Is this a scam - Help Please

[Abdirizaq]

Hi Everyone
I need your advice urgently please.

I am not involved in domain selling but happen to own few for planned websites.

Few days ago I have been contacted by guys who said they are brokers and a client wants to buy one of my domains.

They said the buyer first wants certificate be obtained from this website :
authorize-net.org/appraisal.htm.

So reluctantly I went ahead and paid 359 dollars for that.

Now, they said, I need to sign up for this service from the same website :
authorize-net.org/sell_order.htm

I am totally confused - suspicious but unsure that this might be standard in the world of domain selling/buying.

Have you ever heard of this website? Is it a known scam Web? What do you think of this thing?
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[lock]

i am sure i could write the most convincing scams but I would never want to be that moralless %&$^. I have had these sent to me for about 20 years they all stand out like spot lights these days. You need to be skeptical of anything involving money. Research everyone you deal with ask for help if needed we will help.

 

[Abdirizaq]

Then I contacted (after googling them and doing other checks but without anything to link them to scams) all those so called client.

Here is how the convos went :
Hi
,

My name is. ..

I got your e-mail from Robert Reese. He has contacted me wanting to broker a sale of a domain I own.

I just wanted to make sure he is genuine not some sort of a scamster.

Can you please confirm that you have worked with him in your domains domains?

Thanks,

Best regards

Sent that to all. All replied back like this.

Hello

You can be sure is genuine and not scamster.

Yes, he helped me to sell my 3 domains.

Sorry for the short email. I'm very busy today.

Martin Neubauer

Attorney at Law





Hello,

Yes, I confirm it. He is not a scammer and helped me to sell my domain.


They are big professionals. I tried to sell via GoDaddy and Flippa but could not sell even one domain there. I guess GoDaddy and Flippa are good for small sales in $300-$500 range, If you want to sell for several thousands you need to work with a personal broker.

Goddady charges 10% and the broker charges only 2-3%. I hope the choice is clear.

I wish you good luck with your sales!

Regards,

Alexander Warden




Hi Sir!

My experience was very good! Finally, I've found a broker who can guide me through the process.

I highly recommend him.

Regards,

Xu Weixing

Bejing

China

 

[Abdirizaq]

Come on people , this is hard not to fall for it ???

 

[Abdirizaq]

After I paid for the so called certificate (which for some strange reason I have not actually had the money taken out of my bank account yet ), Mr Robert kindly directed me to the next step via telegram.

The honourable gentleman wrote :

Robert Reese:
Thank you!

The buyer was satisfied. He wants to finish the sale as soon as possible.

He supports only two ways of finishing the sale:

1. As I wrote in my first email to you my client will send you the funds via Authorize International Escrow. They support Japanese buyers. In this case both buyer and seller will be protected during the transaction.

They provide the escrow for domains listed on their site. In order to use their escrow, you should list your domain at authorizeweb.net/sell_order
and select Advanced or Premium package. These packages include the free escrow. After ordering, you will email me a listing link and we will place a bid there to start the sale process the same day.

2. He has an account with Swreg. If you also have a verified Swreg.org account he may send the funds from his Swreg account to your Swreg account. They will act as escrow and it will cost us about 3-5%.

Just let me know which way you prefer and we will proceed. I think the first way is more secure and reliable and it's cheaper because our sale price is high enough.

 

[Abdirizaq]

And here, I stopped giving the benefit of the doubt. This had to be a scam.

 

[carob]

This is a well thought of, well planned scam, made up deliberately of parts that each support each other to convince.

The details and components don't matter. Just google domain appraisal scam anytime.

To sell a domain there are reputable platforms and markets offering escrow services.

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

Come on people , this is hard not to fall for it ???

Yes it can be very easy to "fall for it". 350 ETH is a huge price (a very desirable payday), so you continued even though you had doubts. The excessive amount (offered for the domain) should have told you it was clearly bogus. An offer closer to low $x,xxx, for example, would have been a bit more believable, but...

At a lower price all the "my highly-qualified client needs certs" doesn't make sense, so either way it is a standard old scam.

 

[Abdirizaq]

Let us please get the word out that these sites :
Authorize-net.org and Authorizeweb.net are scams.

I have researched them and even scam directories and online tools see them as harmless. Nobody has yet reported them.

 

[Kate]

Come on people , this is hard not to fall for it ???

You don't find it strange that they contact you out of the blue, offer such a big sum from the outset, without discussion ?
Then they should have paid for that 'appraisal'.

Definitely charge back as much as you can.

 

[MapleDots]

One of the most idiotic warning signs I have ever seen.

I mean you would figure that some things are just easy enough to figure out without warnings right?

Is domaining the only place people fall for appraisal scams? I mean where else can you go to a buyer and say pay me first for an appraisal and then I will buy your product.

 

[BaileyUK]

This is a well thought of, well planned scam, made up deliberately of parts that each support each other to convince.

• 5 different emails at different domains made to look (possibly manned) 5 different professional people.

No - All those email addresses just redirect back to the same scammer. He can use any of them for outbound and reply to you.

Notice how you got fairly quick replies from all of them.

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

One of the most idiotic warning signs I have ever seen.

I mean you would figure that some things are just easy enough to figure out without warnings right?

Show attachment 107112
...

Do not iron clothes on body?

 

[AutoDealer]

Domains are pretty much a demand and supply deal. I have never paid for an appraisal. Just negotiated a deal.

If you can dispute the charge on your account, I would do that for sure. Either your back or PayPal .

I'm sorry that happened to you.

 

[Ramesh Kumar G]

Those are Trap scam.
Anything you need to do with Securities , SSLS .. you should be purchasing them from the proper registrars from who you bought the domain are you can transfer them to any other good registrars where you can subscribe to such packages depending up on the type of online project you are developing.

 

[atinc]

When you entered your credit card or payment information, did you enter this at the website in a form of some sort?

If the answer to the above is yes, then I would block your credit card immediately to prevent your money being stolen as your credit card details may have been Phished.

You should definitely listen this advice. It is very important and well spotted.

Don't even wait for another minute to do so.

 

[carob]

Never heard of anyone actually paying for these "appraisals" before. Usually we get people posting here asking if they should respond, and the "appraisal" fee is about $60.00. You can always ask them to pay your for an appraisal of their appraisal scheme.

The two scam websites that OP mentioned are on domains registered in 2018, are still live sites, feature domains wanted ads and seek sellers, they say. Is naming them on NP driving traffic to them?

Domains Wanted Ads

$500,000 for a good one word .info or .biz domain.

Financial and insurance related domains WANTED !!! Up to $20,000

Places , City Domains Wanted. Budget is around $20,000-$30,000.

Interesting that they claim certain partners who may object to that claim: Visa, Domaintools, ICANN, escrow companies, and claim to be BBB registered.

 

[IridiumThunder]

If you gave them your Banking information, you shoud contact your bank asap and change everything you gave them eg. through a "trusted payment service", like passwords, credit card numbers, etc. But please consult your bank first, and not take my word for it.