How to Catch a Scammer? [Domain name appraisal scam]

[interestedenough]

Ok, so I have been contacted by a domain scammer calling himself "Harold Peterson" but yet speaking somewhat broken English (mine is not that good either). The guy is using a proxy email and a free website service to deliver his scam at me. Is there a way anybody can help me uncover him/her? or should I just ignore it and let it go?

This is a blog where a blogger talks about exactly the same scam:

http://www.isolani.co.uk/blog/spam/DomainNameAppraisalScam

Anyways, these are the e-mails back and forth in chronological order:

His first e-mail:

Hello,

After checking domains for sale sites I've found your
domain for sale MYDOMAINNAME.com. So what is your price?

Buying and selling domains is not our only business. But
domain aftermarket is hot now, so we are always
interested in domain names.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
Harold Peterson
Chief Information Officer
PRK Software

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My Response to the First e-mail:

Dear Peterson,

The price is and was at TDnam:
https://www.tdnam[dot]com/trpItemListing.aspx?&miid=number

I will not sell it for less than the price I have set up on
tdnam.com .

X.

His second and latest e-mail:

I checked your auction link.

9,595. Ok.

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?

Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not
necessary.

Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I mean
domain
appraisals.

Without valuation we cannot be sure in the sale price. It's
very important
for me in terms of reselling too.

But we must engage a valuation company with REAL manual
service. So I will
only accept valuations from independent sources I trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable
appraisal
companies.

Please check this posting from archive:
http://domaintalk[dot]007sites.com/Archive/291358.htm

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your
asking price
accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12%
- 15%
discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2
days to
obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com,
International wire
transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

Updated: Now the Scammer is starting to show me how he doesn't trust $14 services; he is recommending a service which is supposed to be $200 per hour!, yet he/she has a free proxy e-mail address, and doesn't even have a website which could cost what for hosting? $50 a year?!. I am not sure how the person is going to try to make money off of me. Weird.

My response:

Harold,

Tell me more about the domain appraisals. I don't really
want to pay for them unless you are serious about buying
the domain name from me.

X.

The Scammer's response, he/she doesn't trust the $14 services from Godaddy or Afternic, but tells me that I as a seller should pay for the $200 per hour valuation. I will probably just tell the scammer that this is too much money, that he can pay for it; hopefully it will go away.

Sellers always provide buyers with valuations. This is a
common practice.

I don't trust $14 services like that GoDaddy's valuation
service. Nobody
will do a research for $14. We need a real manual service.

I researched several companies and here are the results:

I considered www.Afternic.com, but now it's clear their service
is not
reliable enough.
Just read this:
http://www.igoldrush.com/links3.htm
"Capsule Review: After lots of complaints, Afternic is no
longer a
recommended service. We will re-review the service in the near
future."

Another complaint
http://www.out-law.com/page-1630


I was told about manual research service from
http://www.DomainMart.com. It
costs - $200/hour.

Many experienced sellers suggested me www.EasyNameSale.com as a
trustworth
manual service. They charge per name not per hour. I've read
only positive
comments about them at http://www.aboutus.org/EasyNameSale.com.

Yet another update:


I sent an email again to the guy hoping to turn off his scamming ambitions:

Harold,

Sorry, I will not pay for these services, if you are
interested in the domain name, you can pay the service and
let make an offer based on that valuation.

Regards,

X.

Here is his response, the person is really insistent:

It's a big risk to proceed without professional valuation. I
already spoke
to industry experts and they prohibited me to do business
without
valuation..

Without manual valuation nobody will buy. You'll sit on your
domain for
years in this case, paying renewal fees to your registrar. Just
think about
it.

As a seller, you can use a valuation certificate to sell names
to other
buyers. I cannot do the same because I don't keep control over
your domain.

I'm still interested in your domain. Hope you'll change your
position. I
simply don't want to take additional risks.

Thank you for understanding. I'm looking forward to do business
with you.

 

[Michael]

What to do what to do?!?

Ignore it?

 

[BigSotong.com]

I did too received such 'scam' expressing interest in my domain names. It just does not make sense. How would you approach a seller without first evaluating how much you are willing to pay for a domain name? So, it is a scam. Either you ignore it, or play along to get some amusement. They are trying to make money out of 'what so call appraisal service'

I cut short the negotiation and offer USD10 for a domain name which only cost me USD7. he did not reply me after that.

 

[weblord]

collect them all,like what i do to all lotto scams
http://www.namepros.com/446329-i-got-30-000-000-00-a-new-post.html
thus, exposing them, they don't like that.

 

[Jeff]

These are pond scum ... bottom of the barrel scam artists! :imho:

Righto, post all pertinent information in the #1 Namepros Warnings & Alerts Forum© ... and do not engage with these lowlifes, IMHO.

Thanks for the warning!
-Jeff

 

[Steven]

Scam email.
Just ignore it.

 

[Jeff]

I repeat, they are POND SCUM! :tri:

Thank you.
-Jeff

 

[Kate]

Don't be afraid to post name + e-mail addresses and domain names used if any, so that the information will be indexed in search engines for the benefit of potential victims.
The scammers have no rights to privacy

 

[interestedenough]

I updated a couple of e-mails on the original post. I'll keep you informed and then at the end ask for this post to be moved or copy it to the warnings and scam section. Thanks guys.

The scammers have no rights to privacy

The person is using a proxy e-mail address and false name. I sent a request to the proxy e-mail company's abuse section asking for the offender's e-mail address, and for the account to be suspended, but only got a generic reply; only time will tell if they do something.

Either you ignore it, or play along to get some amusement.

I want to get some amusement out of it, but I am growing tired of the thing; I might to start ignoring it if doesn't get interesting.

collect them all,like what i do to all lotto scams
http://www.namepros.com/446329-i-got-30-000-000-00-a-new-post.html
thus, exposing them, they don't like that.

Will do.

Scam email.
Just ignore it.

Ignore it?

Yeah, I will most likely ignore it. My time should at least be more valuable than theirs, hehe

I repeat, they are POND SCUM! :tri:
Thank you. -Jeff

They certainly are!

 

[DnEbook]

i once had an offer for a name , but first it had to appraised ? the person who made the offer was on a commission for each appraisal he reffered ...... scammer

 

[squarepie]

here's mine... from.. "Peterson" <[email protected]>

Hello,
After checking domains for sale sites I've found your domain for sale. So what is your price?
Buying and selling domains is not our only business. But domain aftermarket is hot now, so we are always interested in domain names.
Looking forward to do business with you.
Regards,
Harold Peterson
Chief Information Officer
PRK Software

And when I googled his phreaker.net...it listed a warning from another potential victim here at NamePros....and that's how I became aware of and joined this forum....so I must thank that pondscum peterson character for that. LOL ...never replied to him

 

[footodors]

http://xbrain.biz/2007/10/23/scammercheating-domain-buyer/

about 3/4's of the way down, they talk about www.EasyNameSale.com

 

[timmmmmit]

He emailed me about friendephone.com, one of my holdings, same exact correspondence! LOL I thought it seemed odd to offer 9g then demand an appraisal.

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Stop here!

"Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I mean
domain appraisals".

The sentence above should have been your first clue. You should have deleted the email after that. :blink:


Frank :o