Is SEDO helping scammers with fake domains like wíne.com or físh.com ?

[Erdy]

I call domains like wíne.com and físh.com as fake since these are not true idn's. Köln.com is an idn since in German there is this word Köln and it is written with ö.

físh.com is like a counterfeit product. It is a copy of the original. Maybe you didn't understand what this topic is about. Look closer to físh.com and you will see that is not fish.com it has an í instead an i.

The main aim obviously is to trick unaware buyers making them believe they are buying the real thing while they aren't. There are many people out there who don't know much about domains let alone idn's.

Do you really think the poor guy, who has to pay 2250 usd for físh.com after yesterdays sedo auction, knew what he was buying? I don't think so. This is almost like ebay scams but with the exception that sedo makes it difficult not to pay when you get scammed. I think sedo should stop helping scammers.

Even I was almost bidding yesterday on físh.com. I knew 2250 usd was incredibly cheap but I expected the prices to go higher during the last few minutes. Then when the last 10 minutes came and the price was still the same I though, ok, just put $3000 and see what happens. From my ebay experience I know that bidding last moments can be fun. And there were so many bids which made the deal look like real. Only by chance I have realized it at the last moment that it wasn't the real thing. I could have been carried away by the last minute bidding race and excitement or whatever.

Then I wrote an email to my sedo representative and the respond I received is very disapointing. He says they made it clear in the description. On the other hand I don't care about the description. They must make it clearer on the main auction list as well.

Here is a picture on what I mean:

Edit:
Fake fìx.com went through for 46,001 USD. With ì instead i this domain is not even worth one dollar.
http://www.sedo.com/auction/auction...=us&auction_id=5400&tracked=1&partnerid=27222

Please let them know what you think on this issue. Their email address is [email protected]

 

[cache]

there is always room for IDN, but the point is that people bidding there did not know or
warned it is a IDN.

 

[Erdy]

Lots of buyers are going to get pissed off of sedo. As a seller who has many domains there I'm not very happy.

 

[Danny25]

I just discovered that a huge land rush started yesterday for many of these types of domains.

Is there a possibility that these domains are worth something just based on how close they look to their non IDN counterparts?

I can't see any value.

Unless you want to advertise for free for the real fix.com

Nobody will type it in. It's not brandable. It's not even a keyword that will help you in the search engines.

I can't see it being worth anymore then app1es.com

 

[CrazyHorse]

MarcelProust, Sedo has nothing to do with it, they wouldn't risk their reputation over a few hundred dollars. I think people are bidding on the names at $60 a pop knowing they are indeed IDN based, once they enter the auction though, hard to tell what bidders actually think they are buying.

I've been watching these sales, every one has fallen through, so I'm not worried about it. Sedo is just wasting their own time.

 

[Erdy]

CrazyHorse,

Thats not true. There is no chance that by coincidence so many people can make an offer for fake domains all at the same time.

There are two possibilities:

1. The seller has a second account and bids something like 60 or 100usd for his own domain just to get it into auction. Afterwards it keeps rolloing on its own.

2. A sedo employee is involved and is trying to make some quick money. I still cant explain how some of those went there without any offer at all.

 

[Danny25]

They should just list the domains like so:

xn--fx-kja.com (fìx.com)

Since that is what they are selling.


Do you think it would be anywhere near $5K if it was listed in it's true form?

xn--fx-kja.com

Come on you know you guys want it

 

[Erdy]

9600 USD right now. This is going to be a huge fiasco.

 

[CrazyHorse]

What fiasco, there is no way in hell this sale in going through.

 

[Danny25]

9600 USD right now. This is going to be a huge fiasco.

xn--fx-kja.com

Just broke the five digit barrier.. $20,000

I think you're right. There is no way a domain as worthless as this can command such a price.

This sale should put a end to this kind of shady pratice

 

[CrazyHorse]

Yeah, Sedo will have to sort this out.

The scariest thing is, someone with $25K didn't even bother to take the time to read the auction listing.

 

[Danny25]

Yeah, Sedo will have to sort this out.

The scariest thing is, someone with $25K didn't even bother to take the time to read the auction listing.

This is insane. I wonder how much it will sell for?

$25,500 with 45 minutes to go..

Somebody is NOT going to be happy..

I wonder if the person who put this up for sale actually thinks he/she will get away with this?

 

[GeoOwners]

Theres nothing unethical about domaining unless you resort to unethical practices... Look at business in general though, I don't think anyone even knows the meaning of "ethics." Some people just look for an easy way to make money. Others actually want to build something they can be proud of that is sustainable and real. Thats the major difference.

very well said...couldnt put it better myself

 

[Erdy]

The buyer might not realize it until he gets the domain. There is a chance the buyer might send the money. Since we don't know who the buyer is we can't warn him.

I expected sedo to handle this more professional. There were a few other sales like this recently. Sedo should have learned their lesson.

 

[Danny25]

The buyer might not realize it until he gets the domain. There is a chance the buyer might send the money. Since we don't know who the buyer is we can't warn him.

I expected sedo to handle this more professional. There were a few other sales like this recently. Sedo should have learned their lesson.

The person who buys this obviously has the money to lawyer up. There is NO way this sale is going through

 

[buckshotdots]

re:domain

If he wanted it badly enough on the auction, wouldn't he get his wife/friend to make a $60 bid on a second account and push it to auction (not that Im recommending that as that would be unethical?)? Since everyone is going crazy over them it for sure would get more bids then the starting $60.

just my thoughts, Gary.

 

[Erdy]

Oliver, where are you? You were getting angry with me telling repeatedly that you made it very clear. Does it look like you did a good job?

 

[GijsZePa]

very well said...couldnt put it better myself

There's another scary thing about these IDN's...

What about phishing ?

Every bank with an i in his name must be carefull. Even careful people won't see the strange i when giving in their login and password...

Martin

 

[Danny25]

There's another scary thing about these IDN's...

What about phishing ?

Every bank with an i in his name must be carefull. Even careful people won't see the strange i when giving in their login and password...

Martin

I don't think these IDNs will make that anymore a problem then it already is.

The browser automaticly jumps to:

http://xn--fx-kja.com/

when you type-in fìx.com

 

[Broker]

Sedo is only digging their own grave here with all this. Plain and simple, its dishonest business practices meant to deceive period. On the flip side, buyer beware.

 

[GijsZePa]

I don't think these IDNs will make that anymore a problem then it already is.

The browser automaticly jumps to:

http://xn--fx-kja.com/

when you type-in fìx.com

Still in IE 8 ?

Martin

 

[scandiman]

OMG, fix.com (wth the IDN accent) is over 40,000 right now on Sedo. What a scam.

 

[CrazyHorse]

Any idea what the non IDN fix.com is worth? Low XXX,XXX maybe?

 

[Danny25]

Any idea what the non IDN fix.com is worth? Low XXX,XXX maybe?

end user

High $xxx,xxx - low $x,xxx,xxx

www.fix.com is actually a site

 

[CrazyHorse]

Why doesn't Sedo stop the auction?

 

[Danny25]

Why doesn't Sedo stop the auction?

If the transaction goes through they get like 10%

They probably figure these are legit bids or atleast they hope