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.

 

[carob]

Not sure Godaddy would handle escrow on .in domains - they won't list them on their market because the .in registry forbids holding names just to sell them.

Verifying push or transfer for hundreds of names might not be economic for an escrow service - I guess it depends on the fee and procedures.

 

[Cal2]

Funny that you bring up trust. He also mentions it again in his apparent farewell message to the domaining world...

Show attachment 47709

Is he talking about himself here?

Or is he talking about 12no3 - the person who started this thread? Did he previously somehow get on the wrong side of Shane, and Shane went after him? Just a thought.

 

[mad409]

For what it's worth...

 

[aceeca]

Edit: Also, I think it proves the act was premeditated. In other words, the perpetrator didn't just decide on a whim 3 months after the fact to chargeback, but the fact they were operating under this email from the get, is a strong indicator it was planned.

Very much possible

 

[168]

Haven't seen it mentioned (although maybe I missed it) but Shane was conducting his .IN/.CO.IN business on NP under the name 'BuyPolar'. Here's one of his posts listing hundreds of CVCVs for sale in October:

Although the OP would have to clarify if ALL of the names listed here previously belonged to him, what I did notice is that there is a good handful of those 42 names that have yet to be recovered by the OP listed in there.

Post states the names were at West.xyz but no mention of them not being able to be transferred out (probably because, as others have testified, you can). Seems odd that he was happy to list them for sale if he had an issue with what he had been given.

Is NP investigating ?

 

[168]

I have used Paypal for domain transactions since 2005. Never had a scam or chargeback against me (knock on wood). More than 2000 transactions total.

If you vet your buyers and only transact with individuals you trust, then is a nice medium to do quick deals through.

You bring up a good point. How many domainers have ever done a charge back for a domain 3 months later ?

 

[mad409]

Is NP investigating ?

Not trying to speak for them but since the deal wasn't done here that I'm aware of I wouldn't think so..

 

[168]

Not trying to speak for them but since the deal wasn't done here that I'm aware of I wouldn't think so..

There was a post on SB listing the ones not returned here for sale under bipolar in October

 

[mad409]

There was a post on SB listing the ones not returned here for sale under bipolar in October

Yes I remember that now but don't recall any selling here. You know where that was?

 

[Rinkuji]

All Interesting. Learn First Lesson Today.

 

[168]

Yes I remember that now but don't recall any selling here. You know where that was?

look at willtord pg 14 this thread

 

[Bean]

Wow always thought Shane was one of the more respectable domainers on NP

 

[disaac81]

Looks like it was all planned way ahead by him.

Looking at his twitter feed I notice two things:

1) He has no regrets about what he did
2) He is an idiot

 

[pchip]

Wow always thought Shane was one of the more respectable domainers on NP

You're joking, right?

 

[Bean]

You're joking, right?

Well I mean I don't really know the guy, never even chatted with him but based on a few of his comments I always assumed he was a decent guy.
I only joined NP (and domaining in general) in 2015 and I don't really hang around these forums a lot so I might have missed a few threads/discussions, you mean to say he had a bad reputation on here even back then?

 

[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.

 

[disaac81]

I feel for the seller. Shane abused his position as a some-what 'pro' status domainer and committed fraud.

Shane, what goes around, comes around. Wishing you all the bad luck possible for this year and beyond.

 

[DomainGist]

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.

Is it actually his real name then or not?

What's the point in doing a masters or phd when you finish and any prospective employer is going to google your name

If he has been smart and used a fake name then I guess that doesn't apply.

 

[carob]

What's the point in doing a masters or phd when you finish and any prospective employer is going to google your name

And then offer you a juicy job in banking or politics.

 

[DomainGist]

I feel for the seller. Shane abused his position as a some-what 'pro' status domainer and committed fraud.

Shane, what goes around, comes around. Wishing you all the bad luck possible for this year and beyond.

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.