Just noticed on sedo'.com's 'Recent Sales' column raven.com for $3,500.

If that's correct, someone got a huge steal!! OVT/w ext. 2,314.

Interesting that in their FAQ dated May 18 2007 (the latest Alexa archived date) there's a question and answer (probably been there for years) from the then domain owner, RAVEN Computer Systems, Inc. of Minneapolis:
___________________________________________

Is the RAVEN domain for sale?
No, this domain is not for sale. Sorry. (However, a serious offer for a very, very large amount of money could interest us. :-)
Seriously, if we do ever decide to put it up for sale, we will let you all know.
___________________________________________

http://web.archive.org/web/200705170...n.com/faq.html

http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.raven.com

The expiration date (24 August) shows it can't have been a recent domain drop, catch and flip:

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: RAVEN.COM
Created on: 25-Aug-92
Expires on: 24-Aug-11
Last Updated on: 12-Jul-07

There been a few suspect whois changes in the last month or so, I'd bet it is stolen.

Agree snoopy, it does look very suspect. The person who apparently has recently purchased the name from sedo makes it look even more questionable by hiding behind godaddy's proxy whois...

Originally posted by fizz
Agree snoopy, it does look very suspect. The person who apparently has recently purchased the name from sedo makes it look even more questionable by hiding behind godaddy's proxy whois...

Is GoDaddy's proxy service now free or the default? Seems like most of the domains I look up there these days are using the privacy service. So I'm wondering how active / passive registrants are regarding this setting.

ILI last time I looked the proxy whois was an added cost...and I can't see Bob doing something to lose revenue by making it free.

Maybe move this over to the warning forum.

The old phone number from the whois looks to be no longer connected.

Originally posted by subg
Maybe move this over to the warning forum.

Yes, I will eventually.

I like to keep for here for a while as I'd like to hear Sedo's response on it.

Hello all,

I fully understand your suspicions and I checked with our transfer team to get their take on this. They're the gatekeepers for all the deals facilitated through Sedo. In the past they've canceled sales where the seller couldn't demonstrate ownership or where there was an outstanding complaint lodged by a previous owner At the time of sale the seller was able to demonstrate to our satisfaction that he was the owner of the name.

Since there was nothing to prove that he obtained the name unjustly and the previous owners made no complaint to the contrary the sale went through without issue.

Jay
jay@sedo.com

Originally posted by Sedo
At the time of sale the seller was able to demonstrate to our satisfaction that he was the owner of the name.

Hello Jay,

Thanks for your post,

What kind of checks does Sedo do to verify that a seller is the legitimate owner? How did the seller demonstrate that he was the owner of raven.com.

Hi Snoopy,

First and foremost we look at the whois info before a seller lists a domain. Anyone who's listed a domain with us has probably experienced our complaint or new entry check where someone at Sedo had to manually approve the listing before it gets added.

When the domain is sold and reaches the transfer stage the transfer agent handling the escrow always checks the whois again; to see if there's an issue with its reg and expiration date, which registrar has the name, etc.. In cases where the owner has conflicting information or looks suspicious, we don't proceed with the transfer, until the owner proves that they control it and obtained it fairly. We will sometimes request removal of a privacy service so we can look at the whois or a purchase and sales agreement proving ownership when needed.

In the case of raven.com the whois info was transparent and none of the previous owners contacted us complaining that the domain was hijacked. Many domains are listed and sold through Sedo after being picked up by the seller in a private deal so there was nothing so there was nothing out of the ordinary in the eyes of our transfer team.

Jay
jay@sedo.com

Originally posted by Sedo
Hi Snoopy,

First and foremost we look at the whois info before a seller lists a domain. Anyone who's listed a domain with us has probably experienced our complaint or new entry check where someone at Sedo had to manually approve the listing before it gets added.

When the domain is sold and reaches the transfer stage the transfer agent handling the escrow always checks the whois again; to see if there's an issue with its reg and expiration date, which registrar has the name, etc.. In cases where the owner has conflicting information or looks suspicious, we don't proceed with the transfer, until the owner proves that they control it and obtained it fairly. We will sometimes request removal of a privacy service so we can look at the whois or a purchase and sales agreement proving ownership when needed.

In the case of raven.com the whois info was transparent and none of the previous owners contacted us complaining that the domain was hijacked. Many domains are listed and sold through Sedo after being picked up by the seller in a private deal so there was nothing so there was nothing out of the ordinary in the eyes of our transfer team.

Jay
jay@sedo.com

Jay, reading that it sounds like you checks resolve around making sure the person selling it has control of the domain rather than checking that the seller owns it legitimately.

The whois on the domain at time of sale was obviously false,

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-07-11
Registrar: INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D/B/A DIRECTNIC.COM

Registrant:

Raven
One Wilshire Blvd
Los angeles, CA 90010
US
3109009783

Colton, Mark ravenheadinc@gmail.com
One Wilshire Blvd
Los angeles, CA 90010
US
3109009783

Here is all the whois changes over the last month or so from domaintools.com,

///////////////////////////

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-06-01
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.

Registrant:
RAVEN Computer Systems
PO Box 44309
Minneapolis, MN 55344
US

Domain Name: RAVEN.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Teske, Don dwt@RAVEN.COM
RAVEN Computer Systems, Inc.
PO Box 44309
Minneapolis, MN 55344
US
(612) 906-9976 fax: (612) 906-9977

////////////////////

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-06-10
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.

Registrant:
RAVEN Computer Systems
PO Box 44309
Minneapolis, MN 55344
US

Domain Name: RAVEN.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Gostowski, Kushaiah don_teske@yahoo.com
Raven Computer Systems Inc
PO Box 44309
Minneapolis, MN 55344
US
(612) 906-9976

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-06-13
Registrar: INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D/B/A DIRECTNIC.COM

Registrant:
Raven
123 Main St
Fresno, CA 94205
US
4152273833

Domain Name: RAVEN.COM

Administrative Contact:
Gostowski, Kushaiah don_teske@yahoo.com
123 Main St
Fresno, CA 94205
US
4152273833

/////////////////////////////////

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-06-23
Registrar: INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D/B/A DIRECTNIC.COM

Registrant:
Raven
One Wilshire Blvd
Los angeles, CA 90010
US
3109009783

Domain Name: RAVEN.COM

Administrative Contact:
Colton, Mark ravenheadinc@gmail.com
One Wilshire Blvd
Los angeles, CA 90010
US
3109009783

Technical Contact:
Colton, Mark ravenheadinc@gmail.com
One Wilshire Blvd
Los angeles, CA 90010
US
3109009783

////////////////////////

Domain: raven.com
Cache Date: 2007-07-12
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: RAVEN.COM
Created on: 25-Aug-92
Expires on: 24-Aug-11
Last Updated on: 12-Jul-07

Administrative Contact:
Private, Registration RAVEN.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

That's a clever switch from the admin contact e-mail from the original dwt@RAVEN.COM to an easily acquired free yahoo addy don_teske@yahoo.com, to give some semblance of legitimacy.