The Incredible Mutating Domain Appraisal Scam
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Scam must be working as it keeps moving to new domain names.
First Pozde.com. Then TropicalNames.com. Then NameOrange. Now the latest domain name appraisal scam has moved to FlyAppraisals.com. It’s all the same scam and the same scammers.
You get an email offering to buy your domain name for some percentage of the appraisal price:
We are interested to buy your domain name DOMAIN.COM and offer to buy it from you for 65% of the appraised market value. As of now we accept appraisals from either one of the following leading appraisal companies:
The email lists three appraisal companies, two of which are legit and one is the scammer’s. The scammer’s appraisal service is the cheapest, so many people opt for it.
The previous three scam appraisal services looked like they were created by a 5 year old. But the latest at FlyAppraisals.com goes upscale, with fancy animated graphics and some groovy music. The site even includes a guarantee that if you aren’t able to sell your domain for the appraised price within 6 months you’ll get your money back or they’ll buy the domain. The site uses PayPal for payments, and you can’t dispute PayPal transactions for “services”. Even if you pay with a credit card you typically can’t dispute it 6 months later. The web site refers to some “Terms & Conditions” that may apply, including “Our offer to buy your domain name might or might not be for the full appraised value” and that you have to make efforts to sell your domain name.
Kind of reminds me of another company with “Fly” in the name that you should have stayed away from.
Related posts:
- Domain Name Appraisal Scam Now at NameOrange.com
- Domain Appraisal Scam is Reborn
- Domain Appraisal Scam Migrates to TropicalNames.com
Tags: scam appraisal services
Looks like a $69 TemplateMonster template.
Dub-A, I think by now we domainers all know about this same scheme. It might not be working with the majority of us because they keep changing their name.
It’s great that you point this scam out, and us domain bloggers should all do this, but this seems like something that would have a better reach on a more powerful domainer blog new site, like El-Silver’s!! lol
J/K, broey. This is a definitive warning to ALL DOMAINERS that anyone who wants you to do an appraisal first on the promise of a domain purchase is a SCAM.
Now, I’m off to read about how much richer the “King” has become from the sale of Candy.com, one of the best domains I’ve ever seen. In the words of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show: “DAMN YOU, RICK SCHWARTZ!!!”
The guy is a mensch, and he’s one of the best, dammit. Now if he could only look upon us low-lives as being worthy.
IT IS a ripped TemplateMonster template. It was released recently by a very well known warez site!
They have changed again.
I recently received an appraisal scam offering two services. One an established online appraisal service. The other…
flyrating.com
Do NOT trust these people. flyrating.com is little more than a portal to enter your credit card information. And being they are based in Malaysia there is little chance of getting your money back.
The first clue in my case was that the e-mail came from anthonyphillips6@gmail.com
[...] Domain Name Wire » News » The Incredible Mutating Domain Appraisal. [...]
Yeah I got flyrating.com too!
[...] Previous web sites used in the scam include Pozde.com, NameOrange.com, TropicalNames.com, and FlyAppraisals.com. [...]
Just got this one today! Hope this helps warn unsuspecting domainers everywhere. See below.
Subject: Offer for your domain ………
We are interested to buy your domain name …………… and offer to buy it from you for 75% of the appraised market value.
As of now we accept appraisals from either one of the following leading appraisal companies:
fleos.com
sedo.com
If you already have an appraisal please forward it to us.
As soon as we have received your appraisal we will send you our payment (we use paypal for amounts less than $2,000 and escrow.com for amounts above $2,000) as well as further instructions on how to complete the transfer of the domain name.
We appreciate your business,
Yours truly,
Steven Harris (SCAMMER)
Just yesterday (9 August) I received an email with exactly the same wording as in your previous posts, with the exception that it purported to come from “B. Phillips – Resale Domain” (resaledomain@gmail.com) and the appraisal companies listed were:
sedo.com
pddomains.com
accuratedomains.com
Two of these are legit. pddomains.com, which offers appraisals for $22.95, was itself only registered on 6 August 2009, and the contact details are hidden behind a whois privacy service based in Malaysia.
I guess it must be working for this guy, because he keeps on going. I wonder if a complaint to PayPal would do any good?
Been dealing with a well thought out scam all day. He has been emailing me back and forth. Basically same story. He offered me $12,000 USD then says “nobody works without an appraisal it keeps us both safe”. Same forum that is bogus. Got my hopes up for nothing! haha
Moral of the story (if somebody wants you to pay money so you can sell them something its probably a scam)
*sample email
Hello,
We are interested in the domain in the subject line of this letter. What
are your expectations in us dollars or euros?
We are in real estate but invest in web project too. We have a solid
investing budget and our company is very interested in Internet names and
web sites.
If you have other domains for sale feel free to send your list.
Looking forward to do business with you.
Regards,
Anthony Bradley
Vice President
Real Invest LLC
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:
http://webdiscuss.007sites.com/Archive-07-2009/8152719.htm
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.
It’s a standard practice to show independent valuation to buyers/resellers.
Nobody will do business without it. I’m a businessman and have no intention
of changing rules which help both parties to avoid additional risks.
Of course, investors never take into account auto-generated valuations. So
manual valuation is a “must” too.
I read the following information about appraisals at:
http://webdiscuss.007sites.com/Archive-07-2009/8152719.htm
Thank you for understanding. I’m looking forward to do business with you.
posts #11, 12, 13 are all sample scam emails recieved today from
Anthony Bradley [realinvestllc@hotmail.com]
… got the same type of email today from some “Vasquez” from a “Bridge Technology” company whom can’t even bother to set their own domain name up… Using hotmail for serious business, not since pre-’95, thank you very much! =P
Just stay away from these morons…
HTH