'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

 

[Acroplex]

I have spent about $10,000 at Snapnames since 2005. Imagine the totals for domainers around the world: millions of dollars. This is the tip of the iceberg; apparently someone "whistled" the information. My opinion is that he did not act alone. Someone leaked the info "upstairs" when they had no reason to keep quiet - usually after they got fired.

 

[GF]

I have spent about $10,000 at Snapnames since 2005. Imagine the totals for domainers around the world: millions of dollars. This is the tip of the iceberg; apparently someone "whistled" the information. My opinion is that he did not act alone. Someone leaked the info "upstairs" when they had no reason to keep quiet - usually after they got fired.

I also got suspicious of the same thing when they said that he was getting some sort of price break after the auction closed. Was someone in on it there?

Yikes...

 

[cmason]

I have spent about $10,000 at Snapnames since 2005. Imagine the totals for domainers around the world: millions of dollars. This is the tip of the iceberg; apparently someone "whistled" the information. My opinion is that he did not act alone. Someone leaked the info "upstairs" when they had no reason to keep quiet - usually after they got fired.

Exactly! With this guy being a major shareholder before the Oversee sale there is the whole issue of using shill bidding to inflate the value of SnapNames. To me it looks like the previous directors/powers of SnapNames screwed Oversee. (I don't know a lot about the acquisition, so this is just my though..)

 

[deb]

What will the Movie be Called?

 

[Acroplex]

The true aspect of fraud at such a scale is huge. It involves several departments: finance, programming, middle management. Nelson Brady was a VP - full control of operations. At this point, Snapnames does not belong to those that cheated domainers out of millions of dollars, however they have a reputation to uphold as Oversee.

---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:53 PM ----------

What will the Movie be Called?

"Nelson and Bubba share a bar of soap"

 

[bmugford]

This makes me question the integrity of any company under the Oversee.net umbrella. It would be just as easy to shill live events.

I have a very hard time believing this information came out from the goodness of their hearts. It is straight damage control. I am sure there will be more to this as it unfolds.

Brad

 

[MicroGuy]

I think Snapnames will need to change their name for damage control. The current named will be forever tarnished.

 

[bmugford]

How about SwapNames.com? LOL

Brad

I think Snapnames will need to change their name for damage control. The current named will be forever tarnished.

 

[MicroGuy]

How about SwapNames.com? LOL

Brad

How about SOAPDROP.COM. Lol.

 

[DotsNews]

Is "shill bidder" the best way to describe halvarez? A shill is someone who is trying to get people to bid, but halvarez was actually trying to win the auctions.

 

[deb]

Is "shill bidder" the best way to describe halvarez? A shill is someone who is trying to get people to bid, but halvarez was actually trying to win the auctions.

Who was he working with?

 

[bmugford]

It was flat out criminal fraud on a massive scale. He was not only a shill bidder.

Brad

Is "shill bidder" the best way to describe halvarez? A shill is someone who is trying to get people to bid, but halvarez was actually trying to win the auctions.

 

[DotsNews]

I think he was just working for himself. At least no one else has been identified for their involvement.

Who was he working with?

 

[Acroplex]

Is "shill bidder" the best way to describe halvarez? A shill is someone who is trying to get people to bid, but halvarez was actually trying to win the auctions.

Halvarez was acting on multiple fronts:

A shill bidder, driving up the price of auctions by hundreds and thousands of dollars.
A carrot-stick holder, kick-starting auctions that had 1 bid.
A money launderer, for getting refunds for domains he had won, and thus:
A thief, for stealing money from his own employer.

 

[snoop]

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.

Are you Mason Cole who was Vice President of Snapnames at the time?

 

[MicroGuy]

I think he was just working for himself. At least no one else has been identified for their involvement.

It was shill bidding, he only won a small percentage of the auctions. His compensation may have been based in part on sales providing the motivation. I seriously doubt he acted alone and certainly don't believe anything that Snapnames has to say on the subject.

 

[deb]

I think he was just working for himself. At least no one else has been identified for their involvement.

Bernie Madoff was working for himself as well?

I think there are more people who knew about it even if they were not involved...its too big and went on for 4+ years and was Beneficial to too many Snapnames Employees and Shareholders to be Outed.

It is Greed Driven Fraud imo

 

[cmason]

Are you Mason Cole who was Vice President of Snapnames at the time?

I am not Mason Cole, but funny enough my name is Cole Mason. I have received quite a few messages today, but I have no affiliation with SnapNames whatsoever.

 

[pixelbypixel]

8 pages and counting. This thread will be dead in a week once the hype blows over.

Hi btw MicroGuy. =]

 

[deb]

Halvarez was acting on multiple fronts:

A shill bidder, driving up the price of auctions by hundreds and thousands of dollars.
A carrot-stick holder, kick-starting auctions that had 1 bid.
A money launderer, for getting refunds for domains he had won, and thus:
A thief, for stealing money from his own employer.

Exactly....

I wonder what Nelson's side of the story is.....should be a good read

 

[DN BROKER]

Halvarez was acting on multiple fronts:

A shill bidder, driving up the price of auctions by hundreds and thousands of dollars.
A carrot-stick holder, kick-starting auctions that had 1 bid.
A money launderer, for getting refunds for domains he had won, and thus:
A thief, for stealing money from his own employer.

WoW

 

[Jaco]

8 pages and counting. This thread will be dead in a week once the hype blows over.

Yeah, hype is temporary, but memories are long and judgments are forever.

 

[Acroplex]

Here's what's going to happen:

1. Oversee hired a third party to investigate - they have already outed the former employee.
2. Oversee will truly process the logical method of compensation, as explained in that email and announcement.
3. Charges will be filed against Nelson Brady by Oversee.

However, by issuing compensation Oversee will make its recipients agree to terms waiving any further rights to claims or lawsuit against Oversee. It's unfortunate that Oversee bought and controls a corporation that engaged in fraudulent activity via its employee(s). Right now, there is a need to assess the damages sustained; some people were probably defrauded by tens of thousands of dollars. It's important to not rush to any agreement with Oversee over "rebates" - for as long as Oversee does not release the private information they hold per account: auction history. I can only recall ONE incident bidding against "halvarez" and it cost me $2,300 - this doesn't mean there aren't many more. As long as I don't have access via my account to auction history, Oversee knows that I cannot prove much. However, their reputation is at stake right now.

 

[DN BROKER]

Here's what's going to happen:

1. Oversee hired a third party to investigate - they have already outed the former employee.
2. Oversee will truly process the logical method of compensation, as explained in that email and announcement.
3. Charges will be filed against Nelson Brady by Oversee.

However, by issuing compensation Oversee will make its recipients agree to terms waiving any further rights to claims or lawsuit against Oversee. It's unfortunate that Oversee bought and controls a corporation that engaged in fraudulent activity via its employee(s). Right now, there is a need to assess the damages sustained; some people were probably defrauded by tens of thousands of dollars. It's important to not rush to any agreement with Oversee over "rebates" - for as long as Oversee does not release the private information they hold per account: auction history. I can only recall ONE incident bidding against "halvarez" and it cost me $2,300 - this doesn't mean there aren't many more. As long as I don't have access via my account to auction history, Oversee knows that I cannot prove much. However, their reputation is at stake right now.

Agreed, well put Acro!

 

[SpareDomains]

The few auctions I had him in as I didn't use snapnames but a few times he never outbid his initial bid so I didn't waste any money, I'm assuming this is because I always waited till the auction was almost over to bid and I never put in proxy bids just always bid the minimum and watched the auctions.