Two more scam sites added to domain name appraisal scam.

The long-running domain name appraisal scam has moved to two additional web sites: max-appraisal.com and topnameappraisals.com. Both of these sites are scams; do not purchase domain appraisals from them. The full text of the latest scam email is below:

from Domain Trade domain .trd@gmail.com
date Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 10:37 AM
subject HEATINGPAD.BIZ

Dear Sir,

we have an interest to purchase your domain HEATINGPAD.BIZ and usually offer between 50% and 65% of the appraised value.
We accept appraisals from companies such as

http://www.se do.com/

http://max-appraisal.com/

http://topnameappraisals.com/

If you already have an appraisal please forward it to us.

Please let us know whether you are interested. Upon review of your valuation and in case of an agreement we send payments via PayPal for amounts less than $2,000 and via Escrow.com for amounts above $2,000, as well as further instructions on how to complete the transfer of the domain name.

Thank you,

Domain Trade LLC

Note that Sedo and Escrow.com are not affiliated with the scam.

Domain name appraisal scam moves to a new domain name.

I’m getting tired of writing these articles. But every time I do, a number of people searching for this stumble upon it, so I figure it saves some people from falling for the scam.

The latest incarnation of the domain name appraisal has moved to a new domain name – Fleos.com.

A scammer sends and email to you offering to buy your domain name for a percentage of the appraisal price. He explains that they accept appraisals from Sedo (a well known and reputable appraisal provider) and a no-name service (in this case Fleos.com). The no-name service costs less, so people that receive the email buy an appraisal from it. The no-name service is actually owned of the scammer, who has no intention of buying your domain name.

Previous web sites used in the scam include Pozde.com, NameOrange.com, TropicalNames.com, and FlyAppraisals.com.

A copy of the scam e-mail is below:

from Kevin Hill 2kevinhill@gmail.com
subject Offer for CARGRANTS.COM

We are interested to buy your domain name CARGRANTS.COM and offer to buy it from you for 80% 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 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,

Kevin Hill

Warning: do not buy domain appraisals at NameOrange.com.

A new domain appraisal scam that surfaced a few months ago has migrated to a new web site, NameOrange.com.

The scammers send an e-mail to domain name owners offering to buy their domain for a certain percentage of the appraisal price. The e-mail requires an appraisal from one of three domain name appraisal services, including one owned by the scammer. The scammer’s appraisal service has the lowest price, so many people are duped into buying an appraisal from the service. However, the scammer does not end up purchasing the domain names.

The scam originally sent people to Pozde.com, and later changed to TropicalNames.com.

Here is the full text of an email I received this morning:

subject: Offer to buy your domain name: DOMAIN.COM – domain name resellers

Dear Sir or Madam,

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:

se do.com
nameorange.com
accuratedomains.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,

Charles Johnson

The latest twist on an old scam.

Over the weekend I received three identical e-mails that show the domain name appraisal scam is alive and well.

Here’s one of the emails:

Dear sir,

we are interested to buy your domain name.COM and offer 65% of the appraised market value.

As of now we accept appraisals from one of these leading companies:

sed o.com
pozde.com
accuratedomains.com

Should you already have an appraisal please forward it to us.

We appreciate your business,

Sincerely,

R. Thomas
DNR, Inc.

The previous incarnation of this scam sent you to a forum that discussed the best place to get a domain appraisal. This version takes a different angle, displaying the popular Sedo site first to make you think it is legit. Another variation of the email mentions Sedo and Moniker. The goal appears to be for you to order an appraisal through Pozde.com, since it offers the lowest price domain appraisal service of the three.

Most people would love to sell their domains for 65% of the typical domain appraisal price, which is why this email will hook many people.

When you get an email like this, just hit the “Report Spam” button in your email system.

Old domain appraisal scam resurfaces.

An old scam in the domain name world appears to be resurfacing.

The domain name appraisal scam 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 company you are referred to, or is a paid affiliate.

I wrote about this scam in June of 2005. Many people fell victim to the scam, but I hadn’t heard many complaints about it in a while. But over the past two weeks the old article has received six new comments from people who have received the appraisal scam email.

The latest batch of scam emails are signed “Andreas Winski” or “Ronald Winski” and use various company names, including TNG Technologies and PHR Systems. Here are a couple example emails:

Hello,

I’m checking sites with domains for sale from time to time. By my opinion, (mydomain).com can generate income. What is your price?

We are working on software market. Reselling gives us a good income opportunity but it does not have relation to our main business.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
Ronald Winski
Vice President
PHR Systems

Hello,

Please reply me with your asking price for #####.net. I’m browsing periodically domain auctions and your domain has good potential (in my humble opinion).

We are working on software market. Reselling gives us a new income opportunity.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
Andreas Winski
Vice President
TNG Technologies

If you get one of these e-mails, just ignore it. Or have some fun with the scammer — egg them on a little bit. This will take up some of their time, which will reduce the number of scams they can pull off.