alert The fund can't be withdrawal from Epik.com via Masterbucks wallet

[enamebroker]

It happened on 23rd Aug 2022 and this matter lasted almost one month without any process. Masterbucks.com declined my fund withdrawal and disabled the button of fund withdrawal. And I contacted Epik.com and got no further action even if Rob Monster got involved in it for two weeks. All the time I was told in email by management review.

What is wrong with Epik.com? Do you think it is normal to disable fund withdrawal? How can I get back my fund from Epik.com? Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

Guess what everyone! It is a great day! I got paid in full minutes ago for my $91000 escrow transaction for Candida.com. It has been a long journey to say the least. I want to deeply thank every single person that reached out to me and supported me during this incredibly difficult period in my life.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

I haven't received a penny from Epik yet. Brian Royce was supposed to make best efforts to pay me the $91000 they owe me for Candida.com by tomorrow, January 31. I went to the local FBI field office today to meet with an FBI agent. They actually met with me in person. Agent came down to the lobby to get me, gun on his hip, took me up to the 5th floor offices. I had to go through a metal detector before we could meet and share all of the documentation that I have with Brian Royce and Epik.

 

[jberryhill]

This is not the place.

You, Derek, are the one who keeps bringing up the subject of the January 6 assault on the US Capitol and expressing your sympathies with the attackers. You seem to believe it is relevant to the discussion.

You keep asking people to send you private information. You have lied about the reasons why you want that information by, for example, falsely claiming you were in contact with attorneys who would help the people you urge to send you that information.

You do not identify for whom you are working, and it is clear from your prior references to militia, etc., that you are in touch with violent criminals, quite a few of whom have been convicted or pled guilty to violent behavior. Despite the obvious fact that these criminals have been convicted of violent crimes which they indeed did commit, you seem to believe that the only problem was that they got caught.

So, yes, when someone who is in obvious contact with violent criminals does not identify why they want to obtain private information from people, then the place where they are doing so is certainly the place to point out, and to warn anyone that you have not been honest about your claim to have some role in a future legal action of any kind, and that you have not been open about why you seem to want everyone to send you their personal information.

You have put on quite the act and delivered nothing, while attacking anyone who has the slightest concern about whatever it is you and your violent criminal pals are up to.

I would suggest that folks judge a tree by its fruit. I have a two-decade long record of helping domain registrants, including many on this forum. I am also responsible for the recent fine levied against Epik and Monster, so you can't pull this "why are you supporting Rob" crap on me either.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

Brian or Epik should not be treating @Kathleen Kalaf this way.

Without confirmation, it looks like her story may involve a fully developed 7-letter .com with a 1996 WHOIS year, that was transferred to Epik in 2015.

As an epik customer, those epik escrow slogans such as “A domain escrow service that doesn't hold the domain is like a bank without a vault.” make a domain owner feel more secure about using an escrow service offered by their long time registrar.

Epiks TrustPilot reponding to her in the way the did, how dare them! Does Brian/Epik figure since this epik escrow transaction happened shortly after Masterbucks LLC was filed, that he/epik can get away with this?

I owned Candida.com. I bought it in 2010 from Candida Corporation and tried to develop the site to help others. I only owned the one domain. Rob Monster actually tried to help me develop the site back then. But it did not work out and I have been trying to sell it ever since. I went flat broke in 2010 after being sick with Candida, which I why I acquired the domain. I was going to try to help others, and Rob respected that and helped me. Said he really cared about the cause as his wife is a naturopath. I just cannot believe that 12 years later it is tied up in this mess. I needed the funds so that I could retire. I have finally stopped sobbing but I am still just sick over this.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

I filed a complaint with the Washington AG on Friday and they told me that they will contact Epik within 7-10 days to try to get me paid. I thought I had filed with them in early December, but somehow the complaint ended up with the State of Washington Department of Financial Institutions, and they were not helpful. So, I am posting this to just let people know that if you have not filed with the Washington AG, you can file here on this specific page. Make sure you add attachments and all details of your situation.

It has been 6 months since I sold Candida.com, to the day. I sold it for $100,000, and should have had $91000 in my bank account on September 28th.

https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ComplaintForm.aspx

 

[D Haynes]

I still can't believe this isn't bigger news than it is. I mean plain as day illegal and fraudulent activities and business is happening right out in the open with hardly any real attempt to hide it and by one of the (previously) most popular regustrars in the industy. Are any other industry news outlets talking about this aside from DNW's half call out?

 

[MayChen.com]

I wonder if @Tony Blessed is getting bonuses for closing these transactions knowing sellers won't be paid out in the reasonably expected time? Given the situation, the compensation of epik's escrow manager (if it's performance based) Tony and his salary could become investigative points of interest at some point.



That's hard to say with any certainty. Especially for remote workers. Take FTX for example, I don't think every FTX employee who was uprooting and moving their families/buying property in the Bahama's knew how bad FTX's balance sheet was.

From my understanding, May is a respected domain broker who previously worked with Frank Schilling at Uniregistry. @Robbie blogged about her closing two 7-figure sales in January 2022 while at Epik:

https://robbiesblog.com/may-chen-of-epik-notes-second-7-figure-sale-of-2022/9972

Remote workers, especially brokers, are likely not privvy to masterbucks balance sheets. Further, by representing epik for large sales, she probably put her reputation on the line trying to bring epik to other markets (possibly the Chinese market?) and/or to her other existing established brokerage reach.

I actually think she's very brave, and I respect her courage to speak out now. Hoping to hear/learn more. Thank you @MayChen.com !!

I indeed does not know what was really going on when I separated with Epik in the end of August this year. Back in August I did not agree with Brian Royce when he was trying to talk me into a position change proposal (Pay cut). And I have been working 24/7 for Epik since 2020, even when I was in labor for my second son, I was responding to customer's messages and emails on the hospital bed. So at that point, I felt very disappointed with Epik. And told Brian that I do not agree, and whatever decision he wants to make, please follow the employment agreement. However, he did not.

I helped every clients professionally and sincerely through out my domain career. I have always make sure all my clients get their proceeds on time, I actually remind them to make withdraws right after the transactions. For me only when buyer receive their domain, and seller received their fund in their hands are considered deal close. Up until today, I still do not know what is really going on with Epik, but as a customer, I reported my experience and I hope via the proper channel, issues can be resolved or at least get a proper reply from them. But so far, no reply from Brian or Lars.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

So, my challenge continues with Brian Royce at Epik, with trying to get paid for my sale of Candida.com which occurred on September 27th, 2022. I sold the domain for $100,000, and was told I would pay Epik a 9% commission, and funds were supposed to be a direct deposit to my bank account. I have still not received a penny. (I owned the domain for personal reasons, as I suffered from the condition for nearly 8 years, and went flat broke due to medical bills. I bought it to help others with the condition. Selling this domain was my one hope for financial recovery so that I could retire one day).

I am attaching the letter that Brian Royce sent to me on December 5th, 2022, after I spent over 2 months chasing him and others at Epik to get my funds. After I posted my youtube video on December 3, 2022 (

), Brian sent me the letter below. He also sent me numerous texts in December, leading me to believe I may be paid by the end of December. It didn't happen. Over the past 2 weeks, he has led me to believe he will get me paid, and last week asked me if I would settle for $50K, or take a payment plan. I declined on settling. I am not interested in settling for $50K. The estibot value on the domain is $173K and I sold it for $100K. He then said that he would wire funds to me me $50K by Friday 1-20-23, or today, Monday, 1-23-23, and pay the balance to me by the end of February 2023.

I sent the below letter to him this morning, as I am skeptical that I am going to get paid this week, and I am preparing for next steps. My attorney had advised me to give them until the end of January to make payment, so I gave them this time, only to be disappointed over and over again, misled, lied to, and stalled. I am not a domain broker nor am I in the domain business. I was just a regular customer who owned one good domain, and this is how Brian Royce at Epik is treating me.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

I shared your video on Twitter. I really hate to see people taken advantage of like this.

Brad

Thank you Brad. I don't know what else to do. I am not a domain person. I only owned one domain and I have been trying to sell it for 12 years. I needed it for retirement, as I am 60 years old. I went broke from being sick about 10 year ago and these were funds that were desperately needed.

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

Brian Royce indicated that I misunderstood something and that he had not tried to make me an offer to take a $50K settlement of the $91K that Epik owes me for the sale of Candida.com on September 27th. So I am sharing the texts of our discussion. After he sent the text with the offer to settle for $50K or take a payment plan, I texted Rob. I was afraid to take a payment plan because I was afraid they would go bankrupt. So I felt pressured to settle. Rob told me that he was sure that Brian would present some options. And then I got the follow up text later on saying they would pay me $50K by end of Jan and $41K by the end of Feb. I have not received any money from Epik.

 

[Gabriele]

Hello there,

Epik still owe me $121k, which is part of a sale through their escrow service early last year. Initially, I only withdrew a small portion of the sale proceeds, with the intention of withdrawing everything during the year. Unfortunately, every attempt was blocked in September following Brian Royce's appointment as CEO.

Since then, my funds have been moved between their companies at their discretion. Initially, they were transferred from Masterbucks to In-Store Credits, effectively preventing me from making any withdrawals. Then, a couple of months ago, the funds were moved from In-Store Credits back to Masterbucks, seemingly to shift the debt from the new Epik entity to the old one.

Despite my numerous emails, Brian Royce only deigned to reply to me on May 1, 2023, offering to pay me 5% of the debt (approximately $6,000) while keeping the remaining 95%.

As Fantozzi would say: "how human, you!"

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Updated on Jun 14, 2023, 2:16 pm CDT:

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/epik-clients-sale-masterbucks-rob-monster/

... A thread on NamePros started in September, called “The fund can’t be [withdrawn] from Epik.com via Masterbucks wallet,” now extends over 300 pages and thousands of comments, many of them complaints about Epik converting their money into Masterbucks and clients being unable to withdraw the funds. People have continued commenting on this thread until the present day. Trustpilot reviews of Masterbucks complain about Epik, and vice versa.

After news of the sale broke, a Twitter user posted a screenshot showing that they have over $60,000 in Masterbucks and demanded to know when they could withdraw the money.

Epik, under its original Twitter account, replied coolly. “We are Epik LLC. Domains Management. We have nothing to do with the alternative ecosystem alternative Masterbucks stuff.”...

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

Did Epik really pay $100,000 from Kathleen Kalaf to Masterbucks?
Has Epik paid the Masterbucks money before? I doubt. Most likely, all the money was kept in Epik's bank accounts, and Masterbucks is an Excel spreadsheet for counting Epik's money and debts. This is also confirmed by the fact that, as they wrote here, the bank payment came from Epik, and not from Masterbucks.

Igor, see my video.

 

[bmugford]

Look at @Tony Blessed playing dumb about this.

There is a $70K transaction above that specifically lists him as the escrow manager.

Trying to play semantics like he has nothing to do with Masterbucks.

He is enabling escrow transactions that are leaving sellers with a Masterbucks balance that can't be withdrawn.

What a joke.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1599365619606228993

Brad

 

[jberryhill]

Epik playing the victim, saying it is "defamatory"

It is clear they do not understand the definition of that word.

Among other things, a defamatory statement must be false, and the falsity of that statement must demonstrably damage the reputation of the party in question in some quantifiable way.

There are a number of problems with trying to make out a defamation claim in any of this. For example, if I say "Rob Monster used Epik to steal money from its customers under the fraudulent claim that it was engaged in escrow services, and Rob Monster kicked my dog", then there are a couple of things going on in that statement.

Principally, it is shocking and damaging to their reputation that Rob and Epik are crooks. But that's not defamation. It is admitted by these crooks that the "escrow" was a sham and that customer "escrow" funds were commingled and treated as company funds. That's not even debatable at this point. They simply ran off with other people's money under false pretenses. Now, by "damaging to their reputation" we mean that it has harmed them in some palpable way, such as having lost business. Again, Rob is demonstrably a crook, and Brian is demonstrably a liar. Those statements are true and, quite frankly, nobody should do business with any one of them - but that's certainly not a consequence of any false statements. It is a consequence of the truth.

Now, the part about "Rob Monster kicked my dog" is not true. And, while it might make someone think less of Rob, it has no bearing at all on whether or not people should do business with him. The basic problem here is that at some point, someone has trashed their own reputation by their own actions to the point that they become what is known as "defamation proof". Whatever incremental damage one might claim arises from saying "Rob Monster kicked my dog", it is nothing next to the crazy shenanigans in which Rob and Epik have demonstrably engaged and for which their reputation rightfully belongs in the trash.

 

[yaojiewen]

Over the last couple decades I have been a part of dozens of ops, maybe a hundred or more, taking down and putting away, in one way or another, very bad people. You can always feel when the end is coming, the momentum picks up and the wave builds and once that happens there is no stopping it. Now all that remains is making as big a dent in these evil and greedy actors as possible.

If anyone else like Gabriele is out there please post your story.

i have 62284usd still can't get cashout .
new ceo give me 5% or no payment at all = choosen .

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Earn my trust? Your actions were criminal and for some life changing and your hoping for a second chance
You leaked my personal info.
When Rob Monster and his blow up doll boyfriend Brian Royce are in prison I will forgive, but you will never get my business whoever you really are. Epik is to registrars what helmuts forum is to domain forums

 

[jberryhill]

On the subject of ICANN, I would suggest two things. First, I would avoid advice from persons who cannot spell "ICANN". Second, I haven't seen anything in all of this which implicates anything within ICANN's limited concerns about compliance with the registrar accreditation agreement.

Delaying a registration is not an ICANN issue - there is no timeline in which a registrar is required to register a domain name for you and, there is no affirmative obligation to register an unregistered domain name for you on any particular timescale you desire.

ICANN does not regulate, and has no authority over, general commercial dealings with registrants. ICANN has no involvement in domain aftermarket activities or whatever other services a registrar offers.

Again, the agency which has the most direct jurisdiction over the commercial and financial activities of companies in Washington is the State of Washington Attorney General.

You might also productively complaint to the Washington Department of Financial Institutions:

https://dfi.wa.gov/file-complaint

You will notice they have links to file complaints about:

Escrow Agent or Officer Complaint

Money Transmitter or Currency Exchanger Complaint

If your problem is directly related to the escrow service, file an Escrow complaint. Additionally, the "Money Transmitter" form allows you to specify whether your complaint relates to a virtual currency - i.e. Masterbucks.

Again, the more reports they receive from different people about substantial amounts, then the more likely they are to spot the pattern and notice that one company seems to be generating a lot of problems. And, no, they do not say "Oh, this company is just ripping off foreigners, that's legal here."

 

[NicTraders]

Today is a good day. I have finally extracted all of my domains from Epik. Yes, it cost many thousands in transfer fees (and some hours of work), but they are safely out of Epik’s clutches. Now my only exposure to them is around $200 in account credit which I may find a way to use at some point, but even if I don’t it’s a relief to no longer have any assets tied up with them.

I continue to encourage anyone with any domains @ E to transfer them while you still can.

 

[jberryhill]

This lady was an Epik employee for quite some time before she left or was fired. She probably had some idea of what was going on at Epik but chose to remain quiet after she left.

She's calling them out on twitter now that she's become a victim.

I've known and worked with Ms. May Chen for quite a number of years when I was counsel to Uniregistry, prior to Frank breaking it up and selling the parts. In Ms. Chen's focus as a domain broker, she is unlikely to have known about the company's financial issues. As noted above, she was let go along with others when Mr. Royce was brought. If she had been aware of Epik's financial condition, his proposal to cut her pay would probably not have been a surprise to her.

What would you recommend a person outside the US should do? Would the authorities help us get our money back as well?

Yes.

Reviews on Trustpilot are not going to do anything.

Sending your story to a stranger on an internet message forum is not going to do anything either, and may have some negative consequences. I've written elsewhere on this forum about the potential problems of communicating with someone who is not your lawyer about a legal problem.

However, the relevant law enforcement authorities in the State of Washington are not going to take the approach of "Oh, it's okay if a business in Washington is ripping off people in another country." Unlike Trustpilot, which is in the business of whitewashing reviews apparently, if the Attorney General's office receives multiple complaints about the same business stealing substantial amounts of money from people then that may be signal to them that they should look into what is going on.

Epik already has an enforcement file with the banking regulators in Washington, along with the insurance regulators (for having previously offered DNProtect "domain insurance" without an insurance license, the website for which has now been interestingly altered). There are persons in these law enforcement agencies who already know that Epik has been repeatedly running questionable businesses relating to financial services. And now, here we are, right at the exact sort of unauthorized, uninsured banking business ripping people off which the regulations are intended to attempt to avoid.

Yes, law enforcement agencies are usually interested to know that there is an ongoing criminal enterprise operating in their jurisdiction, regardless of where the victims might be.

 

[uaonline]

for any other victims trying to track down lost domains: gofile.io/d/Tn5oPx

epik-domains-pushed.txt: list all domains pushed by admin or system from october 2011 to march 2021. forgot to dedupe, but its 27.786 unique domains.

epik-domains-pushed-log.csv: log of all admin push action, with activity log of "delete@ epik.com", "2delete@ epik.com","intrust-delete@ epik.com"

care was taken to redact or mask customer infos. the delete accounts are not as lucky.

CSV fields
time: time action
user_id: user id number of account, redacted customer id numbers
message: describe of action
user_login: login username, or when domains are pushed, they appear as the domain names
admin_initiator: account doing the push
account_email: email address of current domain owner
details: some more details to the action or redact if customer info is there
masked_ip: ip address doing the action
city: city of ip if found, at time of action
region: region of ip if found, at time of action
country: country of ip if found, at time of action

more detail can be provided if a victim contacts with domain names

 

[bmugford]

You know, I don't normally like to disclose DM either, however in this case it is relevant.
Also, "Epik Domains" proactively contacted me.

There is one part they specifically asked me not to repeat, and I will honor that.
It was a reasonable request, that has nothing to do with protecting Epik.

That means the rest should be fair game.

I redacted one of my domains they referred to. As far as I know, it was my only other transaction with Epik and was not publicly known.

My response -

There was some more back and forth, with a lot of Rob being the "victim".

 

[Kathleen Kalaf]

Here is my reply from yesterday.

 

[branding]

What is this?
Show attachment 241662

Thanks for sharing @Samer. I just filed 6 complaints with ICANN.