please read the post. The Yahoo email was confirmed by Rebecca 'herself' on NamePros to be her email address. She confirmed she had the admin email as [email protected] and the registrant email as her Yahoo email. I emailed and had correspondence on both emails.

She emailed me from a new email address. This time a Gmail one demanding I hand the domain back ([email protected]).

The only red flags I am seeing are some of the things being posted here.

If that’s the case then she doesn’t have one. It’s your domain no doubt.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

@BoothDomains

When I started looking at the history I discovered this when addressing Rebecca...

1.You said you renewed the domain in August 2017, that is correct as I believe according to whois history the name went into pending renewal status on or around August 17th and through to your renewal on or around the 23rd for an additional term.
2. I noticed you continued to use as in the past years 2 emails for the purpose of registration:
(registrant) [email protected] and [email protected] (admin).
3.On Sept. 28th approx 1 month after renewal the admin email changed to remove [email protected] and replaced it with your registrant email [email protected], changes like this are important in pin pointing timelines of a theft. Did you make this change? If not read on...
4.If you did not make the email change to the admin contact then THAT was the day the domain was stolen or should I say the day the thief gained access to your yahoo email account and thus the domain. (Your [email protected] was compromised). They removed [email protected] in order to stop you from getting correspondence during the planned sale of the name while they negotiated (maybe maybe not) via your yahoo email and it worked!

James, she replied and even showed a screen shot where someone had added another domain [email protected] I think as a forward.

Do you think it is possible she is telling the truth and someone did hack her emails? I suppose that is now on her to prove but you are smart enough to know it is still quite possibly the truth.

 

[BoothDomains]

Of course it is a possibility. I am not denying that. The only thing left to do in this situation is let a judge decide. I would even take a loss on what I paid to sell it back to her to end this stress.

 

[tonyk2000]

James, do you believe the name CQD.com was stolen from Rebecca Burns and sold to you by the thief?

It is a key question James might (or might not) want to address.

If the answer is positive, then the domain should (and likely will) be returned, as per legal precedents quoted by @jberryhill which was also confirmed by @Brandon Abbey based on his experience. Plain and simple. Anything else what we are discussing here - such as who is Jack(ie) and/or who-contacted-whom and in what order, while may well be relevant, is something secondary.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Of course it is a possibility. I am not denying that. The only thing left to do in this situation is let a judge decide. I would even take a loss on what I paid to sell it back to her to end this stress.

How big of a loss?

Also you mentioned your friend Jack put you on the name, two questions. Is this the "Jack" who first had a deal to buy the name then backed out via escrow.com or did he keep that info from you? Secondly did Jack broker this name for you or was it a direct buy, I only ask because you seem to not have the full escrow details in front of you based on your replies. If Jack is involved (broker, person who shared emails to convince you the name was clean) I think Jack needs to compensate you should you take a loss, I say should, who knows where this goes.

Either way a nightmare I am sure.

 

[Jasonn]

Let me also be clear. I have several emails from [email protected] and the Yahoo email that was on the Whois confirming all details about the transaction etc. I am not going to keep posting screenshots and evidence on NamePros. A 3 month investigation by Web.com found I went through all the relevant legal channels. Several lawyers have also confirmed this. Rebecca needs to be chasing the actual thief instead of calling me a thief. She also needs to know how to protect herself online. I would have been far more reasonable if she had kept things private and not posted my name and company everywhere online. That option is now out of the window.

This whole thing is ridiculous. If you buy a stolen car, do you get to keep the car? No. I don't see why this is any different. Maybe there is the issue of who was the "seller" but beyond that, like any stolen goods, the buyer has no choice but the take the loss.