I fell for the latest domain sale scam

[braven]

Recently I received what appeared to be an offer to buy FlirtFashions.com contingent upon an appraisal for which they recommended Macez.com & Sedo.com.

I stupidly took it seriously. Of course there is no true offer. Right after that I received an email from Sedo.com warning about the scam and saying that it was apparently a campaign to sell appraisals at Macez.com.

Probably no one here is silly enough to fall for this stuff but, when you are anxious to sell a domain, you are sometimes vulnerable to believing the unbelieveable.

 

[Theo]

So you paid for an appraisal?

 

[braven]

So you paid for an appraisal?

I see you are incredulous. But, yes, I did.

 

[south]

I see you are incredulous. But, yes, I did.

Keep an eye on the credit card / paypal account you used.

Edit: I see they only take paypal. You should be safe enough..

Think they back up their guarantee?

“If you aren’t able to sell your domain for the appraised price within 6 months we will either refund your money, or buy the domain ourselves!”*

:uhoh:

 

[David G]

Recently I received what appeared to be an offer to buy FlirtFashions.com contingent upon an appraisal for which they recommended Macez.com & Sedo.com.

I stupidly took it seriously. Of course there is no true offer. Right after that I received an email from Sedo.com warning about the scam and saying that it was apparently a campaign to sell appraisals at Macez.com.

Probably no one here is silly enough to fall for this stuff but, when you are anxious to sell a domain, you are sometimes vulnerable to believing the unbelieveable.

Since they are priced under Sedo.com is it any wonder they will get the appraisal order, especially with the 6-mo money back guaranty if you don' sell it .....hmmm p.s. the sites PayPal order link no longer works?

 

[south]

hmmm p.s. the sites PayPal order link no longer works?

Just noticed that too.

PayPal cannot process this transaction because of a problem with the seller's website. Please contact the seller directly to resolve this problem.

 

[Theo]

I see you are incredulous. But, yes, I did.

No, if I had added an extra questionmark I'd be incredulous
Often, people fall for social engineering or elaborate scams and aren't aware of the "latest and greatest". I hope your loss was small and although I doubt you'd be able to recover it, notify others and Paypal about the scam you sustained.

 

[braven]

Actually I didn't get the appraisal at Macez.com, I'd never heard of them and their web site pops a warning on my ForceField browser alert. I have my domains listed at Sedo so I got it done there.

Odd, but it feels better just having admitted my stupidity.. and I thought I'd feel worse!

Thanks, all.

 

[Theo]

So you had your appraisal done at Sedo?

 

[David G]

So you had your appraisal done at Sedo?

Interesting how it was a scam appraisal site but they ended up giving sedo the income and made nothing on it themselves

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Id ask for a refund.

 

[Theo]

Dave, indeed. But see where it goes to? The person who contacted Braven never intended to buy the domain. They base the success of their scam on the fact that they ask for less money to "appraise" a domain than Sedo. Typically, a person who has no idea about it and are eager to sell a domain with a promise of $x,xxx or whatever, would go for the cheapest option.

 

[BiggieBiggie is verified member.]

Dave, indeed. But see where it goes to? The person who contacted Braven never intended to buy the domain. They base the success of their scam on the fact that they ask for less money to "appraise" a domain than Sedo. Typically, a person who has no idea about it and are eager to sell a domain with a promise of $x,xxx or whatever, would go for the cheapest option.

since sedo is now giving free appraisals for your domain, why is the scam still successful?

 

[thevirtual]

I just received some emails offering to buy my domains for 60% of appraisal value or something and they give links to 3 appraisal companies. However these idiots make all 3 links point to 1 website, which they probably own. lol

 

[stewie]

just delete those appraisal offers , hope you get a refund.

you can always get an appraisal done here on dnf...but make sure you fasten your seat belt and you are ready for the truth. LOL


stewie :yo:

 

[Nomzo]

Add the scammer's email and name to your post. It may prevent others from being scammed in future if they do a search.

 

[Theo]

since sedo is now giving free appraisals for your domain, why is the scam still successful?

They offer a free automated tool, not a manual appraisal. Also if the appraisal exceeds a certain amount, they point you to their paid appraisals

 

[Gerry]

I was getting these emails with great frequency for a time. It seems one scammer spawned another.

Yes, there would be some that would fall for it.

The play of one site against sedo was obviously a ploy to get someone to pay for an appraisal and typically it would be priced lower than sedo.

Apparently these scams were so impressive in scope to other scammers that the copy cats started piling up and coming in droves! One I got even used sedo and one of its competitors (scam site) as comparison. Of course, the source of the email was always the lowest price.

 

[David G]

since sedo is now giving free appraisals for your domain, why is the scam still successful?

When I went to Sedo I only see 2 options, regular and premium appraisals for $29 or $49. Did not see a free one?

http://sedo.com/appraisal.php3?templateid=188&tracked=&partnerid=&language=us

 

[Donalsky]

I was getting these emails with great frequency for a time. It seems one scammer spawned another.

Yes, there would be some that would fall for it.

The play of one site against sedo was obviously a ploy to get someone to pay for an appraisal and typically it would be priced lower than sedo.

Apparently these scams were so impressive in scope to other scammers that the copy cats started piling up and coming in droves! One I got even used sedo and one of its competitors (scam site) as comparison. Of course, the source of the email was always the lowest price.

Login into your account the go to domain management. Mark the domain you want to be appraised. Select "...Get free price suggestions" and then click "execute"

p/s: You need to have verified account with Sedo for this.