Appraisal Scam

[wadodger]

Changed identity again, it appears, unless this has already been discussed on another thread.

You know, maybe if he/she/it changed the blaring boilerplate - "Buying and selling domain names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income" - it'd be more difficult to spot this clown.

Hello,

Did you get offers from other people already?

What is your price for the domain mentioned in the subject line?

I'm very interested in this name.

I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases in MS SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Thomas Blindheim Ph.D.
CEO
Opera Engineering

[clipper]

Also goes by "Dr. Hansen."

This appears to be an automated thing:

Date: Saturday, April 8, 2006 11:15 AM
From: DST Solutions Norway <hansen@disponent.com> Add to Addresses
To: **** Add to Addresses
Subject: ***.org (sent 04-08-06)
Size: 2 KB


Hello,

Did you get offers from other people already?

What is your price for the domain mentioned in the subject line?

I'm very interested in this name.

I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases in MS
SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main business. Just
another way to invest money and make additional income.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Paul Hansen Ph.D.
CEO
DST Solutions Norway


> Hello Paul,
>
> Thank you for expressing interest in the domain name ***.org. I am
willing to consider offers for the name, but as it is a recent acquisition I
haven't yet determined its potential.
>
> No other offers have been received.
>
> Regards,
> CLIPPER




How about 4,000 USD? Ok?

Do you have an appraisal certificate?

Domain name is an investment for me. In other words I'm going to sell your
name later and make a profit. If I overpay I won't be able to make a profit
in the future. It's very important for you and me to know the current market
value of your domain.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging a reputable appraisal
company. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate appraisals.
I will only accept appraisals from independent sources I trust.

If the appraisal comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly.
I also hope you can give me 10% - 15% discount of the appraised value
because I need a room to make profit.

After I get an appraisal from you we'll continue our negotiations.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies
in a forum
http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/69047.htm

How do you prefer to get paid: www.PayPal.com, www.escrow.com, check or
wire?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.


Looking forward to your reply.
----- Original Message -----
From: <****>
To: "DST Solutions Norway" <hansen@disponent.com>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: ***.org (sent 04-08-06)

[InfoGuy]

This guy must have really low self esteem to constantly use phony names with Ph.D. and Dr.

[wadodger]

Not to mention the brain power it takes to send a solicitation on a name in which the sales listing hadn't received any views yet.

Which, in all seriousness, makes me question exactly how easily they can get this information as I've only listed a couple names in one location. (rhymes with heedo).

[218]

Indeed I only ever get these for names recently added to sedo.

[clipper]

To the Kids at DomainState:

Thanks for this thread/forum. As soon as I got that email I knew where to go.

[ultra]

I received this sequence of emails from the scammer:

Immediately below is his reply to my "make an offer" request following his initial domain inquiry shown further below.


From: "Hansen" <hansen@disponent.com>
To: xxxx
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: undisclosed_domain.com (sent 04/10/06)

How about 5,000 USD? Ok?

Did you use escrow.com before? I think this is the safest place for
domain/money transfer.

Do you have an appraisal certificate?

Domain name is an investment for me. In other words I'm going to sell your
name later and make a profit. If I overpay I won't be able to make a profit
in the future. It's very important for you and me to know the current market
value of your domain.

Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging a reputable appraisal
company. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate appraisals.
I will only accept appraisals from independent sources I know and trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies
in a forum
http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/Archive/69047.htm

Juck check this posting.

If the appraisal comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly.
I also hope you can give me 10% - 15% discount of the appraised value.

After I get an appraisal from you we'll continue our negotiations.

How do you prefer to get paid: www.escrow.com, www.PayPal.com check or
wire?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.


----- Original Message -----
From: xxxx
To: "DIT Solutions" <hansen@disponent.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: undisclosed_domain.com (sent 04/10/06)


[my reply]
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "DIT Solutions" <hansen@disponent.com>
> To: xxxx
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 4:34 AM
> Subject: undisclosed_domain.com (sent 04/10/06)
>
>
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > Did you get offers from other people already?
> >
> > What is your price for the domain mentioned in the subject line?
> >
> > I'm very interested in this name.
> >
> > I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases
> > in MS SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main
> > business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.
> >
> > Looking forward to do business with you.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Paul Hansen Ph.D.
> > CEO
> > DIT Solutions
> >
> >
============================================================================
> > NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privileged
> > information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any
> > viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by
> > unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
> > message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the
message
> > and deleting it from your computer.

[randomo]

I thought these scammers always used European names, but I got a nice one this morning:

-----

Hello,

Please send me price for your domain.

We are very interested in this name.

Did you get offers from other people already?

Our company develops client-server systems (Delphi / Interbase), so
investing in domain names is not my main business.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Masafumi Herosuki, Ph. D.
President
Opera Solutions Ltd.

-----

They must have opened an Asian branch office! :-)

(BTW, the allfordomains guys are actually Russian, which explains why an earlier poster saw them using a name that is an insult in Russian.)

[webdude12]

Do what I do, file a complaint with his hosting company, where he is hosting these fake forums....

He is stupid enough to use US Based hosting companies, and this is clear a spam / scam type of setup. I have already filed a formal complaint with the FTC as well.

As a fellow hosting company, I can tell you if we saw this activity, his websites would be taken off line. :-)

To get his hosting company contact info, use dnsstuff.com to get the IP address of the site, and then do a whois lookup on the IP, you will find the email address to file the complaint with. :-)