I have edited this post to remove the name of the individual who had pulled this stunt. I have received a couple of emails from him that I will also post. I think the humiliation plus the realization of how serious this could have been and the potential consequences has sunk in. I think it is only the proper thing to do. Besides, it’s a matter of the public WHOIS record anyways.
And I think Ben is now quite aware that he is under scrutiny along with other domain sellers on eBay.
Sorry for the long post but it kind of sums up everything.
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1/26 1258pm
So, you have a repuation for not letting down anyone.
Try me and see where you get.
You have 24 hours to remove your post.
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1/26 354pm
Glad you liked it.
Name one thing, just one little itsy bitsy thing that I posted that was false or a lie, like some we know.
And if you did nothing wrong, why is the auction not still up and running? My, 3100 YANKEE bucks for DRLNK.COM. That's what, about 1700 GBP?
If you want to try to sell DRLNK as a typo for DRINK, then say so. If you want to sell it as DrLnk.com as some Dr. Link, then say so.
So, please do keep emailing me and we'll keep adding to the post.
The choice is yours...don't email me and perhaps this will die down in 24 hours. Or keep emailing me, the post keeps getting added to as I submit your emails and my responses, it keeps getting bumped up to top of the list, more people have an opportunity to see what fools are made of, and you stay in the spotlight. I will allow you this one and only one opportunity to come to your senses and be reasonable, go away, and you can come back and play another day on ebay or somewhere.
Besides, I can not "remove a post". You can, however, contact the owner/administrator of ebay, DNF, NamePros, and others that I have not mentioned yet, and petition those entities to remove the post or the complaint and have me banned or kicked off.
By the way, dumbass, I am hardly the only one to report you to ebay. Or start a thread about you.
Cheers!
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1/26 834pm
N0, N0NE 0F WHAT Y0U P0STED WAS A LlE. l WAS TRYlNG T0 BE CLEVER, H0PEFULLY THlS WlLL BE A LESS0N T0 ANY0NE TRYlNG T0 PULL A SlMlLAR STUNT lN THE FUTURE, D0N'T D0 lT. l SH0ULD P0lNT 0UT TH0UGH THAT l DlDN;T AT ANYTlME USE THE TEXT drink lN MY LlSTlNG AT ANYP0lNT. YES Y0U WEREN'T THE 0NLY PERS0N T0 P0lNT THAT 0UT T0 ME, AS WELL AS S0ME LEGAL ASPECTS SH0ULD l S0LD DRLNK.C0M
SlNCE CL0SlNG THE LlSTlNG l HAVE RECElVED A NUMBER 0FF 0FFERS F0R THlS D0MAlN, 0UTSlDE EBAY. THE QUESTl0NS lS: SH0ULD l REP0RT THEM T0 EBAY? MAYBE l C0ULD SELL T0 THEM, AFTERALL THEY W0ULDN'T HAVE ANY C0MEBACK..................
l GUESS l SH0ULD THANK Y0U ST0PPlNG ME MAKE A C0MPLETE A**E 0UT 0F MYSELF, ENDlNG UP lN JAlL 0R S0METHlNG.
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1/27/07 807am
Ben,
I appreciate your email and having come to the realization what you attempted to pull was not only wrong but criminal. Most likely a felony in any country. Deception is deception no matter how you want to look at it or word it. Deception for personal gain is fraud. You were close to violating international laws and not only committing fraud but wire fraud had you accepted money for this under false pretenses. These are very serious offenses. If they crossed international borders, it would have been interesting to see who wanted you the most; the FBI, Interpol, UK authorities. Then there would have been the matter or where to extradite you to stand trial. The real fun would have been deciding which prison to put you in.
Of course providing someone had not come after you personally.
The point is it did not happen and the worst of it is you made yourself look foolish. If your pride is the only thing that took a hit, consider yourself fortunate.
Had it gone on and people thought it was actually drink.com, it may have gotten as much as 30-50K or even more. Don't be stupid. You would have never gotten away with it in the long run and people end up dead for much less money than that.
If you get an offer from someone to buy it, be truthful and honest as to what it actually is. Most likely they still think it is drink.com.
Ebay does not like it when you sell off eBay but it is a matter of public WHOIS database. It is not the way eBay sees it but it is no different from someone looking up a domain name that I own and contacting me through a WHOIS contact listed. The reality is I can not advise you either way, but I am offering you some alternatives that eBay may not agree with but it is a public database. Just be truthful and forthright. Simply because you pulled it off eBay does not exempt it from any of the legalities mentioned.
Also, a word of caution...I have no doubts that some individuals making the offers off ebay have actually been kicked off ebay themselves for scamming or defrauding others. This is where you run the risk of becoming the victim. Not a comfortable feeling to be in, is it. Stolen credit cards, hijacked PayPal accounts, credit card charge backs. It would have never made through escrow.com. The seller does not get the funds released until the buyer indicates receiving the goods and is satisfied. No buyer would have been satisfied.
Here is what I will do.
I will remove your personal information from the post. That I can control. I can not totally remove the post or the threads. It is not my forum and it stays.
If anyone else has placed a quote with your personal information, I will ask them to consider removing it.
You will find that we all have many things in common on these forums...domains, internet, and website interests. The majority of the folks on the two forums are pure hardcore domainers.
Your eBay stunt could have ruined potential sales for all domain sellers as word got out about this. Every domain seller or every domain for sale would come under serious scrutiny. Most importantly, had this made the news, no one would trust any domains or domain sellers for quite some time until this settled down.
I will go ahead and post your response as well as my reply. Hopefully this will restore some respect and credibility, perhaps to both of us.
Nothing is worth going to prison, getting your ass beat, or ending up dead because you defrauded someone and stole their money. Don't be stupid. If you want some advice, join one of the forums. Learn how to go about doing this legitimately and becoming respected in the domain business.
Plus your real name and address was on the WHOIS. This may have made the news on the BBC as WORLD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS which would have even been more embarrassing.
Take care and, this time, thanks for the note.
Regards,