Domain Appraisal Scam!!

[gdubz]

I got an email from a guy today saying that he was interested in buying a domain, but that he needed an appraisal and directed me to a thread, which basically said That Alldomains.com was the only reasonable place to get appraisals (here is the thread http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/40156.htm)
He said he wouldnt buy the name unless I got an appraisal. The funny thing is , that about a month earlier I got almost the exact same email from "TRC Consulting" about another domain which basically said exactly the same thing.
I looked up domain appraisal scam on google, and I think this has happened alot. I just found another thread on webhostingtalk.com where another person got exacly the same email and was directed to the same thread at http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/40156.htm
This is definately a scam. Both of the emails I got came from someone at the email phreaker.net
Watch out for this!!

Here's the first email:
Hello,

I'm interested in your domain name listed for sale.

Can you drop me your desired price?

If I can afford it I'll reply.

By the way, did you receive offers from other buyers?

I run a software development company. Selling & buying names is not my
main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional
income.

Please keep our correspondence confidential.

Best regards,

Anthony Calagna, Ph.D.
President
TRC Consulting
------------------------------------
2nd Email:

850 USD. Ok.

Do you sell a developed site or domain only? I prefer domain names but
may
consider web sites too.

How do you prefer to get paid: www.PayPal.com, www.escrow.com, check or
wire?

Do you have an independent valuation from third party experts
(appraisal)? I
need an appraisal certificate for domain priced in your range. I
consider
your name as an investment. In other words 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.

But I heard some appraisal companies often made inaccurate appraisals.
So
appraisal from each and every site is not acceptable. I will only
accept
appraisals from independent appraisal companies I know and trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal
companies
in a forum
http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/40156.htm

Juck check this posting. After I verify an appraisal from you we'll
continue
our negotiations.

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.


Here's the guys email address:
[email protected]

 

[dotcomgiant]

pretty known story, just names and other details have changed.. Check out the ":Scam Alerts," section here for its other variants.

 

[Sarcle]

:cheeky: I can't tell you what I reply back to these people.

Actually the phone number is on the whois for ourplace.com I suggest you post it on a phreaker network or something. :cheeky:

 

[gdubz]

thank god I know better than to get an appraisal, those things are totally worthless

 

[furca]

I've gotten this before

 

[DomainLord]

I've gotten this before

I wish this would have been posted a few days ago... I fell victim to this. I got the exact same email in the exact same format. He told me that any of the appraisal services in one of the threads would do. So i decided to go with afternic. When i forwarded him the appriasals in process he then said that he would not and his clients would not accept afternic. And said they would take the allfordomains one. Then he tried to get me to get another one and I told him he was crazy. If anyone wants to file a case with this I have emails from the same person... this is definately a scam and needs to be stopped.... someone like me being new to domain names has now learned a lesson.

 

[gdubz]

I still cant figure out how this guy makes money off of this. Unless he owns or works for allfordomains.com
Here's the whois:
SForces
3041 S. 6th Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
US
I dont really know what to do with it though

 

[DomainLord]

I still cant figure out how this guy makes money off of this. Unless he owns or works for allfordomains.com
Here's the whois:
SForces
3041 S. 6th Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
US
I dont really know what to do with it though

Well I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think he has to work there because he owns it I would assume. I contacted my bank and gave them the story they told me just print out the emails and give them to them and they would refund my money.. we just need to stop this before it gets out of control. How do i know this person it tied in with this company ?? Check out my supporting email evidence:

From: "DN Trader" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: [email protected]
Subject: Appraisal Order ( Domain Services)
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:38:32 +0400


Hello,

To provide a better delivery we resend our confirmation via HotMail.


Our charge will appear on your bill as "EMetrix"

Or company is a division of SoftForces.com
(Please note EMetrix is only our transaction partner and they are not
involved in our business activities).

If you have any billing or service questions feel free to contact us at
[email protected] or by phone/fax 509-271-0875. We provide fast
support
via email.

Domains Appraised: 2

Manual Domain & Web Site Appraisal Service : $35.00 ea.
Order Total: $70.00

Appraisal Links

MusicElf.com - $9,250
http://www.AllForDomains.com/appraisal.asp?Domain=MusicElf.com

MusicElf.net - $4,600
http://www.AllForDomains.com/appraisal.asp?Domain=MusicElf.net



We invite you to auction your domains with us at
http://www.AllForDomains.com/sell.htm

Unlike free listing services that simply list your domains, we
regularly
promote domain names via our potential buyer database (over 12,000
potential
buyers).

1. Our listing preiod is not limited. We sell all names until they are
sold.

2. There is NO a commission upon sale.

3. There is NO a listing period. We list all names until they are sold.
All
bids will be resent to your e-mail address along with a buyer's contact
information.

4. Free and fast domain transfer and escrow for our customers.

5. One time small listing fee.


If you list your domains with us it does not prohibit you from listing
it
elsewhere. We do not require exclusive representation.

We also provide discounts on bulk listings.

More information at
http://www.AllForDomains.com/sell.htm

You can send your ad to 12,000 potential domain buyers at
http://www.AllForDomains.com/email.htm

Sincerely,

Andrew Gordon

Customer Support

http://www.SoftForces.com

 

[gdubz]

I came across a thread at namepros. It seems like this is kind of old news.
http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=77782&highlight=allfordomains.com

Some people that got scammed even contacted the FBI about them a while back, and found them out to be russian scammers. But I guess they could really do anything about it, because they were in russia

 

[Biggie]

well, we can go to their address and see if they live/work there!

people always forget the key component of a scam.

they must get you, to do something, before it works!

in this case......a potential domain sale.

 

[gdubz]

I emailed allfordomains and told them i thought they were involved in the scam and got this response back:

Dear Garrett,

We are fighting with scam for several months.

Looks like our company (SForces) became a victim of a charge back fraud
scam.

Please read the following thread
http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=88864

Someone (using different addresses and names) contact sellers and ask
them
to order appraisals at Afternic, Sedo or our site. Then this person
posts
about it in forums and make serious damage to our business reputation.

At this time our security department is trying to find the real
location of
the scammer. We already contacted his ISP and email service provider.
Probably, there is a well organized group of scammers. Anyway, they
will be
caught sooner or later.

Of course, our company is not involved in any fraud. If you suspect
that
someone is not a genuine buyer just ask him/her to order appraisal
services
himself/herself. Both seller and buyer can order this service without
limitation. This easy step will help you to avoid possible scam.

Thanks for the information. We'll continue our investigation.

Sincerely,

Thomas Cooper

Site Manager

Their excuse that someone is just trying to make them, sedo, and afternic go out of business is totally rediculous. there is no way a person would be this persistent and send out so many emails to people, just because they don't believe in appraisals.
Also i tried to get him to use sedo and he refused and insisted I use allfordomains.com

This guy needs to be stopped, and i really have no idea what to do
Where can allfordomains be reported to? beside the betterbusiness beureu

The more i think about it, the more this is pissing me off. Im almost mad enough where I might get off my lazy ass and think about doing something about it

another thing thats strange is that the guy that wrote me back in the email from alldomains, wrote his email in the same kind of broken english that the original scammer wrote me in
hmmm.....