Fraudulently obtained domain?

[sidekick_33]

I recently won an auction on Sedo for an LLLL.com. I paid Sedo via a credit card, and in return they created an account for me at Enom, where they pushed the domain.

I just opened up my email inbox this morning, and this is what I found:



This account contains domain names that have been reported as fraudulently removed from another account. The account and domains have been locked. The following documentation will need to be provided regarding this account and the domains within it:

Government-issued photo ID.
Scan of back and front of the credit card on the account.
How did you obtain these domains
Documentation that validates you as the owner of the domains, such as receipt of sale, correspondence, articles of incorporation or a business license.

Thank you,
rich | technical support
__________________________________

eNom, Inc., a Demand Media company
Technical Support 425.274.4500 Option 3
Technical Support Fax 425.974-4791
15801 NE 24th St.
Bellevue, WA 98008



What exactly does all of this mean? Did I buy the domain from someone who sold it on Sedo without actually owning it?

Any advice would be great!

 

[WGS_Thunder]

I Would at least call them first and also contact Sedo and ask what's going on. It looks like the fax number listed is valid

 

[mwzd]

Be very careful of any email that asks you for scans of the front and back of your credit card. If you provide those, you're liable for all expenses incurred. No one ever needs the back, unless its a scam.

1. Ensure the email is genuine - call enom, don't see why a tech support guy would be sending you such an email - check headers to make sure the email ID is not spoofed.

2. verify the status of the domain, is it locked, suspended or what.

3. Send the email to Sedo - they are responsible in providing info on the seller as per their marketplace conditions.

If all else fails, do a chargeback on your cc, but only if all else fails.

Afaik, this seems to be a scam of some sort.

 

[sidekick_33]

Thanks for the input so far. I have emailed Sedo with a copy of the email from eNom and asked them what they thought.

I will call eNom as soon as I get home. I am currently working in a remote Hydro dam without readily available long distance calling. I will admit that I am a bit hesitant by the 'credit card info' required, and also the fact that his name was 'rich'

It should also be noted that the account over at eNom has 'been disabled'

Overall, the email doesn't seem to be too professional either...

 

[LostOne]

Whatever you do, do not send a copy of both sides of the credit card, your asking to have your card details to be abused if you do.

Front side holds the account number (16 digit normally)
Back holds the last 3 numbers on the strip (Security number)

Thats all thats needed for a quick shopping spree. Maybe a little harder without an address, but if the domain does not have whois guard, they have that too, but its really not needed if they know people working in companies and it is a scam for your details.

I think mwzd is correct, seems like a scam mail.

 

[sidekick_33]

I do have to agree with the scam email idea, but how were they able to 'disable' my eNom account?

That is the part that mystifies me.

 

[Electric-Shadow]

no company should EVER send you an email asking for scans of your credit card, all they usually need is a utility bill, IE gas/electricity/phone bill.

Are users themselves able to disable their enom accounts? because perhaps the person who sold you it disabled the account and sent you the email perhaps? Just a though, i'm probably completely wrong

 

[meditang]

Check the reply-to email address, if it is something like @yahoo.com or something unrelated to Enom, it is definitely a scam.

 

[sidekick_33]

Thanks for the support so far:

The reply email address is 'Account Help <[email protected]>'

As well, when I won the domain on Sedo, they sent me an email telling me they made a custom eNom account, using my name and a randomly generated password. I have told no one this username or password, and have only logged into eNom twice to view the domain and change the who.is info.
With that said, this account was only ever in my possession and was never someone elses.

I agree that the email is quite sketchy, and do not plan on emailing in any of my info without a phone call.

Has anyone ever heard of this issue before?

 

[Electric-Shadow]

The email adress could also easily be faked using a very simple script you could code yourself in minutes.

I've not heard of this issue with enom before but send NOTHING until you get it confirmed via phone, even then they should not really be asking for your credit card details via email, whether or not they are a trustworthy company it still puts your security at risk.

 

[mis_chiff]

As well, when I won the domain on Sedo, they sent me an email telling me they made a custom eNom account, using my name and a randomly generated password.

Who created the account an Enom for you?
And did you change the password they created for you?

 

[sidekick_33]

Sedo told me that they created the account for me. I just got an email from Sedo telling me that they have created an account at eNom. They sent me the username and password in an email.

It was my duty to push the domain out of the 'new' eNom account into my real eNom account that I regularly use, but I had to wait 7 days in between pushes.

I did not change the password, but looking back, I should have!

 

[trendicator]

Be very careful of any email that asks you for scans of the front and back of your credit card. If you provide those, you're liable for all expenses incurred. No one ever needs the back, unless its a scam.

1. Ensure the email is genuine - call enom, don't see why a tech support guy would be sending you such an email - check headers to make sure the email ID is not spoofed.

2. verify the status of the domain, is it locked, suspended or what.

3. Send the email to Sedo - they are responsible in providing info on the seller as per their marketplace conditions.

If all else fails, do a chargeback on your cc, but only if all else fails.

Afaik, this seems to be a scam of some sort.

good advice, can't be more careful thesedays

 

[Domagon]

If you still have the email, view it again, and then click the "view headers", "original format", etc button and look at the first two, starting from the top, "Received:" header lines - what do they say?

From the headers one can often determine rather easily if an email is likely a spoof.

However, on a related note, one can never know for sure if a particular email is legit from the headers alone; useful to disprove origin, but not prove origin.*

* more explaination of that comment: Did the named sender truly send a particular email or was it a hacker, spam bot, rouge employee, etc? - headers alone won't answer that.

Anyways, post the info and/or PM to one or more folks here for more insight about the email.

Finally, such a request by a registrar isn't unheard of; it could be legit - from what I recall, a buyer I sold some domains to had to fax over all sorts of personal stuff to the registrar before they'd approve their account.

Ron

 

[weblord]

make sure you're dealing with the right company and don't click on any links on the email, make sure both enom.com and the assigned sedo.com rep to you are informed about this, they have the right story for you.

 

[PowerUp]

I have won domains via Enomdropclub and Namejet which were reg at Enom. I don't remember them ever requesting for my credit card info.... because the money wasn't not paid to them anyway.

 

[Spade]

Any update from the OP on this issue.

 

[planoali]

no company should EVER send you an email asking for scans of your credit card, all they usually need is a utility bill, IE gas/electricity/phone bill.

Are users themselves able to disable their enom accounts? because perhaps the person who sold you it disabled the account and sent you the email perhaps? Just a though, i'm probably completely wrong

Enom is known for asking this info so it might be valid. Try emailing [email protected], [email protected] or calling 425.274.4500 and you should hopefully be able to figure it out.

 

[sidekick_33]

Hey guys, thanks for your continued interest. I just got off of the phone with eNom, and I actually spoke to Brian, although I'm not sure if it was Brian Gosnell.

Brian wasn't able to complete explain why the domain and account were locked, but he did say that I should email back Rich and tell him that I would not like to send in my credit card information. I should just explain the situation to Rich and hopefully it will all figure itself out.

Once again, thanks guys, and it sounds like it should be cleared up in a couple of days.

 

[sidekick_33]

One last update:

After emailing eNom about this issue, I was able to get by with only having to send my drivers licence.

Here's their reply:
Hello,

Thank for supplying your ID for proof of ownership. I have restored service for your account and the domain.

As for what happened. The account this domain came from was reported as comprimised by the original owner, and many domains were fraudulently moved. As for this domain, and your account, this was not the case. We apologize for any incovenience.

Thank You,

rich | account help