Scam Appraisals

[LeeOwen]

What do these fraudsters gain when sending an e-mail inquiring about the price of a domain, then proceeding to tell you to get an appraisal done at 'one of these sites', there's no affiliate link, what do they get out of it?

I'm just wondering as I saw one off this afternoon, the name was dodgy to begin with but I treated him with respect but in the end told him to do one, politely of course. Fortunately I was wise to the situation, doing a search through google, others haven't been.

 

[infestacide]

yeah well i feel like a fool now, but i too don't see how they can win.

 

[LeeOwen]

Well here's the full script. Whether he was honest and simply fell foul of suspicions well that's his hard luck, I didn't have the money for the domain before and don't after so I've lost nothing. Note the name... but some people are born with these so I continued. Also a decent honest person after a domain name would have all the confidentiality in the world, however...

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SENDER
Hello,

I'm interested in your domain name listed for sale.

Can you drop me your desired price?

If I can afford it I'll reply.

By the way, did you receive offers from other buyers?

I run a software development company. Selling & buying names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.

Please keep our correspondence confidential.

Best regards,

Jeffrey A. McQueary , Ph. D.
Vice President
TLC Engineering

REPLY:
Thanks for contacting me,

From previous experience, a domain is worth what the interested party is willing to pay so I'm honestly open to offers as a basis of negotiation. Although there's no harm in pre-offers, I really should go through Sedo as that's where it's listed. I've not had the domain long so you're the first to approach.

Yours Sincerely
Lee Owen

SENDER:
I need to know the lowest price you can accept.

What is your price range: $1,000 or $2,000 or even higher?

Please send it to me via email as soon as possible.

REPLY:
Sorry for the delay, I'm in the UK. When I bought it, my thoughts were around the $ but like I said it's down to personal value. If you bid on Sedo I'm sure we can find middle ground. I'm up for the next couple of hours if you wish to proceed.

Yours Sincerely
Lee Owen

SENDER:
$ USD. Ok.

Do you sell a developed site or domain only? I prefer domain names.

Do you have an independent valuation from industry experts (appraisal)? I need an appraisal certificate for domain priced in your range. I consider your name as an investment. In other words I'm going to sell your name later and make a profit. If I overpay I won't be able to make a profit in the future. It's very important for you and me to know the current market value of your domain.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging a reputable appraisal company. Please note that I don't trust free or cheap appraisals.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies in a forum

http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/38042.htm

Juck check this posting.

After I verify an appraisal from you we'll continue our negotiations.

How do you prefer to get paid: www.PayPal.com, www.escrow.com, check or wire?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply

REPLY:
Alright,

If you wish to proceed please bid through Sedo.

Cheers
Lee Owen

SENDER:
You are asking for serious money and I need to be sure your name is not
overpriced.

Usually, sellers provide buyers with appraisals. It's good practice because
both parties must know a fair price.

Thank you for understanding. I'm looking forward to do business with you.

REPLY:
Alright,

I'm not sure which company you represent but you're not blagging me mate and if I ever found out, I'd report you for fraud. If you wish to have an appraisal, get one done yourself and present it to me at source from a reputable company, like Sedo.

I've googled your enquiry and came up with similar complaints about scams like this, if you wish to make a serious offer on the value you believe the domain to be worth, please go through sedo. I've made myself quite clear, if we are to do business you should bid through Sedo, I didn't have $ for the domain on Friday and I certainly don't today, so I've lost nothing.

If you're serious about wanting and paying for the domain name, bid through sedo please otherwise stop wasting my time and yours.

Yours Sincerely
Lee Owen

SENDER:
Thank you for abusing me. It was a learning experience.

REPLY:
That wasn't abuse, believe me. Enjoy your fraudulent living.

Cheers
Lee Owen

infesticide, you inadvertantly answered my post, the people behind allfordomains, who are listed in your thread and my e-mail http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=126613 are behind the scam. Thanks for clearing that up.

Cheers
Lee

 

[Michelle]

:yell: :yell: :yell:

 

[Rob]

Hired by an underground appraisal site worker, no doubt.

 

[gazzip]

What do these fraudsters gain when sending an e-mail inquiring about the price of a domain, then proceeding to tell you to get an appraisal done at 'one of these sites', there's no affiliate link, what do they get out of it?
.

I suspect some may be paid by certain companies to "Drum Up" business but I once replied to one of these letters and within a day or two received another suspicious email with a zip file attachment that they obviously hoped that I clicked on - I deleted it.

If someone is really serious about purchasing a domain I would suggest that they pay for any valuation they required, if it is a reasonable price for the evaluation I would tell them I will take that amount off the price of the domain should they go ahead with the purchase of it.

 

[faisj]

The same guy tried to trick us also

 

[RJ]

What do these fraudsters gain when sending an e-mail inquiring about the price of a domain, then proceeding to tell you to get an appraisal done at 'one of these sites', there's no affiliate link, what do they get out of it?

I'm just wondering as I saw one off this afternoon, the name was dodgy to begin with but I treated him with respect but in the end told him to do one, politely of course. Fortunately I was wise to the situation, doing a search through google, others haven't been.

There's no affiliate link because they OWN the appraisal companies.

 

[faisj]

They even made a fake forum...

 

[scrsteven]

I got an email with the same text. I just "report as spam" on my gmail.

 

[LeeOwen]

I'm finding it difficult to understand why they haven't been shut down. If I went around asking how much someone was selling their house for, encouraged them to get a valuation done for £400 on the back of me 'saying I'm serious about buying but want a second opinion' and did this one hundred times a week with absolutely no intention of buying, then I'd surely be breaking a law, perhaps not.

I'll write to Sedo and Pool and see if they can put some text on their site or find out if they already have. Thanks for the help the other night Deet, just a shame it came down to what a few of us thought, a thief preying on the ill-informed yet I was still hopeful even with the funny name.

Nah sorry mate, not selling this domain for a thousand quid, your name looks funny. What do you mean Tony Blah sounds funny? water, drink, thirsty, food, building doink doink mallets mallet. Blair. Two things that make a Prime Minister, Timmy Mallet and Pob, mad aint it. Brainwashed from an early age. If only these fake domain appraisers were as good.

 

[JAugusto]

AllForDomains New Fraud

Hello Dear Friends,

Here goes my complete email thread on the new allfordomains.com fraud scam.

Although they didn’t catch me in the end, I ended up spending a lot of money on appraisals from other companies.

Some tips you must be alert when receiving mails from bidders:

-They target recently registered domains which are offered for sell without price on SEDO (or others).
-They don’t refer any domain appraisal site until they leave you on a dead end where you have to ask: “what do you propose?”
-They reply very fast.
-Email addresses are from free web email providers.
-Sometimes sentences don’t make sense. (I asked on the forums… we never talked about any forum)
-They use fake identities not easy to check and from very trusted old companies.

I just regret not having searched on namepros,com for “AllForDomains” before…


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From: ***
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 19:09
To: ***
Subject: Abuse Report
Importance: High

Dear Sirs,

This is just to inform you that your company name, and the name of your Vice President is being used in an internet fraud.
Please take actions accordingly and please keep the emails threads below confidential.

Thanks and Best Regards,
JA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ***
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 18:58
To: '[email protected]'
Subject:
Importance: High

Dear HotPop

The account [email protected] is being used for the AllForDomains fraud. (Google it)
Please take actions accordingly and keep the emails threads below confidential.

Thanks
JA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ***
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 18:53
To: 'McQueary'
Subject: RE:
Importance: High

Hello again:

So here it is:
1. HotPOP LLC (Phreaker.net owner) will be informed for immediate account cancellation.
2. This new AllForDomains.com scam will be posted all over the web (even more)
3. TLC Engineering will be informed of their name usage for scams and to take action against AllForDomains.com

And finally, I am very sorry for you, having to do this for a living.
JA

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From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 18:29
To: JA
Subject: Re:

I'm not a sales man. Sounds like abuse. I run a softawre company and earn enough money.
If you think I'm their sales man order appraisal at DomainMart.com or NetSol.com.
Or do you think i'm a salesman of each and every company in the world? If so I canot help you.

Good luck and thanks for abusing me.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:17 PM
Subject: RE:


Ok. I just need you to point me to the forum where you asked for appraisal services and your email address and phone number from tlc-engineers.com.

I am sorry to ask this, but I have no way to find out if you’re not only a salesman for allfordomains.com.

Thanks, JA.

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From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 18:11
To: JA
Subject: Re:

I heard many appraisal companies often overpriced domains. So I cannot
accept appraisal from each and every site.

To avoid mistakes I asked about reputable appraisers in the forum. Several
experts recommended me AllForDomains.com as a fast and accurate service.

They provide professional service very fast - within 24 hours. They work 24
hous * 7 days per week without holidays. It's important for me beacuse I
don't have a lot of time to wait for the results.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:05 PM
Subject: RE:

Hello again. Are you serious about this? I mean, how come you never heard about Moniker?
They are, with SEDO the top domain brokers. Check http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm
What do you propose? You are right. I am spending a lot of money on appraisals.

Regards,
JA

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 18:01
To: JA
Subject: Re:

You wasted your money.
I never heard about them.
Cheap service from unknown company is not ok with me.

I heard many appraisal companies often overpriced domains. So I cannot
accept appraisal from each and every site. I will only accept appraisals
from independent appraisal companies I know and trust.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 8:54 PM
Subject: RE:

I have ordered ImpressiveDomains.com AND moniker.com appraisal services. Ok, now?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 16:52
To: JA
Subject: Re:

Sedo is a good broker. Unfortunately , Sedo is not acceptable as an
appraiser because your names are listed with them and they are not
independent. They are interested in ovepricing in order to get a fat
commission. I need appraisals from a company which is not interested in
selling your domains.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 7:36 PM
Subject: RE:

Hello again.

I have ordered a Premium SEDO appraisal. Let’s see what they say about it.

Thanks, JA.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 12:00
To: JA
Subject: Re:

I don't want to risk and will not proceed without appraisal.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:57 AM
Subject: RE:

Hello Again

As I already told you, this is not my business, so I didn’t knew it was so worthless. Sorry for that.
I will ask the folks at sedo for a broker service or we can jump the appraisal phase as you send me your best proposal.
What do you think?

Best Regards,
JA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: segunda-feira, 26 de Setembro de 2005 6:43
To: JA
Subject: Re:

Everybody knows that SwiftAppraisal.com is a joke. Serious investors never
take into account free auto-generated appraisals. This site appraises even
bogus names at $50,000-$60,000. On the other hand, they may appraise premium
one word domain at $500-$1,000. Free appraisal is a waste of our time. I
will only accept appraisals from independent companies I know and trust.

Thank you for understanding. I'm looking forward to do business with you.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: 'McQueary'
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:20 AM
Subject: RE:

Hello Jeffrey,
Hope you had a nice weekend.
How about you making me an offer?
I have tried a very rudimentary domain appraisal with swiftappraisal.com and it gives me * ~ *.

Thanks a lot in advance for any reply.
JA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: McQueary [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: sexta-feira, 23 de Setembro de 2005 8:41
To: JA
Subject: Re:

I need to know the lowest price you can accept.
What is your price range: $10,000 or $20,000 or even higher?
Please send it to me via email as soon as possible.

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: JA
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 6:01 AM
Subject:

Hello Jeffrey,

Thanks for you kind mail.
As you probably guess, I registered the domain betting (...) would be a reality in a couple of years.
As the last news seems to suggest, that may very well be a reality and thus, the domain will be much more valuable on the future.
So, it might be too soon to sell it. However, I am open to proposals. Why don’t you tell what you have in mind?
To my surprise – I registered the domain only 2 days ago - I got another offer from *.

Best Regards,
JA

------------------------- Original Message --------------------------------
From: TLC Engineering [[email protected]]
Sent: quinta-feira, 22 de Setembro de 2005 14:37
To: JA
Subject: www.***.com (sent 09/22/05)

Hello,
I'm interested in your domain name listed for sale.
Can you drop me your desired price?
If I can afford it I'll reply.
By the way, did you receive offers from other buyers?

I run a software development company. Selling & buying names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.

Please keep our correspondence confidential.

Best regards,

Jeffrey A. McQueary , Ph. D.
Vice President
TLC Engineering
=========================================================
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=========================================================

 

[JAugusto]

Sorry, didn't notice this was were and started a new thread:

AllForDomains New Fraud

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=126687

 

[tipsfromthetop]

Yep i have had them a couple of times. Report the email address to the isp even it it is faked. They will investigate also the company that he is reported to be from, they will also track due to there potentially good name being used for slandar.

This point is extremely important......

If a customer is interested in a domain 9 times out of 10 they will get the appraisal done. Dont you do it.. why should you, you have the name and you must know its rough value before you even put it up for sale. Obviously if you have no clue then post here or have an appraisal for your own benefit not because the seller has asked you to do it.

If they can not afford to appraise it themselves they are either

a) a waste of time
b) cheap skates probably only offer 100$ if that
c) total scammer
d) they are not sure how to get one done or price.. in this case point them in the right direction and say you will continue the discussions after.

Also i am sure there is apost on this forum somewhere about this scammer.

 

[JAugusto]

Update: This is what makes a company trustworthy. I have explained to ImpressiveDomains what happened and they promptly reply me this:
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Jose,
Yes, we have seen this before. We will refund your money via Paypal.

Thank you and we hope you do choose ImpressiveDomains.com for any future needs you may have regarding domain name appraisals.

Best Regards,
Customer Care
ImpressiveDomains.com
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5 stars to ImpressiveDomains! These dudes understand that the domain trading business is a lot about build a trustworthy and honesty reputation.