Popular Email Scam is Baaaack! *Red Flags*

[ivey]

So I got the following email just yesterday. New domainers seem to still fall for this one, so I will share:

This is called the appraisal scam:

Offer to purchase (YourDomain).com(2)
[email protected]
To: MyEmail
Sep 6 at 6:20 PM

Hello!

I represent a businessman who is going to buy (YourDomain).com.

The buyer is a professional investor. Your domain will be used as a part of his online project.

I located your contact information in a domain name whois lookup and understand that you own the domain name.

Are you still interested in selling?

I work for a hosting company from UK.

If you have more domains, please email me the list.

Are you a beginner or an experienced seller?

Best Regards,

Anna Greenberg

Vice President

Hostgator UK

***Red Flags***

1. Before you open the email, the subject starts with the name hostgator? I was puzzled because I didn't have any names with hostgator nor did i know they broker domains..
2. After opening the email i saw this sending email address: [email protected]. So thought, what professional or legitimate service runs a business using such a crappy email and website name (hostgator-smtp.info)???
3. Now,if this man is a broker, he is doing his client a great favor telling me his client got big money to spend and he "is" going to buy the name.. wow my lucky day!!!!!
4. "I work for a hosting company from UK."- Wow I guess using the name host gator in his email and website address will make it legit since everyone domain have heard the name hostgator... hard to miss that gator.
   
5. "If you have more domains, please email me the list."-- Wow again! I might even get luckier!!! So now he is not going to just buy this name but I might end up selling more names from my portfolio. I better not mess this up. I guess this is to use psychology to lure the simple minded or people who have no knowledge yet of this tactic..smh
   
6. "Best Regards, Anna Greenberg" ugggnn surprise! Apologies, I didn't know this was a lady. 99% of scam emails I've gotten; male names were used. I guess this is to soften any worries or concerns I may be having.
   
7. "Vice President Hostgator UK" and to rap it up; to seal the deal.. She let me know she is the voice president. Like dave chappelle< I'm rich beeeech.. Or maybe not. And with the official seal- Host gator UK. I'm convinced!
8. After a whois search of their website:
   Created 02 Aug, 2016 / about 1 month ago
   Expires 02 Aug, 2017
   Registrant WHO IS AGENT
   Organization Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc

So this vice president or investor is doing business on a dollar domain thats a month old? Ofcourse it's private too because an official business has to hide..
My response:

My asking price is $5,000 US.
If you agree to the price; i will go ahead and setup payment through escrow.

So i choose a straightforward route...Now If they come back with the appraisal scam part two.. I may just pretend to be a little lamb and bring their hopes real high... I''ll add any response to this.

 

[ivey]

No Surprise!! Here is the The response I just got from Scammer: This is the end game of the scam, to let you pay for the appraisal then they vanish.

Domain Broker <[email protected]>
To
(me)
Today at 5:25 AM

Your buyer is a well known investor in Canada.

Our commission is 5 %. It's paid after you receive the funds.

The buyer offers $5,000.

Do you have a certificate?

My buyer needs it for tax and accounting purposes.

If you don't have it's not a problem. You can order it online.

Please note he cannot accept it from any agency. He needs a manual service.

The certification must include the following:

1. Independent valuation of the market price. It will show your domain name is not overpriced. On the other hand if the valuation comes higher, he will increase the price accordingly. In the domain name industry, there are many appraisal tools that people use to estimate the value of a domain name. My client does not want to risk and doesn't accept services that use scripts. If you are unsure about some service feel free to ask me.

2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems. He would like this verification to be included in the appraisal report. It's not a problem because some companies include the TM verification for free.

I’m also interested in a good estimate of the market price because you will pays me % on each sale.

You can read about certification agencies at http://answers-google.online/answers/threadview/id/26470381.html (“Domain Broker” is my nickname).

The process is very easy:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. Just submit your domains and let them know you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer. It will help you to get a better valuation.

2. Send it to me and we will start the sale process. As soon as he receives your certificate he will buy your domain via an escrow service of his choice. Any escrow service will be able to pay you via Paypal, Wire, Western Union or any other method you prefer.

He wants to ensure the safe delivery of the funds to you. Furthermore, since this is our first time conducting any business, I believe that using a third-party escrow service can provide a safe, well defined process.

If you are new to the certification process, I can help you with the step by step instructions

 

[deez007]

Lol...

I also get loads of those "domain expiry" emails.. they use ur domain name and say it's about the expire.. they imply it's your domain thats gonna expire but it's actually some crappy search engine submission service and their "offer" expires in x amount of days... lol

 

[ivey]

I don't normally ever pay emails like this attention, but this time I will lift the scammers hope sky high. I may ask them if I can appraise ten of my names to see if the great investor would like to purchase those too...

Or maybe I will let them know i only make such high level sales if I am able to meet the buying party on skype via video chat. It is important to me that my names are in the right hands. It would give me peace of mind.

It would be Hilarious if they dress up in a suit ...or consider .. But I doubt i'll go that route.. I will for sure come up with a pinky and the brain plan.... and post the results here...

 

[DNGear]

No Surprise!! Here is the The response I just got from Scammer: This is the end game of the scam, to let you pay for the appraisal then they vanish.

Domain Broker <[email protected]>
To
(me)
Today at 5:25 AM

Your buyer is a well known investor in Canada.

Our commission is 5 %. It's paid after you receive the funds.

The buyer offers $5,000.

Do you have a certificate?

My buyer needs it for tax and accounting purposes.

If you don't have it's not a problem. You can order it online.

Please note he cannot accept it from any agency. He needs a manual service.

The certification must include the following:

1. Independent valuation of the market price. It will show your domain name is not overpriced. On the other hand if the valuation comes higher, he will increase the price accordingly. In the domain name industry, there are many appraisal tools that people use to estimate the value of a domain name. My client does not want to risk and doesn't accept services that use scripts. If you are unsure about some service feel free to ask me.

2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems. He would like this verification to be included in the appraisal report. It's not a problem because some companies include the TM verification for free.

I’m also interested in a good estimate of the market price because you will pays me % on each sale.

You can read about certification agencies at http://answers-google.online/answers/threadview/id/26470381.html (“Domain Broker” is my nickname).

The process is very easy:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. Just submit your domains and let them know you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer. It will help you to get a better valuation.

2. Send it to me and we will start the sale process. As soon as he receives your certificate he will buy your domain via an escrow service of his choice. Any escrow service will be able to pay you via Paypal, Wire, Western Union or any other method you prefer.

He wants to ensure the safe delivery of the funds to you. Furthermore, since this is our first time conducting any business, I believe that using a third-party escrow service can provide a safe, well defined process.

If you are new to the certification process, I can help you with the step by step instructions

Please ask him to buy an appraisal and take 20% comiision.

 

[ivey]

Lol...

I also get loads of those "domain expiry" emails.. they use ur domain name and say it's about the expire.. they imply it's your domain thats gonna expire but it's actually some crappy search engine submission service and their "offer" expires in x amount of days... lol

lol, those emails pack my spam folder...And some renewal notice too.. like I'm gonna pay $60 to renew a .com..

 

[deez007]

I don't normally ever pay emails like this attention, but this time I will lift the scammers hope sky high. I may ask them if I can appraise ten of my names to see if the great investor would like to purchase those too...

Or maybe I will let them know i only make such high level sales if I am able to meet the buying party on skype via video chat. It is important to me that my names are in the right hands. It would give me peace of mind.

It would be Hilarious if they dress up in a suit ...or consider .. But I doubt i'll go that route.. I will for sure come up with a pinky and the brain plan.... and post the results here...

Hahahaahaah that would be hilarious to watch!.... ask them crazy questions and see how fast u can get them to feel uncomfortable...and bail out. hahahaha

 

[ivey]

My Response:

Hi,

Thanks for your quick response and information. This sale means alot to me because I don't have much money right now and my dog named sissybell just died after 14 years. So this is really God sent.

Anyway, I've never done an appraisal before but it makes alot of sense. I will need your help if you don't mind. Thinking of it I would like to appraise more names to see if the investor would be interested in any, but not sure if I can afford to do all right now. What is the cost of an appraisal?

Lastly, In the past I made a 5 figure sale on one of my top names, and I was able to speak with the buyer via skype video per my request. I would like the speak to you if you don't mind?

The reason is because I really value my names and I want to make sure it goes in the right hands. I have sold names before that were used wrongly and that doesn't help my portfolio nor represents me well. I assume scheduling a two minute call sometime this week or even later today wouldn't be too much for you or the investor?
Thanks for your understanding and professionalism..
sincerely,
Rory I

Their Reply: According to the scam script:

Since you are new I can help you with step by step instructions how to obtain a certificate. Please go to Authorize Domain Order Form

My client accepts their certificates. It's very important because he does not want to risk and does not accept each and every certification service.


Enter your domain there and write in the comment field you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer. It will help you to get a better valuation.

It will take only 2 minutes to submit your domains.

They will send you the results within 24 hours. Simply resend me the certificate via email.

After we receive your certificate we will proceed with the sale. I may help you with the transfer process. Please don't worry. I will be with you during the whole sale/transfer process. You can count on my help.

 

[johsun123]

Like the Nigerian dictator wealth scam, these mails too go to my spambox. Also those renewal notices with 50 USD offers..

I guess even a 0.5% success rate is good for them.

 

[ivey]

Interesting Find from Scam Appraisal URL:

It shows the name: Thomas Schultz
Now the web address in the domain email was under privacy..

Now did this person add privacy to the first url and forgot to do so to this url?

OR did they simple give Godaddy a made up name?

A similar name to this was in some domain udrp
WIPO Domain Name Decision D2015-1178 for ebay-delivery.com

 

[ivey]

Like the Nigerian dictator wealth scam, these mails too go to my spambox. Also those renewal notices with 50 USD offers..

I guess even a 0.5% success rate is good for them.

Yeah I told that Nigerian prince where to push all that money...

 

[DNGear]

you should have mentioned that name(thomas) in the next reply.

 

[ivey]

you should have mentioned that name(thomas) in the next reply.

I thought of it, but I was hoping to get more out of them before scaring them off.

I still can do so though.. the FBI scare of their life is coming...

 

[DnFolk]

i also received these scam emails and thrashed them badly.

[email protected]
Jul 17

to me

Hello!

I represent an investor from Canada who wants to buy XXXXcom for a new online project.

The buyer is a professional investor.

I located your contact information in a domain name whois lookup and understand that you own the domain name.

Are you still interested in selling?

I help clients of our hosting company to buy and sell intellectual properties.

If you have more names I can help you to sell them.

Best Regards,

Nicole Schultz

Domain Name Broker

Hostgator



My buyer invests money in online projects. He buys 10-12 domains for each project to get the maximum traffic possible.

The buyer will pay you the appraised value stated in an official certificate. He needs an independent expertise because you and me are interested in a high sale price and my buyer does not want to overpay. He also needs it for accounting and tax purposes. The buyer guarantees to pay you the price stated in your certificate.

Based on my experience, I think your name is in $15,000 - $20,000 range.

Do you have a certificate of the appraised value from an independent authority (not your broker or auction site)?

If you don't have it's not a problem. You can order it online. I may suggest the best source where we can get a good valuation.

The certificate will increase the value of your domain. It's a must do if you wish to sell your domain to a professional investor with a good budget.

The certificate must include only 2 things to be accepted by my buyer:

1. Independent valuation of the market price. Only manual valuation is accepted. No valuations generated by scripts.

2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems. He would like this verification to be included in the appraisal report. It's not a problem because some companies include the TM verification for free.

You can read about the recommended certification agency at Google Answers: http://answers-google.online/answers/threadview/id/35160428.html (“Domain Broker” is my nickname there).

The process is very easy and will take only two minutes of your time:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and submit your domain for the certification. Please let them know you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer. It will help you to get a better valuation. In the comment field please ask them to guarantee that the appraised value will be higher than the appraisal service fee. In this case you will not risk to pay and get a low appraisal. I suggest you this company because they protect you as the seller from getting a low appraised value. They will send you the payment instruction only if your domain is worth appraising. Otherwise your request will be declined and you will not pay them anything. Other companies does not offer this option.

2. If your request will be approved, please pay them the fee and wait for 24 hours. Then send me the results via email and we will start the sale process. As soon as he receives your certificate, he will buy your domain via an escrow service. Any escrow service will be able to pay you via Paypal, Wire, Western Union or any other method you prefer.

He wants to ensure the safe delivery of the funds to you. Furthermore, since this is our first time conducting any business, I believe that using a third-party escrow service can provide a safe, well defined sale process.

If you are new to certifications or domain sales, I can send you step by step instructions. I will also help you during the whole sale process. You will be able to contact me at any time.

[email protected]
4 Sep (3 days ago)

to me

This message may not have been sent by: [email protected] Learn more Report phishing




Hello!

Our client from Canada is going to purchase XXXX.net. I represent his interests in this deal.

The buyer is a professional investor. Your domain will be used as a part of his online project.

I located your contact information in a domain name whois lookup and understand that you own the domain name.

Are you still interested in selling?

I help clients of our hosting company to buy and sell intellectual properties.

If you have more names I can help you to sell them.

Best Regards,

Susan Miller

Independent Domain Broker

Toronto, Canada
Our commission is 5 %. It's paid after you receive the funds.

He buys 8-10 domains for each project to get the maximum traffic possible.

The buyer will pay you the appraised value stated in official certificate. He needs an independent expertise because you and me are interested in a high sale price and my buyer does not want to overpay. He also needs it for accounting and tax purposes. The buyer guarantees to pay you the price stated in your certificate.

Based on my experience, I think your name is in $15,000 - $20,000 range.

Do you have a certificate of the appraised value from an independent authority (not your broker or auction site)?

If you don't have it's not a problem. You can order it online. I may suggest the best source where we can get a good valuation.

The certificate will increase the value of your domain. It's a must do if you wish to sell your domain to a professional investor with a good budget.

The certificate must include only 2 things to be accepted by my buyer:

1. Independent valuation of the market price. Only manual valuation is accepted. No valuations generated by scripts.

2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems. He would like this verification to be included in the appraisal report. It's not a problem because some companies include the TM verification for free.

You can read about the recommended certification agency at Google Answers: http://answers-google.online/answers/threadview/id/16372539.html (“Domain Broker” is my nickname there).

The process is very easy and will take only two minutes of your time:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and submit your domain for the certification. Please let them know you have a buyer with $20,000 offer. It will help you to get a better valuation. In the comment field please ask them to guarantee that the appraised value will be higher than the appraisal service fee. In this case you will not risk to pay and get a low appraisal. I suggest you this company because they protect you as the seller from getting a low appraised value. They will send you the payment instruction only if your domain is worth appraising. Otherwise your request will be declined and you will not pay them anything. Other companies does not offer this option.

2. If your request will be approved, please pay them the fee and wait for 24 hours. Then send me the results via email and we will start the sale process. As soon as he receives your certificate, he will buy your domain via Authorize Domain escrow service. This escrow service will be able to pay you via Paypal, Wire, Western Union or any other method you prefer.

He wants to ensure the safe delivery of the funds to you. Furthermore, since this is our first time conducting any business, I believe that using the escrow service can provide a safe, well defined sale process.

If you are new to certifications or domain sales, I can send you step by step instructions. I will also help you during the whole sale process. You will be able to contact me at any time.

 

[ivey]

More detailed Whois, address etc


Domain Name: AUTHORIZE-DOMAIN.COM
Registry Domain ID: 2050091561_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Update Date: 2016-08-06T22:34:06Z
Creation Date: 2016-08-06T22:34:05Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-08-06T22:34:05Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Thomas Schultz
Registrant Organization: Domain Services
Registrant Street: BALLINDAMM 25
Registrant City: Hamburg
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code: 20095
Registrant Country: DE
Registrant Phone: +49.40330053
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Thomas Schultz
Admin Organization: Domain Services
Admin Street: BALLINDAMM 25
Admin City: Hamburg
Admin State/Province:
Admin Postal Code: 20095
Admin Country: DE
Admin Phone: +49.40330053

 

[DNGear]

Domain Name: smartdomainsales.net
Registry Domain ID: 1971424754_DOMAIN_NET-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Update Date: 2015-10-23T23:31:14Z
Creation Date: 2015-10-23T23:31:14Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-10-23T23:31:14Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:

@godaddy.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry
Registrant Name: Roland Gordon
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: mattenstrasse 12
Registrant City: Cham
Registrant State/Province: Cham
Registrant Postal Code: 6330
Registrant Country: CH
Registrant Phone: +41.794024086
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:

@hotmail.com
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Roland Gordon
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: mattenstrasse 12
Admin City: Cham
Admin State/Province: Cham
Admin Postal Code: 6330
Admin Country: CH
Admin Phone: +41.794024086
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email:

@hotmail.com
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Roland Gordon
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: mattenstrasse 12
Tech City: Cham
Tech State/Province: Cham
Tech Postal Code: 6330
Tech Country: CH
Tech Phone: +41.794024086
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email:

@hotmail.com
Name Server: NS77.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS78.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-09-07T13:00:00Z <<<

 

[DNGear]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/got-an-email-offer-for-my-domain-is-it-legitimate.800686/

 

[ivey]

New details(This is like my investigation file to bust this scammer):

1. Registrant Organization: Domain Services (This means this is the same scammer doing the renewal scams among others)
2. Registrant Name: Thomas Schultz
   
3. Registrant Phone: +49.40330053
   
4. Admin Street: BALLINDAMM 25, City: Hamburg, Postal Code: 20095, Admin Country: DE
5. Registrant Email: [email protected]
6. smartdomainsales.net fowards to: domaintrademarks.net/ whch happens to be private(regged in 2015) So this person can be discovered.

The list below contains all domains related to the email address [email protected]. The listed domains are showing the mentioned email address in their whois records. We have [email protected] listing since March, 2016.

1 name-seek.com
Uses the name: Roland Gordon

2 domain-analysis.com
Thomas Schulz

3 premiumdomainsale.net

4 domain-hunk.com

I may be chasing a ghost...but ill see,,, im clever

 

[fitkhan]

Got the same email from these guys but this time the "Domain Broker" is Maria Matheson from Net Firms and they came up with a $15,000 initial offer.... lol

 

[tvanrijt]

Got the same email from these guys but this time the "Domain Broker" is Maria Matheson from Net Firms and they came up with a $15,000 initial offer.... lol

Ask Maria if she can bring the push functionality back at Netfirms. Removing it is messing up my quick flips

 

[B0NES]

I received the exact same email from the same person. Initial offer of $15,000

So my response was, I'll sell it to you for $20 without the appraisal. So you can save yourself $14,980

No response. haha

 

[fitkhan]

Ask Maria if she can bring the push functionality back at Netfirms. Removing it is messing up my quick flips

oops... You are late.. I already waved her off....
I just told them I am active member of namepros and i guess you guys understand what i mean.... No reply from them after that...

 

[lock]

Move the domain to a Godaddy or Sedo Auction listing and multiply price tell them no further correspondence directly will be made in regards to offers. .

 

[DanandMel]

Hi, thanks you guys, I've just signed up today because I had a gut feeling about a 'too good to be true' email I received, about a site I've just put up for auction on Fippa. The email is as the one posted earlier on this thread, my response was this:

I don't know Anna.

I tell you what. I've got a mate who can create a fake certificate valuing xxx.com at $150,000 if you play along with me on this and talk to your client, I'll cut you in for 25% how's that sound? Tempting hey?
All the best, Dan

PS. If 25% isn't enough then you truly are a crook!

 

[DanandMel]

By the way, I've not had a reply yet! I don't know why? It seemed a generous offer to me!