'Halvarez' at Snapnames auctions uncovered

[prague7]

Ooer - this one's going to run for a while... :O

From DomainNameNews:
SnapNames User Name “Halvarez” Was Nelson Brady, VP of Engineering Bidding on Domain Names [Updated]

[Updated] According to a statement from Oversee.net’s SnapNames, an employee was found to have bid in 5% of their auctions since 2005 and in some cases arranged for a partial refund of the sales price after winning an auction. DNN also confirmed the bidder as Nelson Brady, the VP of Engineering. He was bidding under the username “halvarez”.

From Snapnames:
SnapNames User Name “Halvarez” Was Employee Bidding on Domain Names

To avoid any question about whether the company benefited from this conduct, SnapNames will offer a rebate to impacted customers, including 5.22% interest (the highest applicable federal rate during the affected time period), of the difference between the prices they paid in winning auctions, and the prices they would have paid had the employee not bid in the auctions. Impacted customers will be notified by SnapNames or its representative with instructions for the offer of a rebate.

SnapNames also has taken further action to ensure its policies regarding auctions are followed, and the company remains committed to taking whatever action is necessary to protect the integrity of its auction platform.

SnapNames deeply regrets this situation and is committed to addressing its customers’ needs quickly and fairly.

There's also a FAQ page at Snapnames

 

[NameCharger]

Is the nick of this shill bidder being disclosed?

 

[MicroGuy]

Is the nick of this shill bidder being disclosed?

'halvarez'

 

[bmugford]

It should be. There can not be full disclosure without this information.

Brad

Is the nick of this shill bidder being disclosed?

---------- Post added at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:34 PM ----------

Yeah, well that is my guess as well.

Somehow he was always the second bidder in any auction that would have otherwise been a straight backorder.

He would rarely bid, but when he did he would make irrationally high bids on turd domains.

Brad

'halvarez'

 

[has2hands]

He accounted for 1% of revenue over the years...that is huge.

when the employee won an auction, the employee secretly arranged to refund from SnapNames to the fictitious account a portion of the winning bid amount.

What does that mean? that's another huge black hole!

stay tuned.........more to come.

Paul

 

[D0MA1N]

We all knew about it, but could not prove. It remains only to find out how many people continue to raise bids artificially.

 

[HappyBunny]

When did you discover this conduct?
In October 2009.

How long had this been going on?
Since March 2005.

What took them so long???

 

[cmason]

Personally, I think that SnapNames is taking the appropriate action to correct the fraudulent bidding. It is a shame that it took this long, but the initial press release has been quite open. There is no doubt in my mind that this is going to be quite costly for SnapNames, but again, it is needed action.

 

[MicroGuy]

I think the only fair thing to do would be to give the domain to the winner at the standard backorder price or his initial bid price which ever is greater. IMO.

 

[deleted984054565403]

'halvarez'

Is that confirmed? I always had a feeling that was a fake account.

 

[bmugford]

I am glad SnapNames.com is disclosing this, but I have questions about how it it could take 4+ years for them to discover this.

I wonder if this was more of a case where they were caught somehow, and then they came clean.

If the user is "Halvarez" there have been many discussions over the years about his bidding activity on domain forums. If it is not, then Snap needs to disclose the username.

Brad

 

[tetrapak]

'halvarez'

If that's him, then Snapnames owes me $x,xxx+

 

[deleted984054565403]

Below the double line is the customer communication for use in proactive disclosure on industry message boards. A statement needs to be published on each of the boards copied in the attached e-mail from this morning. Disclosure time is 9:30 a.m. PT, concurrent with all other disclosures.

Please monitor the boards going forward and let me know what the feedback is like. If you need help on this, Corinne is available.

My understanding is you will primarily speak for the company in these forums. To that end, let’s coordinate closely on what’s being said and how to reply.

Let me know if you have questions from here. Thanks.

Oops.

 

[deleted984054565403]

another reason why i have always believed ALL of these companies are shady.

so what ARENT they telling us...

I commend SnapNames for revealing this info to us; this makes me trust them a little more, though I am still very disappointed to learn this. I don't understand why it would take four years to investigate something like this.

 

[bmugford]

If that's him, then Snapnames owes me $x,xxx+

It is "Halvarez"

SnapNames User Name “Halvarez” Was Employee Bidding on Domain Names | Domain Name News

Brad

---------- Post added at 02:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:42 PM ----------

There have been several threads about "Halvarez" over the years. SnapNames.com taking 4+ years to discover this is ridiculous.

Here are two such threads about "Halvarez" of many -

why is halvarez...... - DNF - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/163933-whats-good-tactics-beating-guy-snapnames.html

Why was this not investigated at the time?

Brad

 

[deleted984054565403]

My best guess is that they decided to "investigate" when they learned that "halvarez" wasn't actually paying for names he won; otherwise, it's just more money going into the SnapNames bank account.

It's easy to keep your eyes closed when there's money coming in! :blink:

 

[bmugford]

There have been several threads about "Halvarez" over the years. SnapNames.com taking 4+ years to discover this is ridiculous.

Here are two such threads about "Halvarez" of many -

why is halvarez...... - DNF - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/163933-whats-good-tactics-beating-guy-snapnames.html

Why was this not investigated at the time?

Brad

 

[duceman]

1. Did SN seize the domains
2. Will SN auction the names in question

 

[Smith]

Tough & expensive situation to be in for all involved.

Good to see a proactive response by oversee.net to the situation once discovered.

 

[HappyBunny]

I don't understand why it would take four years to investigate something like this.

Exactly. Why??

 

[JoshuaPz]

I am extremely disappointed in SN as halavarez has been involved in ten of thousands of auctions over the last 4 years — clearly via use of a software bot — yes SN never investigated this? And how could he possibility get away with drawing money from the company’s bank account to compensate him for his won domains? This is an horrid case of mismanagement and lack of oversight on part of SnapNames’ management. They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

 

[topnames]

Yes, I knew it was him too and posted about it on DNF I think it was. What is even more disappointing in this is that presumably they will only refund the amount he bid up but what if he won? Then we get squat. I can think of DOZENS of times when he beat me out for a name and he won. Do I get the domain now? No chance. So we still all got screwed and thats why really I have used Snapnames only once in the last 3 years as I knew this was happening.

There have been several threads about "Halvarez" over the years. SnapNames.com taking 4+ years to discover this is ridiculous.

Here are two such threads about "Halvarez" of many -

why is halvarez...... - DNF - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/163933-whats-good-tactics-beating-guy-snapnames.html

Why was this not investigated at the time?

Brad

 

[duceman]

I'm kind of miffed at why measures were not in place to check for this. Lord knows that this type of employee theft/embezzlement is not new.

Hind sight is 20/20 of course, but just seems that certain actions should have waved huge flags.

 

[buckshotdots]

I even started a thread in the past asking who this guy was. Wow, can I say I have been violated??? Horrible, horrible...Hmph... At least I will be receiving a nice rebate check (I wonder if I will get interest). Anyways shame on snapnames for turning a blind eye as they SHOULD have noticed this going on for 3-4 years.

g-

Should have read email from the fully - yup interest.

5.22% interest

 

[bmugford]

4+ years with all these red flags. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on Snap, and as far as I am concerned their credibility is down the drain now.

Brad

 

[topnames]

If that's him, then Snapnames owes me $x,xxx+

I agree. They owe me money for sure too as I knew he was a shill for a long time and posted about it on DNF I think it was. What is even more disappointing in this is that presumably they will only refund the amount he bid up but what if he won? Then we get squat. I can think of DOZENS of times when he beat me out for a name and he won. Do I get the domain now? No chance. So we still all got screwed and thats why really I have used Snapnames only once in the last 3 years as I knew this was happening.