I lost $5805usd through PayPal scam by Shane Bellone

[12no3]

Many of my friend suggested me to post this on namepros so others will less likely to be scamed by shane.

So on 2016-09-26 and 2016-09-27 he bought 374 cvcv.in names and 471 cvcv.in names all together 845 .in names together. (these are random cvcv.in)
together he paid me on paypal 5805 usd.

I pushed the domain to him, then everything is fine. the deal was made through whatsapp chat.
deal closed.
then I saw him selling them on .in markect group, flipped some for higher price.

until 27the decenmber when i log in to my paypal to make another purchase, i see paypal refunded 5805 back to him, then i look up my email, i saw paypal disput which i completed missed.
buyer claim reason: NOT AS DESCRIBED! (this is after he sold and transfer out some of those)

I did not know paypal had this 3 months rules where buyer can claim the money back, and becuase i do not log on paypal so often and get xxx amount of emails every days, so i missed the window that i could have argued with paypal. but well lesson learned.

Some infomation of shane so other can avoid being scamed by him
http://this_username_was_banned.com/
http://www.domainsherpa.com/shane-bellone-itmagazine-interview/
http://tldinvestors.com/2016/05/shane-bellone-saying-goodbye-to-domaining.html
http://omarandwill.com/interview-with-the-expert-volume-2-featuring-shane-bellone/
https://www.facebook.com/app_scoped_user_id/10154332611129273
https://www.linkedin.com/in/this_username_was_banned
https://twitter.com/this_username_was_banned


good news is after I provided all the evidence to the registrar, the registrar moved the remaining (ones he did not sold or transfer out) to my account, so at least i got something back.

Becuareful when using paypal,and becuareful when you trade any domain that was processed by shane.

During the process of getting the unsold domains by shane, I had great help from .in whatsapp group, so special thx who provide information and also special thx to shiva , kemji, alexa and indy who tried to contact shane for me, but he went dark, not picking his cell phone, does not respond back on whatsapp nor linkedin.

 

[RicoShay]

@domainpundit thanks for posting the timelines and facts from .in WhatsApp group.

I've known and chatted to Shane many times over WhatsApp and sometimes here on NP too. I was very surprised to hear the accusations against him when it first surfaced. Like others in the group, I asked the OP to have patience and wait a few days for Shane to respond.

I also know the OP from the domaining scene and know him to be a reputable domainer. Whether you believe he is a millionaire or not is irrelevant. As someone has mentioned, not everyone who domains is a member here or shouts out about their dealings. But again, all that is irrelevant.

The fact is, the two of them made a deal for 900 domains. Shane was the buyer and as outlined in the attached PDF (post above), he was very happy with the deal and shared it with a group of over 200 people. He contacted several people over the next few weeks trying to sell some of the domains for a profit. Myself included. I have messages here on NP as well on WhatsApp along with the PDF or TXT file he sent across.

This file also contains the 42 domains which he later sold to other members (who I also know and if they wish they can come forward and verify this - although not really necessary). So this proves that he bought these domains as part of that deal and also shows that they were sold on.

I am also aware that about two months after buying the domains, Shane was having issues with transferring domains out of West.xyz - but it's not impossible... it's just a pain since the site has very poor flows, bad English and poor user experience. I can relate to this since I've also used the registrar. However, the support staff were extremely helpful and it took 2-3 days to begin a transfer-out process for my .in domains from there.

That said, what I find odd is that despite doing the deal via WhatsApp and being very active there, Shane didn't manage to raise the issue with the seller directly. Furthermore, we have several Chinese-speaking investors in the group as well as people who have used West.xyz in general and Shane could've asked openly for help.

Another point is that he bought the domains at that registrar and there is nothing to say that it's the sellers responsibility to inform anyone of the simplicity or complexity of transferring domains out. The transfer-out process being complex does not render the domains useless. He could use them (change setup, nameservers etc.), he could sell them and push them at that registrar etc. So using that excuse in the PayPal claim indicates negative intentions imo.

My assumptions (not facts) are that he bought the names to do a quick-flip. He started sharing the names out trying to sell the them within a day or two of buying them. His pricing was quite high to start with but eventually started reducing to try and get a sale. He sold only a few (42) and realised it'll take too long to shift the rest and renewals were fast approaching. Maybe he panicked, maybe he needed funds quickly... whatever the reason, he claimed a refund (wrongly imo based on the facts).

He was active several times a day, having general conversations in the WhatsApp group about all sorts of things - then just as this happens to goes completely silent. If he is innocent then he could've stuck around and discussed this or tried to resolve it. To me it appears as though he had no itentions of doing that so went off-the-radar.

Now, trying not to judge here - but it's hard not to. For the 200+ people involved in these groups, it likely points to the same thing for us after witness these events. It's really sad, because I thought Shane is one of the good guys (despite his abruptness sometimes). Especially after the Adam Dicker thing he exposed... it seems absolutely crazy that he would be the one involved in something like this.

 

[12no3]

Just finished reading posts above:
I will make clear of a few things.
1: west.xyz allow .in transfer out, and I have sold domains on there to mutiple people, most of them prefered keep their .in at godaddy or other registrar which they are more familiar, so they have transferred out.

2: Shane himself transffered out 42 of them.

3: If shane had difficult transfering out(even he had already transfered out 42 of them), he did not contact me, or ask for anyone help.

4:Shane did not return the rest of the domains to me willingly.
Those have not transfered out returned in jan a few days ago(where he applied paypal refund early december)
only becuase I have provided west.xyz all the evidence. then west.xyz suspended his account, allowing him 7days to explain, shane did not come forward to explain west, after that domains moved to my account.

5: most important thing is I am not expecting he will comeforward to tell his side of story, I waited 20 days with many attemps to contact him but no results.
the post is here only to make sure people dont get scam by same person ,and share the lesson I learned.
Better not use paypal for over 1000usd, and check all emails you have.

 

[domainpundit]

Official statement from .IN WhatsApp MOD GROUP ".in group moderators tried to solve the issue smoothly since 28-Dec-2016, but buyer Shane Bellone has not responded yet..."

We are just presenting the factual details we have , we have not taken any sides here .. let the community decide.

 

[Domain Shane]

He didn't have time to respond to any of your comments or concerns but he took to the time a few days ago to hope my house burns down and call me a pu$$y and a tw@t on twitter in the pic below. I would be concerned if he wasn't right I am a lot of things at least I'm not a thief or a liar.

 

[DNGear]

whether its 5K or 5 USD, money is money.

 

[wormfood]

You should have titled it "Is Shane Bellone a Criminal? You Decide"

 

[12no3]

so why did you say you didn't mention west.xyz when I asked which registrar this was, cause you didn't want to promote it?

its not promotion unless you own something.

I am cofunder of 190.com. So I did not want to mention any other platforms,and tbh it is kinda embrassing for me to get scamed.
I spend millions of millions usd on domaining.
so no reason for me to make fake news or make quick cash as shane friend blog mentioned. I do not want to draw attention to myself, I am a quiet person, I only posted this to warn people to avoid the bad thing that happened to me

 

[Kenny]

No-one that has been around here long enough is a bit surprised at the outcome of this "hit and run" member.
We've seen plenty of his likes before over the years, and lots of "aged" members that are watching this thread (without posting) are just sadly shaking their heads.

Stop with the personal attacks. SB could be watching and loving this... hoping the house burns down.
F' him. He's gone.
Lets get back to work.

Peace,
Cyberian

 

[ison]

He can take screenshots of PayPal activity... but can't reply to a dispute.

So silly...

To be perfectly honest, your aggressive vilification of the OP seems even sillier. You called his story B.S., you make speculative accusations, and you keep using the term B.S. Yet, you silently skirt around the massive, gaping holes in Shane's side of the story. Based on your last several comments, you sound very angry and personally invested in the matter.

 

[lennco]

...........Before I Read This Thread...............................After I Read This Thread

 

[slader23]

If Shane wasn't guilty he'd be making damn sure everyone here know that he is innocent. Hiding from the truth is a telltale sign of someone in the wrong. In business, reputation and being a man/woman of your word are paramount to having successful deals and relationships. The OP has provided all the evidence required to make a sound judgement and Shane, the opposition, has failed to defend himself fully knowing that the OP has created this thread. There are no two ways around this, if he is not defending himself with this thread out there for all domainers to see.....he is the one that is guilty and rightfully so.

The OP is a domainer that operates on a level much higher than most domainers replying on this thread and his post should be a lesson to all of us not just about when to/when not to use paypal but also the fact that shady actions are intolerable at every level of business. I mean seriously I can't believe someone had the audacity to say that to a millionaire a loss like this is forgettable....It doesn't matter how rich you are if you are present for all steps of a transaction be it selling a plane or selling replica mickey mouse watches on a street corner in mumbai, your going to be pissed if you get scammed by a buyer and make damn sure everyone knows about it, so they don't make the same mistake.


This thread is the product of Shane's actions don't forget that.

 

[Crysis]

 

[deez007]

@12no3

I have to give full credit to you for having the temperament and tolerance to have actually been fair and given Shane more than 20 days to get back to you before resorting to posting a thread here.

That says a lot about your character mate, so well done for that. I think it's highly commendable.

I'm glad you were able to at least recover some of your domains and that you've also taken this as a valuable lesson.

All the best with your future deals, I'm sure you wont be in a situation like this again.

If you are going to use Paypal again, (for smaller amounts) it's a good idea to send the buyer a Paypal invoice and have them pay on the invoice instead of just sending you a PayPal payment. One the invoice you can clearly state the terms and conditions of the sale. One them should be: This sale is for (domainname.com) and will be pushed from: (Registrar) Account/Username to the following account: (Buyers account details). Once the domain has been pushed and accepted by the seller into the respective account NO CHARGEBACKS / DISPUTES will be permitted or tolerated.

 

[domainpundit]

SHANE YOU ARE AT FAULT. Be a good man and apologise..we all do mistakes, no one is perfect.

I have an extra piece of evidence to prove you are at fault , its the PDF document you have submitted to me for requesting my review on your purchase and the 42 names in question by the seller are clearly in your PDF list and the fact is they are transferred out from west.xyz. Its proven those names are not defective.

I am really shocked to realise this and still cant digest you are involved in this one. I still hope you made a genuine mistake (however you are not accepting your mistake ) come forward and apologise. As said earlier no one is perfect. Be a good man.

 

[Domain Classics]

Let me channel my inner Sherlock here, here's my take.

Judging by his Twitter account history, listed here from newest to oldest ("Never trust a broker who's also an investor.", "Bought 7.6% for the cvcv.in market for a client last week. Curious to see how this plays out.","Anyone know a registrar that will give me a deal for transferring 900 domains in February?" & ".IN is the next frontier.") i think the following happened:

Shane was thinking he was onto something with the .IN TLD. Many pros expect them to go big/bigger in 2017 and he was obviously thinking of investing. He found a broker/investor who expressed interest in purchasing .IN in bulk, mainly 4L.in which are hottest .in property currently available for relatively cheap. The hypothetical broker/investor offered a solid price, e.g. $20+ per CVCV.in for every domain he can provide. Something along those lines.

He saw what he thought was an excellent opportunity to multiply his investment quickly and this is where the deal with OP comes in. He shelled out the 5K for a LOT of 4L.in domains (he bragged on Twitter about the 7.6% cvcv.in market, obviously proud) expecting a super fast flip.

The broker/investor withdrew his offer / chickened out / was bluffing all along, leaving Shane with a bunch of cvcv.in which are not exactly liquid. He tried to sell them for three months, being able to sell only 42, probably for low figures and most likely in bulk and when he saw that the $5K investment was about to go bust, he used the closing window/timeframe to submit a PayPal dispute and screw over the OP and get his money back over someone else's back.

Shane's general attitude is known around here, and he seems not to lose sleep over these things, but something tells me this one is gonna sting. Reputation is hard to build, but it is super easy to trash. Shane is finished in domaining, me thinks.

I'd just to like to emphasize that I do not personally know Shane B. or OP and this is just an exercise in deduction. Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't get a few things right.

 

[Crysis]

He can take screenshots of PayPal activity... but can't reply to a dispute.

So silly...

Shane can reply to David Walker but can't reply here on Namepros..So Silly

IMO

 

[Messiah]

Just because you have met or have done business with Shane doesn't mean that the other person is wrong.

Shane might have spoken about Adam, Flippa, NP policies or whatever, but that doesn't pass the judgement on the current situation until he comes himself and talks about it.

 

[SpenserForHire]

OP should have presented his side so that there was no room for debate. Again, that was the whole issue at hand. His representation, story, and actions seemed 'odd'. Not just to me, but to many others. It just so happens that I am vocal about it because I've seen this happen before and am vocal about proper representation before making claims.

You were not just 'vocal' though. You verbally abused the OP and called him a liar and a conman, and you said his story was garbage, B.S. and nonsense. Even after everything he wrote has been substantiated, you still deem him unworthy of an apology. You also still haven't uttered a single criticism of Shane Bellone.

I think Shane was right in filing a dispute with the information he had, however once it was clear that west.xyz was just minimally incompetent and could transfer domains with maximum effort, then the dispute should have been closed.

You think Shane is right in filing a dispute even though he has profited from 42 of the domains? You think he was right to file a dispute even though the OP is not responsible for any perceived fault of the registrar? You think it's right if I bought a domain from you, and filed a dispute three months later because GoDaddy allegedly took eight days to transfer the domains?

I don't endorse the business style of OP, Shane, nor West.Xyz.

Do you think Shane stealing 42 domains from the OP as a business style? Do you think it's a business style for Shane to hold 845 domains for the three months, unsuccessfully tried to sell them, and then filed a dispute? Do you think it's business style for Shane to ignore the OP completely after the refund claim, in spite of already profiting from some of the domains and holding the rest of the domains for three months? Do you think it's a business style for Shane not to make any effort to return the domains back to the OP voluntarily after he filed the claim? How do you think the OP should have conducted his business style differently?

 

[Silentptnr]

For that amount of money, trust shouldn't be a factor. Use an escrow service. It's business.

 

[Kenny]

SB was always about clickbait threads.....
well he's the star of this one.

Peace,
Cyberian

 

[richface]

Anyone who claims to be making $xxx,xxx in domains and suddenly quits to study is either Incredibly smart or a Con Artist!. There are only 2 people I trust in this world and one of them is myself. I do not want to pass Judgement but those who also claim Millionaire's do not dispute $5K Losses are living in an alternative universe Specifically Cloud cuckoo land. In Business every penny Counts ! Even Billion Dollar companies will chase debts of $800 if you understand the basic fundamentals of making money then any loss is unacceptable.

 

[Silentptnr]

If a man has no money, he has his honor. If a man has no honor, he has nothing. Sad.

One time I won some money in a contest at an event. I went to the restroom and set the envelope of cash aside while I took a leak. I forgot and left the money there. Couple minutes later I realized and went back but it was gone. I knew most of the people there and couldnt believe someone took it.

A couple of months later a guy approaches me and hands me a roll of cash. He told me that at the time he was in terrible financial straits and when he found the enveope it was literally like a gift from God. He apologized profusely and asked me to forgive him. I did.

I hope SB will someday right his wrongs.

 

[kriss05]

I became aware of this situation a bit earlier, as many members of .in whats app group. Was very reluctant to believe, as I was reading all the posts by Shane, how he exposed Adam Dicker etc. But I also know that the OP is fellow domainer, we were communicating with him earlier regarding .in domains. Some fellow .in domainers tried to reach out to Shane regarding this matter, but as far as I know he never responded back - we were already discussing that in .in group.

Now Shane refuses to respond here and uses a proxy - not good!

 

[Arca]

Why are so many people taking this 'pro' status thing so seriously, its just a flipping tag on some forum, it isn't some sort of regulatory approval

In fact why does anybody take domaining seriously to any extent. Its just a bunch of people sticking hooks in the water hoping that a big fish will bite one day.

The name of this forum is NamePros. When certain members are appointed with name[PRO]s badges (with a font that incidentally has a similar red color tone as the NP logo), they come across as the titular pros of the namepros forum, and it looks like they are some kind of endorsed industry professionals or representatives of the forum. It’s a position that can be exploited as it provides a veneer of legitimacy to holders, particularly in the eyes of newbies, users who only visit the forum infrequently and outsiders. Moreover, why NP wants to encourage such hierarchization among members is beyond me.

Anyhow, the relatively low requirements for attaining a PRO badge ($50K in sales) enables many less-than-pro members to get one (you just have to apply if you fulfil the requirements), and Shane Bellone's apparent misconduct is certainly not the first time a namePRO badge holder has been embroiled in this kind thing, and there was another "scandal" involving another namePRO not too long ago as well, and it surely won't be the last time we see one of the namePROs being decidedly unprofessional (of course there are many pro badge holders who are domain investing professionals in every sense of the word as well).

But most of the members around here who I personally find to be really knowledgeable about domain names, and who clearly are real professionals in terms of how they go about their business, don't have pro badges. So it's certainly not an accurate indicator in general of who is a real pro among the NP user base. Rather it's just an indicator of who felt the need to apply for a shiny badge, and unfortunately it seems evident that many of those who have applied for one did not exactly have the best of intentions in mind in terms of how they were planning to use the "NP endorsement of PROfessionalism" that such a badge projects.