alert Is "DDRA Research" a scam?

[WebInceptions]

This week I received 2 of these emails for domains that have nothing to do with IOTs. The email is odd because it points to what looks like is probably a legit website, but the website says nothing about this "research", and there isn't even a signup form on the page linked to. VERY suspicious, but weird that it points to a site.

Anyone else getting these, or know anything about this?

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Hello Domain Admin,

My name is Tim Ballard I am the senior project coordinator for “DDRA” Domain Database Research & Analytics a non-profit research group. Our website can be seen by clicking here. We study the analytical trends and shifts of domain names on the internet. I saw your domain name [domain I own] and would like to add it to our research list with your permission of course.

For about 3 years we have been studying domain name trends and registrar changes. Our primary focuses are on 3 areas, Domain Name Trends, Network Infrastructure Impact, Search Engine Variable Data and how the impact of changes affect user experience. We study the IoT (Internet Of Things) with Big Data and could use your contribution of data!

When we study websites we collect data on each website, what the domain is used for i.e e-commerce, corporate, personal, artistic, service based etc, where it was registered as well as traffic levels. We also generate snapshots of the websites and analyze changes made to the website and any search engine ranking changes that were caused by the changes so we can get a better understanding of how search engines rank websites.

We compile all of our data into a macro report and share it with other research companies, data collection companies, and universities across the United States. Of course this anonymous so your information isn’t disclosed to anybody.

If you’d like to contribute to our research it will cost you absolutely nothing and we can compensate you in three ways: We can pay you up to $250.00 for letting us monitor your website, we can also give you a do-follow link from our website to yours. The third way we can compensate you is by giving you a quarterly personal snapshot report of your website as it changes and the results. We also have a great program for webmasters who have 5+ websites that get 10,000+ visitors a month that can be compensated for each website.

If you’d like to join the program we’d love to have you on board and remember it doesn’t cost anything to contribute and we would never ask for anything beyond your permission. If you’d like to join click here and get started today!

If you are not interested and would like us to remove your email from our database just simply click here and unsubscribe.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach me on my contact page by clicking here. This email account isn’t actively monitored.

This is your information thus far:

[My Whois data is here]

Tim Ballard

Senior Project Coordinator

DDRA - Domain Data Research & Analytics Inc.

~ The iOT is a living breathing entity and we can study its behavior traits through the help of Big Data ~

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE -- This email is intended only for the person(s) named in the message header. Unless otherwise indicated, it contains information that is confidential, privileged and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender of the error and delete the message. Thank you.

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[man114]

No idea, I just got one too on a parked domain I have. The Whois on the domain it points to is registered via godaddy to a Tim Ballard at a street address in Arizona.

Since all the info the site asks for is already on my Whois I'm presuming it's some sort of ruse to get people to pay for analytic reports on domain traffic or search engine optimization, the only other angle I can see is presuming he can collect that info to sign you up he can probably sell this data to people.

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

I get emails like this frequently but when I got this one, something seemed off--the sender's email address, the lack of a website for "DDRA", the text about "the internet of things".

So I googled Tim Ballard and the most highly cited "Tim Ballard" that comes up in conjunction with big data and domain research is an ex-CIA official who used to run the crimes against children division of the Department of Homeland Security. He now runs a startup called Operation Underground Railroad. OUR uses data-mining software to expose child pornographers and human-traffickers. The whole thing gives me the creeps.

 

[briguy]

I found this interesting..
": We can pay you up to $250.00 for letting us monitor your website, we can also give you a do-follow link from our website to yours. "

Pay to monitor some one site...? Sounds like a business out to go bankrupt.

 

[JoeE]

If it's too good to be true, it usually is.
The guy is offering 250 per domain for a project that deals with Macro analytics of domain names and effects related to changes. For this project to make any sense on a macro level, he will need MILLIONS of domains and preferably active ones, not parked or merely registered. If he only attracts 4 million domains (a very conservative figure for his described needs) then he will have to shell out 1 BILLION dollars. And he claims that he will be sharing the findings with universities and other non-profits. Sounds beyond fishy. and he mentioned the compensation in the email to nudge you to register, yet no mention of it on the website that seems to exist only to compile a large mailing list of domainers and domain owners.

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

Sounds beyond fishy. and he mentioned the compensation in the email to nudge you to register, yet no mention of it on the website that seems to exist only to compile a large mailing list of domainers and domain owners.

Which URL are you looking at? The domaindatabase dot co website that the email links to says they'll give domain owners *up to* $250 compensation, however the email I received came from rankthetop dot com--a website that has barely any info. I'm always suspicious when I get emails from solicitors and their email address doesnt match the URL or company they claim to be repping.

One sidenote: the website I own that this guy wrote about is not a parked domain, its a fully populated website, but out of all the sites I own, its one of the least trafficked sites--it only gets about 6k hits a month, whereas I have others that average 500k a month. why wouldnt he try to monitor one of those sites? One possibility that came to mind has to do with the content and URL of the site he inquired about. Not going to disclose details here--its nothing even vaguely close to anything untoward AT ALL but I can see how it *could* be perceived that way by someone who had their radar tuned to that kind of thing. (Sorry for being so oblique, I'm just really wary of anything big data related these days)

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

one more thing: I cant post links cuz I'm a newbie here but if you google "Tim Ballard" + scam, you'll find enough info to confirm that whatever this guy is after, you'll likely want abdolutely nothing to do with it.

 

[JoeE]

Which URL are you looking at? The domaindatabase dot co website that the email links to says they'll give domain owners *up to* $250 compensation,

I stand corrected on that. I missed the section where he talks about giving out $250 but does not elaborate how or when. My comment still stands, where is he going to get the money to pay out this crazy amount when he could've done it without permission like all the other 2000 bots running around. Also, what does IoT have to do with active public websites?

 

[JoeE]

one more thing: I cant post links cuz I'm a newbie here but if you google "Tim Ballard" + scam, you'll find enough info to confirm that whatever this guy is after, you'll likely want abdolutely nothing to do with it.

I didn't need to google him. the whole thing does not make sense so no one should have anything to do with it. Some people have no scam history or they do it under a different name, bottom line is to be n your guard and not fall for anything until it is fully explained and makes sense.

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

Agreed on all points. The IoT stuff is precisely what set off my alarm bells that he was fishing for something else.

 

[E-Promote]

Emails touting “DDRA” but are coming from a Digital Marketing site (both have same whois City/State but diff addresses.). Me thinks they want to lure you on board to then sell you SEO/marketing

 

[Kate]

At the bottom of the site it is written "Domain Database Research & Analytics Inc."
Where is that outfit incorporated if it even exists ?

 

[mems]

I got one too. The riddle has been obsessing my time. Why would I get this email from an Ex-CIA, DHS agent?
I think I have figured it out - but don't hold me to it.
I have got to walk away from the puzzle.
Will I participate? I don't know yet.

Here's what I found
domaindatabase.co
owned by Tim Ballard in Chandler, AZ
just registered November 27, 2016

Tim Ballard is
Regional Business Development Manager at Converge
Phoenix, Arizona

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-ballard-3224811/

Moved to Converge Feb. 2017
Converge.com
Converge, a subsidiary of Arrow Electronics, has evolved from an industry-leading electronics components distributor to a full service global supply chain partner. We help create full component life-cycle and process management plans for companies with challenging inventory and supply chain needs.
Our data-driven, customer-centric solutions are customized to fit an organization’s goals and future needs. Strategic plans are based on product data, proprietary market intelligence and over 35 years of technology experience.

Arrow Electronics owns over 8,900 domains
Arrow Electronics iot domains

thingsevolved.asia
thingsevolved.com
evolutionofthings.org
thingsevolved.net
thingsevolved.org
thingsevolvediot.com
thingsevolvediot.net
thingsevolvediot.org
handsoniot.com
handsoniot.info
handsoniot.net
handsoniot.org

The email address - @rankthetop.com
Rank The Top Digital Marketing
RankTheTop.com
is owned by Lauren Williams in Chandler, AZ
Lives about 1 1/2 miles from Tim Ballard's whois address on google maps
That is the only info I could find on this shadowy entity.

Stick a fork in me............I'm done

 

[Asfas1000]

Just wondering if you guys have a high-traffic domain this guy is targeting ?

 

[mems]

One sidenote: the website I own that this guy wrote about is not a parked domain, its a fully populated website, but out of all the sites I own, its one of the least trafficked sites--it only gets about 6k hits a month, whereas I have others that average 500k a month.

I am parked. Nothing like Norm's numbers.

 

[E-Promote]

Emails touting “DDRA” but are coming from a Digital Marketing site (both have same whois City/State but diff addresses.). Me thinks they want to lure you on board to then sell you SEO/marketing

Wow just quoted myself ...seriously I think that is what they are up to.

 

[Kyra]

I just received the same email this evening. It freaked me out because it had my address etc from GoDaddy. I'm glad I found this forum. I thought it was really odd with the whole $250 bit and the domain has been dormant since 2015 ‍

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

heh. color me embarrassed. highly likely that there is more than one Tim Ballard in the realm of big data and market research and the probability that the one who used to be CIA is NOT the one sending us these emails. i really went down a rabbit hole on this one folks.

sidenote: anyone have any info on iplusdata? theyve repeatly written me offering revenue in exchange for inserting a single line of javascript into my websites that would essentially collect user data. when i pressed the guy about legalities of this without a disclaimer he stopped writing. sketchy or am i just way too paranoid?

 

[deez007]

Lol.. gotta say though. You have to give them credit for being creative. (Compared to the usual regurgitated BS we normally get related to appraisals, web design service and seo services.)

 

[vincew]

I received this too concerning a name I let expire a couple years ago. It also mentioned a mailing address associated with the domain that I no longer use.

It's a pretty well put together pitch, better than the vast majority of junk I get.

 

[mems]

sidenote: anyone have any info on iplusdata?

PM sent

 

[Tom Alciere]

I got an email like that today. I don't know what it's about and there's no physical address there. Interesting, though.

 

[WebInceptions]

Well well well... looks like they are suddenly in a new line of business, but forgot to change their tagline. I guess Tim Ballard got fired? Hahahaha!


===================================

From: DDRA Research Analytics Group [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, April 3, 2017 12:41 PM
To: Domain Admin
Subject: Do you own [Domain]?


Hello Domain Admin,

My name is Greg with DDRA Domain Data Research and Analytics. We want to take a snapshot of your website to build a history of your site kind of like how the Wayback Machine works. We just wanted to make sure we had accurate information before we attempted to create the snapshot.

This is your information thus far:

[My Whois Data]

Greg Soriano

SnapShot Team - Engineer

DDRA - Domain Data Research & Analytics Inc.

~ The iOT is a living breathing entity and we can study its behavior traits through the help of Big Data ~

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE -- This email is intended only for the person(s) named in the message header. Unless otherwise indicated, it contains information that is confidential, privileged and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender of the error and delete the message. Thank you.

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

or he has a google alert on his name and found this thread, in which case I'd like to say...

Hey Tim-Greg, why all the subterfuge? Why don't you just level with us and tell us what you're really after. Who knows, maybe someone will take you up on whatever it is you're buying/offering/selling.

Well well well... looks like they are suddenly in a new line of business, but forgot to change their tagline. I guess Tim Ballard got fired? Hahahaha!

 

[Norm Alwhybe]

Hmm. Maybe they actually dont give a shit about the domains--perhaps these people are phishing for verification of our personal info (gleaned from a non-masked whois listing) which could be bought/sold/used for fraudulent purposes in any number of ways.