Legal consultant advice about domain transaction -Please help stop these scammers

[petrosc]

Hi,
I was recently a victim of an appraisal scam , as you can see in the following thread. http://www.dnforum.com/f202/fell-half-way-appraisal-scam-thread-133331.html

In a joke-email I sent the scammer, I told him that I will sell the name to him for 1$ ans split the escrow fees.

He replied that what I said is binding according to his lawyer and internatina laws and I am now obliged to sell it to him for 1$. I find his remarks stupid, as I made an offer to a person which does not actually exist, he used fake name and company.

Anyway, he has sent me 6 emails since annoying me with this matter, that he will sue me and get the domain if I don give it to him. I am pretty much sure that he has no case but I would like to hear a legal expert's opinion on this.

Is what I said about giving the name for 1$ binding? Is there a law that forces me to give out the name? And more importantly, if yes, does it matter that the person to whom I supposedly made an offer was not using his real identity?

Please give me an answer because he is really annoying. I reported him to FBI for the scam, told him, and he still wont give up.

 

[DNGeeks]

You can refuse a sale at any time. Add his emails to a spam filter and be done with him.

I however would start the escrow transaction, and as part of the requirements of sale make him produce documentation that he has had the domain appraised by the queen of england and the shaw of Iran. Appraisals must be stamped with their respective seals and be produced within 24 hours. Documentation is also required on proof of name, address tel # etc for domain transfer. We all know that whois is not allowed to be faked. I'd love to know who this person "really" is.

Yes you agreed to the sale (it wouldn't hold up) but you also never specified any conditions, nor did he ask if there were any. Make up any other conditions you feel like, transfer fees, cost of time involved setting up spam filters, cost of the soap needed to wash your hands of his stink... stuff like that.

You may be worried, but I'd have a grand old time toying with this ass.

More fun stuff!

Validation results
error: Recipient rejected
canonical address: <[email protected]>

ohhhhh invalid whois information.. time for a complaint! The phone number works, however it doesn't say a company name so that couldn't be verified.

From the dotster Registration Agreement section 2.3.2 (https://secure.registerapi.com/order/register/agreement.php)

Your willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information, your willful failure promptly to update information provided to us, or any failure to respond for over five calendar days to our inquiries addressed to the e-mail address of the administrative, billing or technical contact then appearing in the Whois directory with respect to an domain concerning the accuracy of contact details associated with any registration(s) or the registration of any domain(s) registered by or through you or your account, shall constitute a breach of this Agreement.

Go get im!

btw you can contact dotster at https://secure.registerapi.com/help/csupport.php?siteid=4798

 

[fundraiser]

I'm not a lawyer so this is not legal advice and could in fact be rather poor advice. However, as long as you did not specify what escrow service would be used, I think it would take care of the problem.

Tell him you will use a local lawyer in the Czech Republic for the escrow arrangement. You only accept gold bullion as payment and the lawyer insists it must be delivered in person for security reasons. He will have to personally sign the contract for the sale of the domain, which also must take place in the lawyer's office. The lawyer only accepts payment in diamonds for the cost of escrow services. When that is completed, you will of course transfer the domain.

 

[petrosc]

Can I just say thet I made simultaneous offer to someone else and that I sold it to him? Then change whois info to that persons?

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

The above advice is great as a joke, but legally I wouldnt act on accepting a $1 offer at all. JMO

 

[petrosc]

The above advice is great as a joke, but legally I wouldnt act on accepting a $1 offer at all. JMO

I dont understant whay you mean....

You can refuse a sale at any time. Add his emails to a spam filter and be done with him.

I however would start the escrow transaction, and as part of the requirements of sale make him produce documentation that he has had the domain appraised by the queen of england and the shaw of Iran. Appraisals must be stamped with their respective seals and be produced within 24 hours. Documentation is also required on proof of name, address tel # etc for domain transfer. We all know that whois is not allowed to be faked. I'd love to know who this person "really" is.

Yes you agreed to the sale (it wouldn't hold up) but you also never specified any conditions, nor did he ask if there were any. Make up any other conditions you feel like, transfer fees, cost of time involved setting up spam filters, cost of the soap needed to wash your hands of his stink... stuff like that.

You may be worried, but I'd have a grand old time toying with this ass.

More fun stuff!

Validation results
error: Recipient rejected
canonical address: <[email protected]>

ohhhhh invalid whois information.. time for a complaint! The phone number works, however it doesn't say a company name so that couldn't be verified.

From the dotster Registration Agreement section 2.3.2 (https://secure.registerapi.com/order/register/agreement.php)

Your willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information, your willful failure promptly to update information provided to us, or any failure to respond for over five calendar days to our inquiries addressed to the e-mail address of the administrative, billing or technical contact then appearing in the Whois directory with respect to an domain concerning the accuracy of contact details associated with any registration(s) or the registration of any domain(s) registered by or through you or your account, shall constitute a breach of this Agreement.

Go get im!

btw you can contact dotster at https://secure.registerapi.com/help/csupport.php?siteid=4798

You said that I can ask for transfer fees, is this legally valid, can I ask for $x,xxx extra as transfer fees? If it is valid then its solved. I will ask for a huge sum which he wont be able to pay, and if he will then that will be even better.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Let see if I get this right...

Was there an offer? Yes, to sell the domain
Was there consideration? Yes, $1.00
Was there acceptance? Yes

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that is a legal binding contract. In your reference, you say it is a joke, but I did not see any joking going on. Just because you say so does not mean the other party sees it that way.

Before anyone says that there were no signed documents or any other conditions, there does not need to be. Email has been upheld as a valid for of communications where contracts may initiated and accepted, in this case, it did happen.

As far as fake name, it did not seem to bother you when you made the offer, and a human replied to it. So the bottom line is you have a contact..... However, there are always exceptions....

There are reasons why you never joke about business, and this is one of them. I read your email to the other party, there was no joking going on on your part.

Allfordomains is a well known scammer and they have many aliases. All they do is sell appraisals and never contact you again after you do them.

 

[DNGeeks]

No matter what, your email to him solves all your issues just as another user pointed out.

I have decided to sell you my domain for $0,99. I suggest that we use escrow for such a transaction. Tell me when you would like to start the transfer process.

For escrow you only trust your lawyer, bank, whatever in your town and to use those services the buyer must be present to sign the contract. It's as simple as that.

 

[petrosc]

Let see if I get this right...

Was there an offer? Yes, to sell the domain
Was there consideration? Yes, $1.00
Was there acceptance? Yes

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that is a legal binding contract. In your reference, you say it is a joke, but I did not see any joking going on. Just because you say so does not mean the other party sees it that way.

Before anyone says that there were no signed documents or any other conditions, there does not need to be. Email has been upheld as a valid for of communications where contracts may initiated and accepted, in this case, it did happen.

As far as fake name, it did not seem to bother you when you made the offer, and a human replied to it. So the bottom line is you have a contact..... However, there are always exceptions....

There are reasons why you never joke about business, and this is one of them. I read your email to the other party, there was no joking going on on your part.

Allfordomains is a well known scammer and they have many aliases. All they do is sell appraisals and never contact you again after you do them.

Thank you for the reply. I understand the situation, but is there a way out of it?

Ok I understand that it is serious and I know that i made a serious mistake. You know I wasnt serious, every rational person understands that. You wouldnt want the scammers to win this case would you?

So please if someone knows a way for me to get out of this situation, please let me know. Even if it involves me agreeing to the sale but setting irrational transaction conditions which he will not be able to follow, like some members have sugegsted.
Can anyone give expert advice on how to keep my domain?
Thank you