An important message from Snapnames

[Credit]

http://www.dnforum.com/f205/halvarez-actually-bids-2-thread-268993.html#post1810516

Originally Posted by Kjel
This comes up every once in a while where certain prodigious customers at SnapNames are accused of being actually SnapNames itself. This is not the case. SnapNames has not and will not ever participate in an auction it itself is running as an anonymous bidder. We have never done any shill bidding or granted any auction participant any sort of discount or rebate. The price displayed is the price paid, for everyone, Halvarez included. Please email me direct (kjel-at-snapnames.com) with any questions.

 

[Theo]

Do you really believe that a) Snapnames didn't know and b) he acted alone?

 

[Credit]

a) No
b) No

 

[ydnaemsti]

So there goes their cover. They knew. That email is a prove and I have the same email.
Focus, you're the only one thinking here, privacy breached.

I also speculate it was Oversee blowing up the story, as they had no cards to play.
They told SnapNames to refund 25m or blow up in order to protect Oversee.

I'm sure a lot of long days with attorneys back and forth went on at SN.

 

[DN BROKER]

http://www.dnforum.com/f205/halvarez-actually-bids-2-thread-268993.html#post1810516

Originally Posted by Kjel
This comes up every once in a while where certain prodigious customers at SnapNames are accused of being actually SnapNames itself. This is not the case. SnapNames has not and will not ever participate in an auction it itself is running as an anonymous bidder. We have never done any shill bidding or granted any auction participant any sort of discount or rebate. The price displayed is the price paid, for everyone, Halvarez included. Please email me direct (kjel-at-snapnames.com) with any questions.

the link is not working?

 

[Credit]

the link is not working?

Johnn merged the threads, so it's in this thread now

 

[Makis77]

the link is not working?

that topic got merged with the current one:
http://www.dnforum.com/f205/important-message-snapnames-17-thread-197282.html

 

[rentdn]

It is high times for NJ

----

Dear Valued NameJet Customer,

As you may have already heard, another company in our same line of business, SnapNames, was the victim of an internal security breach. We wanted to address any concerns you may have and assure you that at NameJet we have the necessary security protocols in place to prevent this kind of incident.

What Happened at SnapNames:

According to SnapNames, an employee set up an account on SnapNames under a false name. Under this account, the employee bid in SnapNames auctions. In many instances the bidding by this employee caused the ultimate auction winner to pay more for a name than had the employee not participated in the auction. In addition, on certain occasions, when the employee won an auction, the employee secretly arranged for a refund from SnapNames. This was in violation of SnapNames internal policy, and once discovered the company immediately closed the account in question and the employee was dismissed.

We commend SnapNames for taking quick and decisive action once it discovered its security breach.

NameJet has Strict Security to Prevent Anything Similar:

You should have full confidence nothing similar has occurred on NameJet. We have security procedures and policies in place that monitor all activities to ensure that “shill” bidding does not occur. Further, employees are strictly barred from bidding on auctions and NameJet has both internal and external monitoring to ensure all security procedures are enforced. These procedures were developed and are maintained by two of the world’s largest and most trusted registrars.

Thank you for your business and for your ongoing trust in NameJet.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Steve Brown
General Manager
NameJet.com

 

[Beachie]

My question is what will happen to all the domains he won where I was the second highest bidder? The domain should have been mine, earning me money for the last 4 years.

 

[mattbodis]

Wait, hold on - Chris is right. Privacy breach. That's going to be lawsuit #2.

 

[ohkus]

While there may be some blame for snapnames aren't you all glad that they actually showed usernames instead of places like tdnam where you may never be able to figure out if someone is shill bidding against you?

 

[Theo]

My question is what will happen to all the domains he won where I was the second highest bidder? The domain should have been mine, earning me money for the last 4 years.

Snapnames and Oversee have a lot to lose if there is no transparency over this.

 

[bmugford]

I am not sure how Snap recovers from this. Their credibility will always be in question from now on, and their reputation forever tarnished.

Brad

 

[Misak]

Hmm, I was wondering where Halvarez disspeared in the last few days I also dont believe this was the only account used for such a thing. Any of you guys have tips on other suspicious accounts like that?

 

[Crown]

While there may be some blame for snapnames aren't you all glad that they actually showed usernames instead of places like tdnam where you may never be able to figure out if someone is shill bidding against you?

TDNAM got caught before and I believe their argument is employees are allowed to bid on auctions. So if it isnt against their TOS... too bad.

I'd looove some TDNAM refunds. I was burned there for sure and reported problems before he got caught and requested refunds after but they didnt do a single thing. My guess is they are STILL shill bidding and they dont even think what they are doing is wrong. Thats how messed up it is over there. Its 10X worse than Snapnames and they aren't even worried about it. They'll probably place a shill bid after reading one of these posts just for kicks.

 

[Theo]

As long as Brad Nelson was a VP he probably had limitless resources to create accounts, falsify reports and divert funds.

I hope he gets prison for this. A settlement alone would not suffice.

 

[ydnaemsti]

Who posted that email from Snap Names?
Please PM me. I have something similar. Both things put together will abolish their defense.

I dont want to kick SN while they are down, but I need justice at this point.

 

[Beachie]

Snapnames and Oversee have a lot to lose if there is no transparency over this.

Yep, it's more complicated than just a rogue employee bidding on domains. He used to spend a fortune - where was all the money coming from, and if he was just refunding it how could they not notice?

Another important question maybe some people can answer here - when you beat halvarez in an auction, was it because you put in a proxy bid early? Specifically, was halvarez looking at proxy bids in the system, and placing a bid just short of your proxy in order to drive up the final prices? If so, what does that say about SnapNames in general, not just Nelson Brady?

Any high-end names you can think of that halvarez won? Way back in the beginning of this thread I mentioned he owned Today.com, but I can't remember where I got that info (it's with Domain Capital now).

 

[Theo]

Yep, it's more complicated than just a rogue employee bidding on domains. He used to spend a fortune - where was all the money coming from, and if he was just refunding it how could they not notice?

Another important question maybe some people can answer here - when you beat halvarez in an auction, was it because you put in a proxy bid early? Specifically, was halvarez looking at proxy bids in the system, and placing a bid just short of your proxy in order to drive up the final prices? If so, what does that say about SnapNames in general, not just Nelson Brady?

Exactly. That's money laundering the IRS and the FBI would love to take a look into. The more we collaborate on this, the dirtier it looks. Whoever called him "Bernie Madoff of domaining" was probably right.

 

[Bill Roy]

I have just posted this thread over at NaPr, hope that Adam and the mods do not object to me posting the same here. A new member named 'Oversee Rob has started posting on that forum and is coming out with the rubbish one might expect. My reply post is as follows.

"Question for 'Oversee Rob' - Have law enforcement agencies such as the police or FBI been informed of the fraud?

If 'yes' then what agency and what are their contact details so as those affected can contact them.

If 'NO' then why not?

This whole thing stinks of the worst kind of PR cover up going! I suggest that all posters check out all domaining forums for there are things being noticed on one forum and not on another.

May I humbly suggest that this issue is so large that the owners of the different domaining forums allow cross posting from one forum to another on this specific issue. We should be able to openly point from one forum to another now. This is fraud on a massive scale against domainers as a body."

The forums, their respective owners, and all their members should at this point unite openly for that will create the strongest body to act in this case.