I got a scam offer! - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 11:14 AM

Woo hoo! I feel like a real old hand now. I just got one of those spam letters offering to buy one of my domains but asking me to have it evaluated first, for which he provided me with a link.

But the bad syntax alone was a warning. If those phishers and scammers ever get a mastery of the English language it will be more difficult to spot them.

**biggedon** · 03-19-2008, 11:26 AM

congrats!

**Onward** · 03-19-2008, 11:26 AM

Where did the link send you?

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 11:29 AM

Please check this posting from archive:
http://**********.007sites.com/Archive/280105.htm

I didn't check it, but after what I've read here on the forum I've no doubt it will send me somewhere useful to the 'purchaser.'

**gingeman** · 03-19-2008, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggedon

congrats!

**jasdon11** · 03-19-2008, 12:48 PM

I don't know how this scammer knows - but the only people to get these approaches seem to be newbies. I got a few early on, but none for a couple of years plus. How do the scammers know?

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 12:50 PM

This is even more mysterious when you consider that the name has been registered for years, although I've only just parked it. Viewers can't see my lousy keywords, can they? If so, they'd know I really am a newbie. :(

**pcproffenno** · 03-19-2008, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasdon11

I don't know how this scammer knows - but the only people to get these approaches seem to be newbies. I got a few early on, but none for a couple of years plus. How do the scammers know?

I'm sure they keep watching the forums and hit those who has recently joined, with few posts etc.

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 12:56 PM

So how do they link newbies on the forum up with their names that they haven't advertised?

**Devil Dog** · 03-19-2008, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAllie

So how do they link newbies on the forum up with their names that they haven't advertised?

Another good question that I've been pondering these last couple of years.

**pcproffenno** · 03-19-2008, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAllie

So how do they link newbies on the forum up with their names that they haven't advertised?

True .. I have no idea really.. They can use domaintools to get a overview of what domains you own though.

**Devil Dog** · 03-19-2008, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcproffenno

True .. I have no idea really.. They can use domaintools to get a overview of what domains you own though.

Come to think of it, I think what they do is browse the forums, see someone new to domaining, view one of their domains for sale. They then go to domaintools with a paid account and view all other just registered names and go from there.

**gingeman** · 03-19-2008, 01:07 PM

Or they can check the whois on new registrations on domaintools and if somebody only owns a handful they get the lucky email?

**jasdon11** · 03-19-2008, 01:15 PM

Whatever they do, some peole must fall for it otherwise they'd have packed it in by now. Scum.

**Vinternatt** · 03-19-2008, 02:12 PM

When I got this mail first, couple of years ago, I was very excited. But then I searched the forums and learned that, this is a scam. Also couple of months later my friend came to me and told that someone is interested with his domain, he showed me the mail and I told him to whole story. This moron was going to scam me and my friend but thanks to those webmaster forums and Google, he couldn't. I suggest you to answer his mails like you are going to appraise it and waste his time. That's all we can do, fool that moron scammer.

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 02:47 PM

Now here's something puzzles me.

I had checked out the name of the company writing to me yesterday, and it was a business consulting service.

Today I checked out the address at which they receive emails, and it purports to be a site that warns against scams and so on.

So is the second site a genuine one, from which the other is operating, or are both in on the act? If anyone wants the names by PM I will be glad to oblige.

**KMEDIA** · 03-19-2008, 03:22 PM

I bet the email looked like this one:

"Hello,

I'm surfing sites with domain names every week to find the best offers. In my eyes, your relax.net has potential. It's a premium domain name. What is your price?

Software is our main business. So reselling gives us only an additional income opportunity.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,
Darren Marinovich
Vice President
PHR Group"

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 05:38 PM

Yes, very like it:

Hello,
We are interested in XXXXXXXXXXXX.com
I'm regularly visiting domain auctions to find the best offers on the market. By my opinion, your domain name is worth buying. What is your price?
Domain reselling is not our main business. But since domain market is very hot now, buying and selling domain names is a good income opportunity. We have a large database of clients who are interested in Inernet projects.
Looking forward to do business with you.
Regards,
Anthony Reinold
Vice President
PHS Consulting

**HarveyJ** · 03-19-2008, 07:02 PM

Hey guys, I'm going to be dead honest with you, so please reserve your judgements, or even personal opinions of what I do, until you read my entire post.

Whilst I do a spot of domaining around niche pop-cultural markets, I also work for an affiliate marketing group, so I also track down a lot of you domainers. A lot of the methods used by these scammers are the same methods I use. The difference being that I'm not going to rip you off, as it's not in my best interest.
My business model works on me making money from you making money... symbiotic.
That being said, I got this particular job because I'm good at data forensics, and tracking people down, even if they register through proxies like Moniker.

So, the tracking methods:
Mallie and gingeman are close.
One method IS to go to these forums, see who's new, but it's rare that they would use this method. It's time intensive, it takes a very patient mind, and someone that's able to draw links between something as subtle as a forum signature and a site. So the scammers that don't have the best English (read: smarts) don't do it that much.

Tracking Method #2: Reverse registrar lookup. Both Domaining & Scamming can be VERY profitable, so if you've got the money, and the payoff is good enough, you can actually buy lists of WhoIs info from DomainTools.
It's not a random list either. You can lookup a single email address or person's name, and get a list of up to 30,000 domains that they own, provided you can pay for it (about $10,000US for the full 30,000 domains)

Tracking Method #3: Suckers Lists (← I don't, and never will, work with these)
Believe it or not, these scammers generally know each other, and will swap databases.
These databases have as much info as they have gathered on you, including personal notes, and what you have, or have not, fallen for in the past.
Most importantly, they have a record of when you FIRST BOUGHT INTO THE DOMAIN MARKET. That's how they manage to target n00bs.
If they see a new name/email address that doesn't have a whole heap of domains registered to it, they know you're new to the game. If you've been around the track a few times, they'll generally ignore you.
The most insidious thing about the suckers lists is that once you've been suckered, they'll generally tell each other that you're ripe for it, because if people fall for it once, they'll usually fall for it 2-3 more times before catching on.

**MAllie** · 03-19-2008, 07:40 PM

That's an interesting post, HarveyJ. But, you know, I bought my first domain name in 2000, and this letter is the first of its kind I've had sent to me. I'm kind of thinking that the forum and/or Sedo is the hunting ground.