Is Adam Dicker a criminal? You decide.

[S-B]

This story starts with DNF; a barren wasteland that once was a leading forum within the domain industry. While the forum itself played a huge role in propagating the myth that is Adam Dicker, the story really begins with DNF College in the summer of 2011.

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Updates / Reports
These are in no particular order.

• Report by headsupp (Resolved)
  • Relevant Videos
  • Reply to Adam
  • Update: Resolved
  
  
• Report by LannyB (Unresolved)
  • Response
    • Follow-up Questions
  
  
• Report by domainesque (Unresolved)
  • Update: Unresolved
  • Report Details
  • Update: Waiting on Refund
  
  
• Report of Shane Cultra's friends (Unresolved)
  • Update: Unpaid
  
  
• Report by Jeff Markus (Dissatisfied)
  
  
• Report by simmplex (Resolved)
  • Refunded
  
  
• Report by Blenja_Man (Pending)
  • Voucher
  • Update: Work in Progress
  
  
• Report by RandysDomains (Resolved)
  • Resolved
  
  
• Report by swamismith (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by Charlie (Unresolved)
  • Cover-up
  • Update: Unresolved
  
  
• Report by Jaqpot (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by anon22339 (Unresolved)
  • Details
  
  
• Report by Joseph Peterson (Resolved)
  • Update: Unpaid after 8 days
  • Update: Paid
  
  
• Report by Frank Schilling (Resolved)
  • Update: Paid
  
  
• Report by Lonewolf5503 (Paypal Dispute)
  • Update: Website not delivered and no longer accessible
  • Update: Lonewolf5503 wins PayPal dispute
  
  
• Report by GermanRaven (Unresolved)
  • Update: Full story
  
  
• Report by ClaudeDauman (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by bobsranch (Unresolved)
  • Details
  • Update: Legal Letter Received
  
  
• Report by Newby888 (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by dougasd (Unresolved)

From what I understand, Adam still owes north of $33,000 to previous customers and business partners. As I receive more information, I will update this figure.

 

[S-B]

Trying to avoid the answer?
I have NO side or NO lose in this either way.

Then I will admit that I have no idea who posted it. It sure as hell amuses me though.

 

[SirDrago]

Then I will admit that I have no idea who posted it. It sure as hell amuses me though.

Shane, you previously stated that you can log I.P's on your blog .... Just saying.

 

[S-B]

Shane, you previously stated that you can log I.P's on your blog .... Just saying.

Yes. For comments.

 

[SirDrago]

Yes. For comments.

How convenient for you lol

 

[carob]

This reminds me of the film Tower Heist.

Interesting question, if a domainer's assets get frozen, can someone keep renewing the domains or are they forced to drop?

 

[cdnbigd]

I sent him a few domains to grade and he chose FloridaLoan.com. He told me that he can build a website for $3,000. I finally broke down and told him yes. I sent him the $3,000. He assign this job to one of his "employees" which never got in touch with me when I had a problem with the unfinished website. I would try to get a hold of Dicker but slow response! When, he did email or call back, it would always be " next week it should be done". That must of been 8,9,or 10 times that that when on. They still did not get the website right or done. One example was the telephone on the site was not mine or even a working number. I emailed or wrote to him(Facebook) over 6,7 time about the number but it was never corrected. He finally called me and told me that He will try to sell FloridaLoan.com for me at The Conference. And, if he didn't, he would refund my $3,000(this went on for over 6 months). I got in touch with him after the Conference and he told me that he never said he would refund my $3,000. I swear he did!!!!!!!

Thank you,

Victor

You're not alone, Victor. Like many others, I don't want to say much on this thread but suffice to say, the same thing happened with...someone I'm very close to. In this case though, all the promises of "tomorrow, next week, this friday at 5:30 etc" went on for over 1 year straight.

 

[enlytend]

Everyone always assumes that the "I'll get my lawyer on to you" actually means something. It's like everyone has a personal lawyer on retainer. If there was a lawyer on retainer then the communication would already have taken place (that's what they would be retained for). In other words - most people who are going to use a lawyer would use a lawyer and not threaten the potential of using a lawyer. Usually it all ends when people find out how much lawyers charge

He did say that he was hiring one, any halfway qualified lawyer would advise against discussing a potential case in a public forum:

Also after speaking to an attorney, what is criminal is 'unauthorized access to a computer' and 'extortion'.

I am hiring a US lawyer to deal with these and other issues

 

[1NiteStand]

Mistakes #3 is sending 3000USD upfront.... if you want a website developed, only pay up to 50% upfront, the rest after delivery. Just sayin.

edit: EXTREMELY risky to pay 100% upfront for anything if it is not immediately delivered.

 

[DomainVP]

Promising to build a niche business is extremely hard to deliver in 2015.

Old Niche building Does Not Work

Google CRUSHED niche building in 2012/2013 with their Penguin & Panda algorithms.

Right now it's extremely time consuming to build a niche business, and it's expensive.

Did you know that to rank for a keyword with decent traffic, in most cases, people are paying $180+ per month to be a part of stable black-hat link networks - just to beat the Penguin / Panda algorithms.
*(This is where PR domains go, and why they are expensive)

To rank organically is such a painful and long process, that it's almost a fools errand to even try if you aren't doing black hat along side.

Just to rank for a keyword organically you need expensive PR releases, media (good luck), and expensive backlinking. Why is backlinking expensive... well... if you want a backlink from a high authority site they want some $$$. So 10 good backlinks that you have found via research can cost you $1000 easy.

Or you need a heck of an idea that catches on through social media - but that is few and far between as well - again, good luck.

If you can't do any of this yourself, and you find that the mention of some of these phrases is confusing - add on another $7,000 to hire someone who knows what they are doing.

Either way, to promise anyone this is for a small investment is insane.

Maybe pre-2013 this would have flown, but after late 2012 Google CRUSHED niche building. Most niche building now is built on lies and affiliate sales. If you see anyone telling you that they can build you a niche site with a small investment, you better think twice before you spend a dime with them.

This was also discussed with consensus somewhere here on NP, but I wouldn't start building a niche out from scratch for any less than $10k - because most of that is going to go towards everything that it takes to really build out a functioning niche site.

Domainers & Tech Do Not Go Hand-in-hand

I think Mr.Dicker identified a niche that unfortunately he ended up damaging - well funded domain investors, that were less than tech savvy, who trusted the packaged legend of Adam Dicker.

If we took a survey here, tallying up the number of people that know php/python/MySql I can guarantee that it would be a landslide in favor of those that do not know these technologies.

There is nothing wrong with that - many of you know things that I do not; but I do know tech.

To know tech, you have to evolve constantly and know what is going on. Either Mr.Dicker did not evolve or he wanted to capitalize on the fact that most domainers don't know tech.

I would like to think that Mr.Dicker did not do this intentionally, so I am going to lean towards the lack of evolution - here is why. I remember looking at some of the DNF education material and just thinking 'WTF'? Most of the recommendations were old hat, unhelpful, and would leave out some extremely important information that anyone starting off domaining would need to know.

I had more valuable information on my free blog than on the DNF paid courses. If you have the time to read the epilogue that is NP you could get a domaining education that is unparalleled.

So in the end I think that a business model which was working for Adam must have stopped at some point, but he was hanging on - and the money was too good to turn down.

This has happened to so many people that started out with good intentions.

Is Domaining Trustworthy?

What is trust and what is fair when there are virtually no laws to govern behavior and policies?

I think that ICANN has a huge part within domaining dishonesty, and if the tree is crooked then so shall be the branches.

Sometimes business is just business - buy low, sell high at all costs but I do know one thing for sure:
If you offer someone services and cash is exchanged - you deliver.

I've given consultancies to clients about domain online portfolio management, acquisition, and sales strategies. You do the work you are paid for beyond satisfaction, and then other opportunities follow.

What you don't do is skip with someones money and the dodge them.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

I have been told to be respectful by higher powers.
To bad we can't all be respectful, and help each other instead of being mean and bully too.
Have a wonderful day Shane, and everyone.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

That's what he said....

Show attachment 16932

hahaha! Is there a blue dress involved, Shane?

 

[tld_org]

Mistakes #3 is sending 3000USD upfront.... if you want a website developed, only pay up to 50% upfront, the rest after delivery. Just sayin.

If you want a website developed you should pay $0 up front. You go to Upwork and hire someone, the money goes into their Upwork's escrow, and it gets released only after the job is successfully completed. No risk to you. And you get to see exactly who you are hiring up front that is going to do the work. You get a direct line of communication with the developer, and they are incentivized to complete your job in a timely and satisfactory manner because they aren't getting paid unless they do.

Of that $3,000 I would guess a large chunk went to the middleman which provided no value to you or your site and a small piece went to the developer who was probably based overseas.

 

[Adam Dicker]

It's easy to post anonymously and make accusations. I have no issues with people coming forward and posting their stories under their real names. If you actually want things resolved though, you need to contact me.

 

[Bram C.]

If you want a website developed you should pay $0 up front. You go to Upwork and hire someone, the money goes into their Upwork's escrow, and it gets released only after the job is successfully completed. No risk to you.

Or go to freelancer.com ...

 

[cdnbigd]

This is the sad state of affairs. A fellow domainer lost good money to see what could have been.

This 3 grand could be someone's only investment, which in theory would put them out of business.

But as stated. Where are the written contracts?

The "written contracts" are in our email inbox. And yes, emails do now stand up in court as written contracts. But small claims court does cost more then some people can afford to pay. It's unfortunate that you can't afford to fight for yourself legally. So you have to rely on and hope someone "bigger than you" will start a blog or thread like this to get the ball rolling, in the hopes that Adam will do the right thing and pay back what's owed.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

But it looks like Enaming.com are trying to cash in on bellone.com for $10k+
https://www.namepros.com/threads/an...ted-by-enaming-com.877829/page-2#post-5037965

Enaming's got many of our domain names in what is also not very professional behavior.

 

[SirDrago]

It's easy to post anonymously and make accusations. I have no issues with people coming forward and posting their stories under their real names. If you actually want things resolved though, you need to contact me.

@Adam Dicker
These people have openly posted that they INDEED contact you several times with no resolve already????

Have you checked your inbox???

 

[S-B]

It's easy to post anonymously and make accusations. I have no issues with people coming forward and posting their stories under their real names. If you actually want things resolved though, you need to contact me.

It's also easy to hide behind empty threats of litigation.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

I want proof from those claiming to have contacted Adam. Please attach copies of the emails you sent.
I said please

 

[Sam Roy]

I want proof from those claiming to have contacted Adam. Please attach copies of the emails you sent.
I said please

I don't think those allegation are made-up. Some members making allegations are here at NP since long. Since they have gone public Adam Dicker should clarify the issue publicly.

 

[HeyNow]

Yet you still keep swimming in that 'cesspool'. go figure..

No, I'm not a swimmer there. I'm a lurker here. I don't play in the toilet. Never have. I have several dozen domains and hang "for sale" pages on my own. Played the drop game with a few Godaddy backorders here and there, but that's it. Would NEVER participate in any of the auctions - too many shenanigans.

I hang around the cesspool and post my opinions about the scoundrels, the auction cheats, the sneaks, the bottom feeders, and assorted fraudsters. I try to remind fellow members (even those with whom I'm at odds) that the forums, domain "news" websites, and auction platforms are either a major part of the problem by blindly sticking their heads in the sand, or actually perhaps part of the purposeful manipulation and deception so prevalent.

And by my record of sales and buys, along with the content of my posts, I'm in no way part of the low-road convoy partaking in this thread. And IMHO there are only a few low-roaders in this thread. But who knows, anyone can go rogue.

Talk about heads-in-the-sand, really. I mean, how long has this thread been overdue?

 

[SirDrago]

@Adam Dicker
These people have openly posted that they INDEED contact you several times with no resolve already????

Have you checked your inbox???

@Adam Dicker

 

[GoWebnames.com]

It's easy to post anonymously and make accusations. I have no issues with people coming forward and posting their stories under their real names. If you actually want things resolved though, you need to contact me.

You are probably already in the know. Like all these people are already saying, they have already contacted you several times on email / on phone / in person without you doing anything about it? Someone also noted above about his complaints being deleted by you from your DNF.

To come to a stage where Frank Schilling has to mention it publicly to get his long standing service-default-turned-debt cleared is a sign of grave concern.

Stop everything you been doing, just shore up some money from your portfolio and pay back all the people you owe is all I can advise. As has been said often by great men, a man's reputation is worth far more than any money he may ever own. Protect what is left of your reputation.

 

[headsupp]

I have been standing in the front row, waving and waiting for my refund for the last 4 months.

You are probably already in the know. Like all these people are already saying, they have already contacted you several times on email / on phone / in person without you doing anything about it? Someone also noted above about his complaints being deleted by you from your DNF.

To come to a stage where Frank Schilling has to mention it publicly to get his long standing service-default-turned-debt cleared is a sign of grave concern.

Stop everything you been doing, just shore up some money from your portfolio and pay back all the people you owe is all I can advise. As has been said often by great men, a man's reputation is worth far more than any money he may ever own. Protect what is left of your reputation.

 

[Puckerhuddle]

I just registered "shadyhuckster.com" Any development ideas.
ps: The .ca is still available