I Bought This Site On Flippa And I've Proven That the SS are Fake

N

Nightlurker

Newbie
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
13
Reaction score
5
So I bought this site on flippa for $1400. After buying the site I started doubting the income and traffic stats that were provided by screenshots. Clickbank screen shots Adsense screenshots and even Traffic screenshots.

I have proven that ALL these screen shots were faked, with HTML editting or Javascript codes, beyond doubt. He forgot to blackout many things that gave it away. Stupid of me I should have noticed before.

Anyways, I confronted the buyer with it and he said that I got everything I bought. He said that on flippa earnings and traffic are just claims and estimates and can't be used on court of law because in flippa the "contract" is just for the website files, database and domain name or any other promise made in the description.

Now since this came from the scammer himself I wanted to verify if it was true.

He claims he drove traffic to the website via twitter and he promised to give me an ebook on how I could drive the traffic too and I quote

"Site received all of its traffic from Twitter and the winner of this auction will get na ebook teaching them how to do this too."

I got the ebook and it was a short but straight to the point. I believe that it's possible to drive traffic and maybe even make some sales with his method but I don't believe that you can make what he claimed.

Getting back on point, in the description he mentioned that the website generated income on almost autopilot but it does take a few changes in order to keep the income coming. He also mentions that is great to make people buy the product.

He even as a line saying "By winning this auction you will get:

Domain Name
Unique Site Copy/Content and FREE Domain Transfer
Outsource List of Suppliers
Training for Your Business while providing 1 ebook

He also mentions that I would need my own Clickbank and Adsense accounts.

Anyways my question is can't he be accountable for the fake screenshots? If I talk to flippa I guess they will ban him but that won't get my money back...is there nothing I can do?

PS: I'm posting this on Black Hat SEO since there is a lot of flippa scammers doing the same but claiming SEO traffic instead. It would be good for everyone to know what they can do.
 
Last edited:
Advertise on BHW
Ive never bought on flippa...do they have any buyer protection?
 
You are not the first person to be cheated by fake stats on flippa. I've seen sites that sold for thousands of dollars that obviously had grossly overstated or "created" statistics and earnings.

As a buyer, it is your responsibility to perform "due diligence" in verifying everything about the site. But somehow these cheats and scammers need to be exposed for what they are.

Caveat emptor - Latin for "Let the buyer beware!"
 
I dont think you will get your money back
instead work on the site and try to earn more:)
 
Thanks for posting this. I've been considering buying a couple of sites on Flippa and will be a bit more cautious now.
 
I got scammed there about a year ago for $15K. Guy showed bank statements all kinds of stuff. I could never get him to give me his email list he just kept blowing me off. Finally started making some money off the site but haven't made my money back yet.

Bottom line, there's a lot of scammers on flippa. I don't even bother with it unless I'm looking for something cheap.
 
just a bitter experience, did you pay with PayPal? or through escrow service, if through PayPal you can file for dispute and get a refund, but escrow i dont know how they do about buyers protection
 
I feel sorry to the OP for this. losing out on $1400 can't be a great feeling.

I hope you can keep this thread updated with your progress. I think that if people can get away with things like this so easily then it's only going to get worse.
 
Its a shame that this happens so often and im not sure that you can do much to get your money back unfortunately :( If you paid through paypal you could claim that the item was not accurately described (It would be good if you can get a 3rd party to verify that the screenshots were fake). I would definitely contact Flippa and inform them to get him banned but wait until after you have explored other avenues as it might hold a bit of leverage if he deals a lot.

This is not something that I would let go without a fight - if he says that the contract is not enforceable by law, tell him that you would like to put that to the test. Make sure you document all correspondence. Tell him that you won't take the legal dispute any further if he gives you the refund. Try and get a hold of the "contract" and look for any clauses which might can be interpreted in your favour. Google past cases where buyer has been scammed like this and see what others did - if buyer won then submit as evidence to seller to encourage him to give you refund. Keep it civil even if you want to rip his head off :)

I always do a screen share with sellers on DP and Flippa to verify stats - it is super important to do your due diligence. I was scammed in a similar way a few years and know how frustrating it is. It won't be a mistake you make again.
 
Flippa may not be able to do anything about it but fraud is a crime. Think about it.
 
Man that sucks. I have never even thought of people scamming on flippa. Are there any other websites that have a staff of people that go through the stats with people? More legitamate domain selling with a harder barrier of entry?
 
Is this guy really thinking estimated traffic/earnings could not be upheld in court? Estimation does not equate to misrepresent and for that reason..

You're entitled to a reasonable expectation of his estimated traffic/earnings and you did not get that - there's a huge void between what he advertised/offered and what you received.. its entirely breach of the sale contract between you and flippa in a US legal sense, above any terms of flippa

How did you pay? Have u thought about a CC stop? Bank stop? Paypal stop?
Technically you could subpoena flippa into giving his info but not sure if that would be a fake account, stolen, etc.. not really feasible for $1400 either cuz just getting the subpoena would probably cost that much + expenses to pursue him (although I believe the culprit would have enough money in the end to pay the court fees, he may have undisclosed finances from the ministry and look like a broke man to them)

Btw, caveat emptor is not a real defense in this case.
 
Last edited:
What was the sellers name or the website that you purchased?
 
Remember that there is always a paper trail, although the real question is he in the same country as you? If so, you may be able to take him to court or put enough pressure on him that he'd refund your money.

So the real question, can you take him to court?
 
johnabbason said:
just a bitter experience, did you pay with PayPal? or through escrow service, if through PayPal you can file for dispute and get a refund, but escrow i dont know how they do about buyers protection
Click to expand...

WildDisease said:
Is this guy really thinking estimated traffic/earnings could not be upheld in court? Estimation does not equate to misrepresent and for that reason..

You're entitled to a reasonable expectation of his estimated traffic/earnings and you did not get that - there's a huge void between what he advertised/offered and what you received.. its entirely breach of the sale contract between you and flippa in a US legal sense, above any terms of flippa

How did you pay? Have u thought about a CC stop? Bank stop? Paypal stop?
Technically you could subpoena flippa into giving his info but not sure if that would be a fake account, stolen, etc.. not really feasible for $1400 either cuz just getting the subpoena would probably cost that much + expenses to pursue him (although I believe the culprit would have enough money in the end to pay the court fees, he may have undisclosed finances from the ministry and look like a broke man to them)

Btw, caveat emptor is not a real defense in this case.
Click to expand...

I paid via PayPal but the guy claims he filmed and took screen shots of how I received all items and how the domain name was transferred. I will file for a refund anyway, just in case his lying about the video proof of the transaction. If he did in fact film the transaction then I can?t claim that I did not receive all files.

In the flippa sales competition area it says:

?Every safe business transaction uses a contract of sale.

Flippa wants you to help you be protected, so we've had a sample contract drawn up which could be suitable for your transaction. We can provide no guarantees, but we strongly recommend that you download this contract and consider using it.?

Than it as this pdf - I can't post links here so just type "flippa_sale_agreement" and it's the first site on Goggle.

Also after reading flippas TOC at their website, I actually believe that he is right about the sale only being for the website files, the ebook, the database and the domain name.

I?m actually starting to think that he can get away even with giving out fake estimates. I?ve read trough the internet and there are many stories about how even when the screen shots were proven to be faked, PayPal still sided with the seller and flippa only banned the seller since they take no legal action in these cases.

It?s interesting how PayPal is known for siding with the buyers in so many different occasions even when the buyer is actually the scammer, and now that the seller is the scammer I feel like they are going to side with him.

I don?t believe my odds in taking this into legal court since the costs of paying a lawyer and so on?I?m probably better off not doing it.

If I get PayPal to side with me will PayPal take legal action against the user or will they just ban his account and let him create a new one under a new name? I?m afraid that even if I win this auction I will never be able to buy another site on flippa if the guy can simply create a new account and keep up the scam.
 
Well -- what about outsourcing to a lawyer a quick "threatening" letter that you can send him? Do you have his address? You may be able to get something put together for $50 and it *may* work, whats the downside? $50 spent and potentially recovering your $1,400?
 
SuperLinks said:
Remember that there is always a paper trail, although the real question is he in the same country as you? If so, you may be able to take him to court or put enough pressure on him that he'd refund your money.

So the real question, can you take him to court?
Click to expand...

His from a different country, does this mean I can't take him to court?
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top