REAL or FAKE offer?

[eggymusic]

Today i received a following email (subject: Ownership of xxxxxxxxx.net) which listed on Domain Name contact info. What do you all think i should do ?



Sender email ID: [email protected]


***********
Dear Colleague,

I am contacting you in relation to the domain name that you currently own; xxxxxxxxxxxx.net

I hope that you won't mind me contacting you like this, but I am looking for some domain names, like yours, which my company intends to utilize in branding current, and future products around in an attempt to re-establish our operations online. Our company has been 'on the Internet' for many years: we have dealt with both online, and more so nowadays offline business. I am aware that many registrants are rationalising their name portfolios at the present time and if you are currently in this situation, I hope you will consider my offer, 500(USD) for the transfer of ownership rights regarding this domain into our name.

Furthermore, given the proximity to Christmas this would serve as a good opportunity to raise some extra funds.

Whilst I don't wish to pre-empt your decision, I am currently pursuing a variety of different domain names. This means that the finances of the company could be potentially volatile. Thus I ask if you have interest in completing such a transaction that you get in touch with us promptly.
A question that has come up on many an occasion relates to payments. Payments can be quickly and safely rendered directly into your paypal account, prior to transfer of the domain (on agreement of terms). Please rest assured that we want to ensure our respective interests are dealt with in a safe and secure manner.

If you would like to ask any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will do my best to address them.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my request,
Yours sincerely

Jack xxxxx

***************

Any input will be appreciated

 

[wrc]

It could be an appraisal scam or alike. You should reply, to see if it's a scam.

Anyways, do NOT accept paypal payment.

 

[-REECE-]

That's good advice. Good luck and I hope it works out for the best

It could be an appraisal scam or alike. You should reply, to see if it's a scam.

Anyways, do NOT accept paypal payment.

 

[Traveler]

The e-mail reads like a scam to me, the warning bells are going off.

 

[Ross]

Its a scam i do believe. You can get free email accounts under "graduate.org" just visit email.com and they allow you to get an email pretty much on any domain they own.

Send them a reply with a counter offer and see what the reply is and post here just in case.

 

[-Adam-]

Nicely drafted but I don't think it's legit. Especially anything involving paypal and unsolicited email usually equals fraud to me.

 

[HHH]

I received the exact email earlier today. It smells like a scam - especially the odd (at times) strange sentence structure.

 

[Kate]

It could be a (novice) domainer on a spending spree :D

 

[Whogister]

Appraisal scams...
I never knew anything about those until I got a similar email last week.
The first red flag was the offer price. After I told them it was listed at Sedo for $1,000 they replied back with a $10,000 offer. Why on earth would anyone offer you 10x's your own asking price? Does that really happen?

The other red flag was that they kept wanting me to buy an appraisal and give them the details and kept telling me to visit their blog which had a bunch of links to an "appraisal company." The blog was probably posts from the same person talking to himself.

 

[DevelopersMatch]

That's way to cheap for the domain name nyways. You should up the price!

 

[hawkeye]

It could be legit, trying to take advantage of the economy and the sour prices domainers and others are willing to accept currently. But $500 for DomainName.net, if that is the name in question, which it appears to be according to your post, is 'waaay' too cheap. I'd counter at a respectable market price, and go from there.

edit:
....eppp! ...according to the whois, DomainName.net is not owned by someone in NC. The actual name, would better an assessment of the letter in question.

 

[-REECE-]

Some whois spammers actually sound like scammers their emails are so poorly written

It could be a (novice) domainer on a spending spree :D

 

[eggymusic]

Opps...so sorry the domainname.net was not the real name of the domain ...it was just used becuase i was not so sure whether i should use the real name...sorry for the confusion and inconvenience. The real domain name i received this offer is "LACKING (dot) net"

Thanks all for your input +reps are given to all of you

 

[Michael]

There's no reason not to reply, it just takes a minute. It doesn't look like the appraisal scam email, those usually have a signature with the guy's fake title. They also usually say they are a technology company but are dabbling in domains.

Just be careful with how you proceed, and if you do agree on a price, make sure to use escrow.

 

[jdenwar]

Be Careful!

#Donot let them know your other domain names and your personal information like phone number and email address!
#Donot go for Paypal!
#Beware of appraisal scam!

Reply and notify us too!
Good Luck!

 

[Charley]

Payments can be quickly and safely rendered directly into your paypal account, prior to transfer of the domain (on agreement of terms).

Don't fall for this. Escrow is recommended, if you are moving forward with the transaction.

Anyway it looks like a scam email to me.

 

[eggymusic]

Yesterday, i responded to this email asking him/her to make the same offer at SEDO. I am still waiting for their repsonse. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for your input

 

[Ross]

Yesterday, i responded to this email asking him/her to make the same offer at SEDO. I am still waiting for their repsonse. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for your input

Wouldn't be surprised if it took them hours if not days to reply and say something like, "Sorry, i just had a baby boy/girl." Then give you a figure to accept and ask for an appraisal, with a link.

Telling you this is fake but who knows....

 

[Whogister]

Here is what I got last week...

Hello,

Your domain name has been found online. Please let us know your price.

We are in real estate business. Domain name industry is a new direction
for us. Sometimes we buy, sometimes we resell for making a profit.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
[Insert Fake Sounding Name Here]
Vice President

So my reply was:

You can make an offer at Sedo:
https://sedo.com/search/details.php4?domain=xxxxxxxx

Thank You

The domain is listed at Sedo for $1,000 and I get this reply:

Can you accept $10,000 USD?

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?

Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I mean domain
appraisals. Without valuation we cannot be sure in the sale price. It's very
important for me in terms of reselling too. But we must engage a valuation
company with REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from
independent sources I and my partners trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal
companies.

Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:
[blog link removed]

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price
accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15%
discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to
obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire
transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

I didn't reply anymore after that and never heard back from him.
I was born at night but not last night!

 

[copper]

Be very careful.
Too many scams out there.
Standard escrow such as escrow.com won't save you from scam for domain names.

Use...
sedo escrow
moniker escrow
escrowDNS.com