Warning: The old 'certificate scam' is back in action!

[WebInceptions]

How this old scam works:

1) Seller gets an email from a "broker" claiming to have a high dollar buyer interested in your domain, and asks if it's still for sale.

2) You confirm that it is, of course.

3) "Broker" says seller requires a "certificate" that you must buy before the sale can proceed, and sends you a link to a FAKE "Google Answers" clone site with links to a bogus "certificate" selling site.

4) If you're gullible, you pay for the bogus certificate... and never hear from the "broker" again.

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Here is email #1:

-----Original Message-----
From: '[email protected]'
Subject: Is [domain] still for sale?

Hello!
I represent a buyer from Nagasaki who wants to buy [domain] for a
new web project.
Are you still interested in selling?
The buyer is a professional investor with a good budget.
I help VIP clients of our hosting company to buy names.
If you have more names please email me the list.
Best regards,
Satoko Takigawa
Vice President
GMO Cloud Hosting Japan
Tokyo
26-1 Sakuragaoka-cho Cerulean Tower
Japan
Phone: +81 6763415714

===============

Here is email #2:

-----Original Message-----
From: '[email protected]'
Subject: Is [domain] still for sale?

If you own .net and .org domains he will buy them to secure the brand.

Commission of our company is only 5%. It's paid by the buyer.

He will pay you via the Authorize Escrow service. They accept payment from his country and can pay you via wire, Paypal, check or any other method you prefer.

The buyer offers a price in $15,000 - $20,000 range.

Do you have a certificate? It's required by his bank.

The final sale price will depend on the certificate.

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

Please note he cannot accept it from any agency. He needs a manual service. It also must be a third party independent agency (not your broker our auction site) and must be accepted by his bank.

You can read about certification agencies at Google Answers: http://no_url_shorteners/y9v8qkzv (I've made a short form of the long Google Answers link in TinyURL. “Domain Broker” is my nickname).

If buyer does not place a bid they provide full money back guarantee. I take care about my clients and suggest them only risk free service with full money back guarantee.

The process is very easy:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. The service recommended at Google Answers is accepted by the buyer's bank. It guarantees us a smooth and fast transaction.

If your name is not a premium one and cannot be valued in $XX,XXX range ($10,000 - $99,999) they won't send you the payment instructions. It's free to submit your domains for a review. You pay only if they guarantee appraisal in $XX,XXX range and higher. Other services charge you upfront even if your domain is not worth spending the appraisal fee.

2. Send the certificate to me and we will start the sale process the same day. He will buy your domain for the appraised value stated in your certificate.

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

 

[BML]

Thank you for warning

 

[Kuffy]

I don't think these ever went away. I've replied to a couple by saying that if the client needs a bank loan to purchase the name, please could he send a letter from the bank guaranteeing that the loan is available. I've never had a reply to one of these emils, I can't imagine why.

 

[Rajnish Prasad]

I got the same email from the same ID as mentioned above 2 days back.

But refused to deal with it further.

 

[nithya78]

I remember seen such mails almost 10 years back . Like the Nigerian Scams which started in 70's, this will stay for long.

 

[Kate]

Indeed this scam has been around for a decade at least, but there will always be victims (inexperienced first-time registrants).

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

As far as scams ? The ones that scare me like these are those the send you legit looking emails that have legit looking urls from one of my registrar's.

My registrar's email is secureserver.com but I've gotten secure-server.com but luckyly they own that URL after I checked. But seriously how easy would that be to reg a similar registrar domain?

I've gotten emails with URL like LinkedIIn.com

Can you tell?

These bastards are tricky!

 

[Mister Funsky]

Oddly enough it is often the same clown or set of clowns doing this. Just tell them if they contact you again you will consider it harassment and take the proper legal action...that will usually stop them. They were using a goggle thread to show they were 'for real' so I sent copies of the emails to goggle and they pulled the thread (I am sure I wasn't the only one to do this...based on info above, they have started a new thread).

 

[WebInceptions]

I'm sorry I already told them to get lost, I should have toyed with them a bit.

I should have pretending to be falling for it, but I needed a photo from them to show they are legit -- like a photo of the broker holding a milk jug over his head, as people did with the Nigerian scammers. OR, tell the guy he needs to buy a "brokers licenses" to complete the transaction, and that license happens to cost more than the "domain certificate".

 

[DGMDomains]

Not again. These people need to get a life. jeezzz.

 

[Kuffy]

Never fear Reg Value is coming to rescue you. Just generate a free certificate of value, and send that to them.

Now I wonder if my programming skills are up to creating this site.