Have I been scammed?! Yes

A few days ago I took advantage of the .co offers and registered a bunch of domains, all crypto related on Epik.

I took the liberty to Park on Epik and list on many websites, and then I did something I don't normally do but have seen people make successive sales on FB and listed to an FB group. Little did I know that would be my undoing.

This morning I saw some likes on my listing and a friend request from a Hui Woong, I checked his profile and see he sells consoles and have made some sales in his FB listing so I give him some credit.

He says he's interested in MineBTC.co and proceeds to ask for my price, feeling Bullish as his profile says he works "At Apple" I told him $2200, he says he can't send that but will be able to send $2000, I agree and tell him to pay through Epik.

And this is where I was very stupid, he says he lives in China and it would be difficult to pay as policies restrict paying to an account abroad, coming from a country that also has harsh restrictions on overseas payments I understand, he suggests paying in Bitcoin, fine I give him my legit Bitcoin address.

Seeing this he counters that he prefers I receive it through Kydaswap.xyz

That I will be able to create a contract with him where his btc will be locked till I send him the domain, I agree, push the domain on Epik, he receives, sends the so-called 0.11 btc.. I attempt to withdraw, I'm unable to, I tell him I'm being charged 0.05 btc to "verify" my account after already verifying, he says withdrawal is fast, I tell him it's insisting I pay before withdrawal, he throws a fit and blocks me.

This is entirely my fault admittedly and I don't know if I can get the domain back, the least I can do is warn others. I've already reported to the group.

@Rob Monster

 

If there is any possible way to get it back, I am sure Rob will do his best to help you.

Thank you for sharing your story...it will surely help someone else in one way or another. We all make mistakes and as long as we learn from them it will make us stronger/better.

 

Pardon me for asking but...

epik has alipay available, would that not have been a better choice for payment?

 

Evidences

 

I can't use AliPay in my country. Either way as I said coming from a country with harsh restrictions on transactions made me lower my guard @MapleDots

 

Read through Namepros and stories like this abound. Which is why the best advice in domaining is to read and keep on reading.

Sorry for your experience. I hope you get your domain back. If you don't, then chalk it up to lesson learned.

 

.

 

https://kydaswap.xyz/terms

So you gonna lose 1.10% of this 0.05BTC then can withdrawn all coins.

But you need to check how legit is kydaswap as a service because u can lose your coins too

THIS SERVICE IS SCAM!

 

DON'T!!! That site is a scam!

 

https://twitter.com/alansilbert

nothing about kydaswap... so 99.99% scam site.

But you always can ask him @ twitter :D

 

These guys don't care about the domain, the transaction to verify your account is the scam.

Talk to @robmonster . He should be able to get you your domain back.

 

Let's review the facts..

1. He says I can withdraw immediately
2. I stupidly did not read the TOS.
3. He sends the alleged 0.11 btc
4. It shows up in my account.
5. I am unable to withdraw it till I pay 0.05 btc from an external account.
6. I tell him, he says nothing reasonable but "what"
7. The site even refuses to use its own "btc" as reserve during withdrawals.
8. I tell him I'm unable to still withdraw and will refund him his btc for my domain.
9. He blocks me.

Even if the site were legit which I seriously doubt, I have been scammed nonetheless as I am getting less than the agreed sum for my domain.

 

Trust me. That's 100% a scam site. After making a transaction you won't be able to withdraw anything. Your funds will probably show but that's about it.

Common scam.

 

yep as @NameDeck they are going after your BTC not the domain.

 

Folks -- Always use escrow for BTC transactions. Always:

https://escrow.epik.com/

Epik is almost certainly the world leader for crypto escrow for domains. It works like a champ. Those who have used it know it to be true. And it keeps getting better.

As for the scam, it is likely that the scammer just wanted to get some BTC and cares not about the domain.

This scam is rampant by the way. Just mention Epik escrow and the scammers tend to disappear. It is like garlic to the vampire.

As for the domain, it is registrar locked now. We'll contact the registrant about the transaction and see what they have to say about it.

Watch out for the scammers. We are going to help clean up this industry. Check out this new feature at DNProtect.com:

https://dnprotect.com/stolen-domains

@bhartzer is doing some great work there -- mighty force for good to clean up the industry and help people from losing domains due to nonsense!

 

Added to the list; Thank you. (Hat tip: @novasyd)
https://www.namepros.com/threads/list-of-crypto-scam-websites.1209798/

Samer

 

FELL for THE CHINA EXCUSE (!!!) Posted this September 25, 2020.

 

• #1 Wall, Sarah and His team? Sarah is not a He?

• #2 "Begins its history from 11 December 2013,"

The company Founded 31 July 2001​

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04262200

 

Crypto company is a beverage company?

 

Thanks @Samer , I thank God I used Epik overall, the little digging I did on the site and the "news" that came up before registering where all crypto sites obviously paid to promote the shell company with fake news and reviews..

 

glad you had some closure @David Bayode

I like you,; nice long NPer; never problems

The problem is; it hurts crypto and domain; (the more innocent people fall for the scam)

interesting they all lead to U.K. new “Swiss”?
Thank you for sharing your story.
Study designs people; their domains usually .xyz .ltd or whatever; but some “good” ones;
traderce.com — traderce is a “good” Dn.
This seems another shell company; frustrating

 

Any old Tom, Dick or Harry can set up a limited company in the U.K then put a nominee/s in place so your name is not attached to the company.........

For U.K based people looking to scam they generally set up an offshore company with nominees in place...

The above is pretty basic, if you look into it there are ways to make it near on impossible to trace ownership - unless it gets hacked or leaked......

 

do nnot know.where you had the wrong.impression that china.has.harsh retrstrction on payment.
just believe what you believe

 

@theodore_zhou Many Nigerians get blocked the very next day of registering on AliPay or have accounts locked at critical times when funds are flagged "suspicious" so I know what I'm talking about.

 

Thank you for sharing...sorry for your lost...
Alipay and Paypal both are valid in China, it's defiantly a bitcoin scam.
that website looks cool though...