A domain name appraisal scam — Anatomy of
[Update March 23, 2009: a similar scam has surfaced.]
One of the oldest and most popular scams against domain name owners is the domain appraisal scam. It works like this: someone emails you interested in buying a domain. When you reply, they require an appraisal to verify the value. The scammer either owns the domain appraisal firm you are referred to, or is a paid affiliate.
I recently received an offer to buy a domain, and knew it was a scam from the beginning. But I decided to play along. Here’s the thread, and the tipoffs that it was a scam.
E-mail 1: Scammer
Dear Sirs, Does anybody really use the term “sirs” anymore?
I’m writing regrading your domain listed for sale.
Have you received bids from other buyers?
Could you be so kind to drop me your asking price. This is somewhat fishy, since it’s listed for sale on the site with a “make offer” value. But alone this wouldn’t be a red flag.
I run a software development firm. Selling & buying names is not my main business. Just another way to invest free money and make some income. Hmmm…that’s a lot of detail to try to act innocent regarding domain names. This clearly is a time consuming venture for the “buyer”, since he/she has to find domains for sale on Sedo and then look it up in WhoIs to email the buyer. Why not just make an offer through Sedo in a few seconds?
Kindest regards,
Ph. D. President Rather formal title, don’t you think?
When I searched for the firm name, I didn’t find it. Since the person claims to own a software firm, you’d think they at least had a web site. Furthermore, the “from” address was from a free email service, not a firm domain.
Email 2: Me
Please make offer through Sedo.com
Email 3: Scammer
This email had a different “from: name” than than the original.
I need to know your asking price first. Please send it to me via email. This could be legit, as the buyer could want to find out if my asking price is lower than what they want to offer.
How do you prefer to get paid: www.PayPal.com, www.escrow.com, check or
wire? Here, the scammer is trying to prove he/she is ready to make the purchase.
Looking forward to your reply.
Email 4: Me
$250, PayPal is fine.
Email 5: Scammer
250. Ok.
Do you sell a developed site or just domain name? If you don’t have a site
it’s not a problem. I’m mostly interested in domain names without content. You’ve gone through a lot of effort to buy this domain, but you haven’t even looked at the domain to see if there’s a developed site??
Do you have an appraisal of your domain? I need an appraisal certificate for
domain priced in your range. Domain name is an investment for me. 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 notable for you and me to know the
current market value of your domain. Ah, the appraisal request. An appraisal for a $250 domain? Most people don’t get appraisals on domains worth $thousands. It’s also a bit hokey here…why explain why you are buying the domain?
Please note that I don’t trust free or cheap appraisals. So I cannot accept
appraisal from each and every site. Since he won’t make money if I get the appraisal through someone else 🙂
To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts regarding reputable appraisal firms
in an Internet law forum:
First, this isn’t a law forum. Second, the discussion is obviously built up to make this buyer look like he means business. In one of the posts, he tells “another person” that he went ahead and blindly sent $4,100 to his PayPal account for some domains. Of course, the thread suggests one domain appraisal service in particular. Also, the URL display is different from the actual URL you are sent to if you click on it. I don’t know any forum that let’s you enter HTML to go to a page other than the typed URL.
Juck check this posting.
Following 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? Again, showing his eagerness to make the deal.
Looking forward to your reply.
Email 6: Me
I decide to turn it around on the scammer.
Sure. You can go ahead and pay for an appraisal and I’ll subtract it
from the purchase price.
End of Messages
Do you think I ever got a reply from Email 6? Yeah, right 🙂
