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advice I was scammed and its embarrassing

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I cant believe I am writing this.

I am doing this knowing I will be ridiculed.

I am doing this knowing some people will laugh.

I am doing this knowing some people with be outright nasty

I am not looking for sympathy.

I am doing this to help others.


It started a couple of weeks ago. I posted on Linkedin that I was selling my name MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for 1 million dollars. Sometimes I like to try odd ways of advertising to see if it works. I wanted to see if posting an obviously inflated price would prompt some discussion. Apparently it caught the eye of a Nigerian scammer and I would be his next victim.


Barbara wrote to me about the name technology.com:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/



I was intrigued so I did some research and couldn’t find the domain name or address with any recent action. The name popped up on linked : https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-untergasser-893193144/

She belonged to some domain groups and had a bunch of connections. It wasn’t a brand new account so I proceeded to write Barbara. I asked her how much she wanted - $120,000. I didn’t have that kind of money so I turned to a trusted person I know in the industry to buy the name and pay me a finders fee. We have done that deal before so I knew I could at least a few bucks off the deal.If I could get the price down, I could make more money. Barbara seemed niave and had no idea what she had. I asked if she would take less and we agreed on a price. I explained to Barbara that I had a financial backer and I needed to loop him in, he would handle the deal from here. I loop my backer in and he asks for her escrow information,Barabara writes me back and explains that her husband messed up their escrow account years ago and she cant use escrow. I go back to my backer and let him know the situation and he bails immediately. “Hell no! It’s a scam” I was advised to run. I wrote back to Barbara and advised her that nobody in the industry will touch her name without escrow. I thanked her for her time and went about my way.


I left work for the day and on my way home I received an email from Barabara. She wanted to do a deal and would sell it for less because she couldn’t use escrow. After days of chatting through Linkedin she explained she was from Austria and moved to Texas after she married:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

Her husband ended up turning to drugs and they are divorcing and selling off assets. She needed money to live and their domain portfolio was the only thing worth much money.

We talked for a week, we talked about personal things,domains and everything in between. I was checking stories and looking for clues the entire time. She would have bailed long ago if she was scamming me – right?

I asked for proof about owning the name and she provided it:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I told her that I wasn’t going to transfer money until she transferred the name. We agreed on a small down payment and then the transfer would start. The money exchange would be Paypal. I sent the money to her friend because she didn’t have paypal (another red flag) – I sent the down payment. The transfer started:


http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/


I wired the rest of the money and sent another small amount via Western Union to a friend she owed money to. (Another Red Flag)


I waited for the push to my enom account and nothing. I called enom and they told me the name was registered under them but managed by another party? I called the number they gave me and emailed the account. I still have never heard back from them. I started getting nervous and pressuring Barbara. All of the sudden I get a phone call from her “son” asked me to relax that I was upsetting his mom. He had a heavy accent. I knew at that point I was screwed!


I didn’t want “Barbara” to know I was on to what was happening. I kept talking to her. I was scrambling trying to cancel everything.


1. Western Union – it was already picked up. Im screwed. I filed a report and I still havnt heard anything back – that money is gone.

2. Wire – Bank Of America and USAA. I called them both before they opened to stop the transfer. My bank USAA – told me its instant, its at Bank Of America, call them. I called and talked to so many people who would do nothing. Literally nothing. The bank wasn’t open yet, they could have stopped it. They wouldn’t do a thing. I have since written to the heads of these banks and their management and have heard nothing. How can you not listen to a person who is explaining an outright scam and do nothing?

3. Paypal – what a joke! I paid by friends and family by accident. I wasn’t paying attention, my fault. They froze 2K on his account, I paid 6K. Again, they could have stopped this. I explained what happened and how it was a scam and I could prove it, they didn’t care only to tell me tough, you used friends and family. They still have 2K frozen and wont give it back to me. I even send all the proof to their executive support and their answer was to dispute it with my credit card company. With all the business I give Paypal I was expecting better support.

I tried stopping all of this before business hours and before money was taken, all of these businesses could have stopped the transactions at least to investigate. Nope, not one of them cared.


Enom wrote me back:



The email about the transfer and owning the name were forged. Damn it. It looked real. I started following IP addresses and one hit Nigeria, now I knew I was in trouble



I wrote to Barbara and confronted “her” and I found out it was a scam. It was a guy, he wont tell me where he is from but I know. To this day he still texts me telling me he is sorry.

I found the guy to where I wired the money. He is a Nigerian student at Baylor University. He made the mistake of friending me on Facebook. I went to Baylor and the Waco police to pressure him. I also start bothering his family. He wired back all my money . I never heard from Baylor so I wrote them again, they went to the Waco police because I was harassing them! They never once acknowledged my emails or told me to stop. How do I know the crime wasn’t committed on their computer system?


Here is all the information I have on all of them:

Barbara Untergasser
[email protected]
[email protected]
Oriade Ayemo
Gbemileke Ikugbanmire


Telephone numbers:

737-210-3686 – “Barbaras son”

346-233-0321 – “Barbara” known as Barbie88 on Namepros

217-577-8729 – [email protected] – piece of shit in Atlanta that has my 6K – claims he doesn’t know anything



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Oriade Ayemo Account Number: 004644944793 Routine No: 026009593 Address: 1100 N valley Mills Dr, Waco , Texas 76710 Who is this to you? Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080 Note: Do not use business as the payment type to avoid delay. Just use Family or Personal.

Western Union Details Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA Amount: $2000 Western Union Details Name: Akpevwe Olidge Location: Atlanta, GA Moneygram Details


Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA

[email protected]

Recipient Name: Akpevwe Olidge Destination: Atlanta GA.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. This went on for 2 weeks and he still texts me!
 

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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
  • It was 100% greedy
  • I dont blame anyone but myself
  • Not looking for sympathy - I hope others will learn from my mistake
  • I am out 2K - I can live with that. I paid 2K to learn a valuable lesson.
  • I received an email from enom (I though) that said transfer was in progress so I released the funds
  • I know it was stupid!
 
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Peeps like this makes things difficult for genuine domainers in Nigeria. So sorry and hope they catch those good for nothing fellows
 
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I cant believe I am writing this.

I am doing this knowing I will be ridiculed.

I am doing this knowing some people will laugh.

I am doing this knowing some people with be outright nasty

I am not looking for sympathy.

I am doing this to help others.


It started a couple of weeks ago. I posted on Linkedin that I was selling my name MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for 1 million dollars. Sometimes I like to try odd ways of advertising to see if it works. I wanted to see if posting an obviously inflated price would prompt some discussion. Apparently it caught the eye of a Nigerian scammer and I would be his next victim.


Barbara wrote to me about the name technology.com:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/



I was intrigued so I did some research and couldn’t find the domain name or address with any recent action. The name popped up on linked : https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-untergasser-893193144/

She belonged to some domain groups and had a bunch of connections. It wasn’t a brand new account so I proceeded to write Barbara. I asked her how much she wanted - $120,000. I didn’t have that kind of money so I turned to a trusted person I know in the industry to buy the name and pay me a finders fee. We have done that deal before so I knew I could at least a few bucks off the deal.If I could get the price down, I could make more money. Barbara seemed niave and had no idea what she had. I asked if she would take less and we agreed on a price. I explained to Barbara that I had a financial backer and I needed to loop him in, he would handle the deal from here. I loop my backer in and he asks for her escrow information,Barabara writes me back and explains that her husband messed up their escrow account years ago and she cant use escrow. I go back to my backer and let him know the situation and he bails immediately. “Hell no! It’s a scam” I was advised to run. I wrote back to Barbara and advised her that nobody in the industry will touch her name without escrow. I thanked her for her time and went about my way.


I left work for the day and on my way home I received an email from Barabara. She wanted to do a deal and would sell it for less because she couldn’t use escrow. After days of chatting through Linkedin she explained she was from Austria and moved to Texas after she married:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

Her husband ended up turning to drugs and they are divorcing and selling off assets. She needed money to live and their domain portfolio was the only thing worth much money.

We talked for a week, we talked about personal things,domains and everything in between. I was checking stories and looking for clues the entire time. She would have bailed long ago if she was scamming me – right?

I asked for proof about owning the name and she provided it:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I told her that I wasn’t going to transfer money until she transferred the name. We agreed on a small down payment and then the transfer would start. The money exchange would be Paypal. I sent the money to her friend because she didn’t have paypal (another red flag) – I sent the down payment. The transfer started:


http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/


I wired the rest of the money and sent another small amount via Western Union to a friend she owed money to. (Another Red Flag)


I waited for the push to my enom account and nothing. I called enom and they told me the name was registered under them but managed by another party? I called the number they gave me and emailed the account. I still have never heard back from them. I started getting nervous and pressuring Barbara. All of the sudden I get a phone call from her “son” asked me to relax that I was upsetting his mom. He had a heavy accent. I knew at that point I was screwed!


I didn’t want “Barbara” to know I was on to what was happening. I kept talking to her. I was scrambling trying to cancel everything.


1. Western Union – it was already picked up. Im screwed. I filed a report and I still havnt heard anything back – that money is gone.

2. Wire – Bank Of America and USAA. I called them both before they opened to stop the transfer. My bank USAA – told me its instant, its at Bank Of America, call them. I called and talked to so many people who would do nothing. Literally nothing. The bank wasn’t open yet, they could have stopped it. They wouldn’t do a thing. I have since written to the heads of these banks and their management and have heard nothing. How can you not listen to a person who is explaining an outright scam and do nothing?

3. Paypal – what a joke! I paid by friends and family by accident. I wasn’t paying attention, my fault. They froze 2K on his account, I paid 6K. Again, they could have stopped this. I explained what happened and how it was a scam and I could prove it, they didn’t care only to tell me tough, you used friends and family. They still have 2K frozen and wont give it back to me. I even send all the proof to their executive support and their answer was to dispute it with my credit card company. With all the business I give Paypal I was expecting better support.

I tried stopping all of this before business hours and before money was taken, all of these businesses could have stopped the transactions at least to investigate. Nope, not one of them cared.


Enom wrote me back:



The email about the transfer and owning the name were forged. Damn it. It looked real. I started following IP addresses and one hit Nigeria, now I knew I was in trouble



I wrote to Barbara and confronted “her” and I found out it was a scam. It was a guy, he wont tell me where he is from but I know. To this day he still texts me telling me he is sorry.

I found the guy to where I wired the money. He is a Nigerian student at Baylor University. He made the mistake of friending me on Facebook. I went to Baylor and the Waco police to pressure him. I also start bothering his family. He wired back all my money . I never heard from Baylor so I wrote them again, they went to the Waco police because I was harassing them! They never once acknowledged my emails or told me to stop. How do I know the crime wasn’t committed on their computer system?


Here is all the information I have on all of them:

Barbara Untergasser
[email protected]
[email protected]
Oriade Ayemo
Gbemileke Ikugbanmire


Telephone numbers:

737-210-3686 – “Barbaras son”

346-233-0321 – “Barbara” known as Barbie88 on Namepros

217-577-8729 – [email protected] – piece of sh*t in Atlanta that has my 6K – claims he doesn’t know anything



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Oriade Ayemo Account Number: 004644944793 Routine No: 026009593 Address: 1100 N valley Mills Dr, Waco , Texas 76710 Who is this to you? Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080



Bank Name: Bank Of America Account Name: Emmanuel Akintola Account Number: 334055137079 Routing number: 061000052 Address: 4567 S cobb Dr SE, Smyrna, GA 30080 Note: Do not use business as the payment type to avoid delay. Just use Family or Personal.

Western Union Details Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA Amount: $2000 Western Union Details Name: Akpevwe Olidge Location: Atlanta, GA Moneygram Details


Name: Voke Emekeme Location: Atlanta, GA

[email protected]

Recipient Name: Akpevwe Olidge Destination: Atlanta GA.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. This went on for 2 weeks and he still texts me!
At first I was surprised that you got scammed this hard by sending that kind of money through paypal...

...but then I was even more surprised at the ending, IT WAS LIKE READING A BONUS SCRIPT FROM
"TAKEN" OR SOMETHING.

You actually found the scammer irl and got your money back :O. No one has ever done that ever on NP (I think?)

ur not someone who anyone would mess with :D

on ONE note though, my mind kept screaming, "USE EPIK! USE NAMESILO!" the first time I read "can't use escrow" and onwards, I just kept thinking USE EPIK.

I want to bring awareness to Epik and Namesilo. If you simply ask the person with the domain (could be you, could be the other party) to transfer the domain to either of these two registrars, then set up a sales page.... it's an instant escrow.

What happens is, there's a buy now button. And as soon as the paying party pays, the domain is auto-pushed to their account. No headaches, no complications, no risks of being scammed. Nothing.

That's what I'm planning to do with any buyer/seller who goes, "Ohhh how do I guarantee I'll get the money/domain?" If they don't want to trust me, then I send them instructions for Epik.
 
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Great lesson to learn. Thank you for sharing this with us.

AAEAAQAAAAAAAAj5AAAAJGQxNzI3ZWE2LWRkYTctNGNjNC1iYjM1LTg0NmIwZDNlMTU2YQ.jpg
 
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You must feel so violated. I can't imagine how you must feel. I have always enjoyed your posts and I know you have had to work hard for what you have.

I am astounded that you would take that risk. I guess she...he..??? got the best of you this time.

Sorry for your loss, but there should never be a reason to do what you did.

I have never been scammed and never will.

No domain, and I repeat, no domain, is worth it.

Stick to the rules you know are fair and safe. If anyone does not understand, then on to the next.

For anyone reading this post, you may copy and paste the following any time you see the need:

"I would never, never, ever send more money to anyone without knowing who they are. If you do not want to or cannot use escrow, for any reason, you must give me the domain first. Otherwise we have nothing more to discuss.

I sincerely hope we can complete the transaction but these terms are non-negotiable."
 
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I don't get how could someone who doesn't own Technology.com use the email [email protected] ?!?!?!?

It is surprisingly easy and there are a LOT of sites that allow you to fake sender in an email for free, although I will not list them here, they are literally a google search away.

I encourage you guys in similar situations to use the "compose" button in your email and MANUALLY type out the supposed email if you're trying to authenticate an email address. Do not just hit "reply". Also, MANUALLY check the email address at the top.

Another thing I want to point out for those really "premium" domains, top of the top like Engineer.com, USA.com, Myself.com, Europe.com, Techie.com, and many more. There is a free email provider called Mail.com which allows ANYONE to register email addresses with these premium domains such as "[email protected]" or "[email protected]". These are just random examples but you can also check if a domain is offered by checking the sign up page at Mail.com, if it is on that list, it is likely a scam if they are trying to sell the domain by trying to verify via email message.

Also in such a situation you could be saved by only sticking to an Escrow transaction ;)
 
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Sorry about your experience but I am taken aback that nobody has highlighted why this whole thing worked on him.

You were greedy... despite being warned by your backer, you still went ahead with it. You were emotionally excited and attached to the domain name, hence why you couldn't let go, despite all the red flags

All i can read from this tales is a man too greedy to know it before it was too late... most victims of scams like this are greedy and that is why they fall.

Why didn't you want to have the domain name in your account before completing payments?

I don't know how you allowed this
 
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Good on you for posting this here Richard. There is no shame in admitting when emotions and complacency get the better of us. That is part of being human.
 
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I can't believe a senior person like you can be scammed

Anyone can be scammed. Doesnt matter age, gender, race, religious or not... I know a very intelligent person who belongs to Mensa who has been scammed. Fell right for it.

Sad that this happened @uglydork thank you for sharing. Everyone can learn from this.
 
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Ouch, im a newbie and even i wouldnt have fell for that one bro
 
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Good on you for posting this here. We are all susceptible to scams if & when complacency finds its way into our lives and that goes for any area in life.

We are really good at showcasing our successes and not so great at sharing our failures, so much so that it breeds divisiveness between those we have most in common with.

'Insert some cliche line about failures being important'

Also applicable:
Greed blinds us and compromises our decision making, despite you acknowledging multiple red flags (we're all guilty of this) you went through with the deal.

My Most Recent Failure:
I sold some Ripple on eBay like a moron. Guy outright scammed me after he had received his Ripple then admitted it to me via email. My redemption became clear when I looked at his Ripple wallet that had over $1m USD worth of Ripple (at $2.30). Upon further investigation I found some other clues that led me to his true identity.

Point being:
I'll take that failure any day if I can use it to save others. He is under investigation by multiple agencies one would not like to get any attention from.

We should start a failure forum.. if it exists already I apologize I am new here.
 
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I have been asked in the past, and complied with removing privacy from a domain to validate ownership. It takes one second to remove privacy and a few minutes for the change to propagate.

Just a tip, ask that the privacy be lifted.
 
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The scam is alive and well, caught a guy that posed on this forum doing the same thing TODAY.
 

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sorry for your lost mate and I hope you recover all your fund.
I am a Nigerian, my heart breaks anything I read a news like this.
I hope this should not give you a bad impression about Nigerians (Nigeria) generally?

we are a great nation with good, talented and hard working citizen's,
will have great men and women changing the world positively: politically,socially, medically, in business, education etc, we have youth with good zeal, ready to perform when giving the chance, great entrepreneur, Nigeria are filled with good people,
though their are bad eggs (people) giving the country a bad name.

any deal too good to be true should be avoided at all cost. always use an escrow service, most of the time it is greed that make many lost money to fraudsters, we all should be careful .

once again I am deeply sorry for your lost
 
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You just don't buy domains with Western Union...

Thanks for sharing
 
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You live and you learn.

And, it not about the Nigerians. Its about patterns.

Life is about patterns. Now, you can recognize this pattern.

Without a doubt, it will give you an edge in this business and in life.
 
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Sucks to be scammed, but if a deal is too good to be true...you know the rest.

Brad
 
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I have been asked in the past, and complied with removing privacy from a domain to validate ownership. It takes one second to remove privacy and a few minutes for the change to propagate.

Just a tip, ask that the privacy be lifted.

you can always ask for the nameservers to be changed to yours for a while
to proof at least that the seller is in charge
 
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Thanks - you have always supported me even when people attacked me when I sold Hatred, which is still going on! I dont know why people cant believe I sold that name?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/hatred-com-back-up-for-sale-for-300k-by-richard-dynas.1064944/
It doesn't matter friend. Some believe, some don't, some can't. Just do what you do. It's good stuff. Hang in there. You are part of a family and families sometimes bicker and go through rough times. We are still your family. Remember that.
 
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I can't believe a senior person like you can be scammed
 
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Good morning Rich,
Sorry to hear this happened to you, and I'm sure you're not looking for an "I told you" so response, but for others who may someday find themselves in this dilemma, there were many red flags, but this really stands out as something you should never do!
Barabara writes me back and explains that her husband messed up their escrow account years ago and she cant use escrow.
No escrow, no deal, for amounts you can't afford to lose!
She would have bailed long ago if she was scamming me – right?
She knew she had you because you hadn't bailed!
I found the guy to where I wired the money. He is a Nigerian student at Baylor University. He made the mistake of friending me on Facebook. I went to Baylor
You went to Baylor, and tracked the guy down! That is awesome! It might almost be worth a few grand to see the look on the guys face when you and Waco PD showed up at his dorm room!
Good Luck tracking down the rest of your money, and thanks for sharing this story with us!

P.S. You should think about filing a small claims suit against classic rhymes records of Atlanta in that jurisdiction for 5K. A judgement won't necessarily make you whole, as there is probably not much money there, but it's a thought?
 
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Interesting what comes up when you google "passport" then click on "images". Not hard to get a copy of a passport. Damn!
 
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I think that it would have happened to many of us......although many don't like to admit it,

First, of course don't like to see anybody scammed.

Second, will disagree that this would have happened to many of us. I think some are saying that just to be encouraging.

Some nurse in Texas owning a name like Technology.com. In a bunch of Domain LinkedIn groups but says is new to domain flipping and doesn't know about domain pricing. The emails, taking too much advice from your friends, be yourself. Just the emails alone, all kinds of flags. Not to mention all the stuff mentioned in the thread. Can't use Escrow, right there it should have ended. Others saying it was a scam. Just flag after flag. I don't think most would have fallen for this, just the opposite.

Live and learn, like you said it was just a 2k lesson.
 
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