Is This a Scam?

So, got offered 35k for XXXXX.com . Five letter .com , with regional value.

I act on the behalf of our VIP client (domain investor) and will help you to sell your domain. The buyer purchases several domains to generate traffic to his new web project.

What is your Telegram user name? If you have Telegram you may contact

He is your buyer.
Our commission is only 6 %. The commission is divided between you and the buyer and paid after you get the money.

The buyer offers $35000 worth of Litecoins. Litecoin - crypto currency. Google it if you are new to this. If it's ok let's proceed. You will be paid in Bitcoins/Litecoin/Ethereum or in USD (Paypal, wire transfer or Western Union). His escrow accepts Litecoin and may convert it to USD if necessary.

The payment to you will be made via escrow service to protect both parties during the transaction. He can only send via escrow. His bank prohibits him to send money direct to avoid scam. It's not safe. The bank requires a certification in Japanese to avoid selling illegal goods to Japan.

We asked him if GoDaddy or Sedo certificates are acceptable. He said no because they don't do legal verification for Japan and don't make copies in Japanese. He contacted he banl and asked which domain agency is acceptable by them.

We will have some news from the buyer in 2-3 hours. Please email me and I will let you know how to proceed further.

Click to expand...

It really depends on, what is that 5 letter, it could worth that much, but if it's random 5 letter domain then it's a scam.

You can always check the ranking history, domain age, websites Alexa and few more steps to actually determine if the domain is worth what the person your dealing with is claiming it to be worth.

Here's a thread from someone who received a nearly identical email.
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/someone-trying-to-scam-me.1054761/

TL;DR, They'll ask you to buy an "appraisal certificate" from another site they already own, then retract the offer (or go completely silent) after you've paid for the appraisal.

A well known appraisal scam.
Received tons of those emails.
They ask to pay for an appraisal and then disappear.

PS: tons of these discussions on domain name investors forums.

Yeah tell them to go fuck themselves.

I was wondering the angle. Really appreciate all of you! I was gonna play, play along for a minute and document here.

SCAM.

Purely A Scam! Avoid it and move on, but even it may be legeit if the domain has some hot keywoards, use ahref or anyother tools to know stats about it!

If you did not know where to check the: Domain Age, Domain Authority, Keyword Ranking History, Page Rank and other things that actually determine the worth of the web. You can simply search on Google for: "Small SEO Tool" they have every-single one of these tools for 100% free.

Let me know if you need any help

Oh Domain is fully undeveloped. You would think they would want a much higher regional value 5 character domain that is developed? Who knows?

Yup, multiple threads going on here with the same message.

Someone is spamming hard

Avoid

MAG WEB DESIGNS said:

Oh Domain is fully undeveloped. You would think they would want a much higher regional value 5 character domain that is developed? Who knows?

Click to expand...

They'll still offer the same $35k even if you're running a full-fledged SAAS that makes you $3.5Mil per month.

It's a SCAM. Don't let your greed take over and fall prey to this domain appraisal scam.

Your'e most likely completely right. Why offer 10 times the appraised value, which admittedly is all ready high for a domain?

The buyer will send crypto-currency to escrow. They send 50% to you. You may receive the payment in crypto-currency or they may convert it in USD to send via wire/Paypal. You transfer the domain and get the other 50%. It's safe and easy.

But you need to certify your domain for Japanese market first. His lawyers prohibit him to buy non certified names and the Japanese escrow also accept certified names only to avoid selling illegal goods. After you send us the certificate we will proceed with the sale the same day.

Our authorized certification agency is a -in partnership with Swiss Escrow: -They provide full refund if your domain is not sold. It's safe to use them.

Go to this site and select Certification. Specify in the comment field you need a copy in Japanese. Submit your request. If they approve it you will get payment instructions. The main certificate in English and a copy in Japanese will be sent to you within 24 hours after you make the payment as PDF file. Send it to me and we will proceed with the sale/transfer the same day.

It will be easier if you follow instructions of their customer support. Please send me your Telegram user name and I will ask @RobertReese to help you. He is responsible for customer support for the certification service.

If you don't have Telegram you may install it from Google Play or AppStore.
The sale process is very easy:

1. You send us the certificate in Japanese.

2. We transfer the funds to you.

3. You transfer the domain to our buyer through your registrar.

I have state police hovering around me are these entities stupid?

Like real helicopters and shit.

Stavro said:

Here's a thread from someone who received a nearly identical email.
https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/someone-trying-to-scam-me.1054761/

TL;DR, They'll ask you to buy an "appraisal certificate" from another site they already own, then retract the offer (or go completely silent) after you've paid for the appraisal.

Click to expand...

Good call. So, I'm gonna play, play along till I have to pay money. If I do and waste my time, I have nothing better to do then to write a script for an automated response agent. Just in case this stuff happens again since I have many domains.
Copied the responding email I received below.



The buyer will send crypto-currency to escrow. They send 50% to you. You may receive the payment in crypto-currency or they may convert it in USD to send via wire/Paypal. You transfer the domain and get the other 50%. It's safe and easy.

But you need to certify your domain for Japanese market first. His lawyers prohibit him to buy non certified names and the Japanese escrow also accept certified names only to avoid selling illegal goods. After you send us the certificate we will proceed with the sale the same day.

Our authorized certification agency is a GMO in partnership with : They provide full refund if your domain is not sold. It's safe to use them.

Go to this site and select Certification. Specify in the comment field you need a copy in Japanese. Submit your request. If they approve it you will get payment instructions. The main certificate in English and a copy in Japanese will be sent to you within 24 hours after you make the payment as PDF file. Send it to me and we will proceed with the sale/transfer the same day.

It will be easier if you follow instructions of their customer support. Please send me your Telegram user name and I will ask @to help you. He is responsible for customer support for the certification service.

If you don't have Telegram you may install it from Google Play or AppStore.
The sale process is very easy:

1. You send us the certificate in Japanese.

2. We transfer the funds to you.

3. You transfer the domain to our buyer through your registrar.

MAG WEB DESIGNS said:

Good call. So, I have nothing better to do then to write a script for an automated response agent. Just in case this stuff happens again since I have many domains.
Copied the responding email I received below.



The buyer will send crypto-currency to escrow. They send 50% to you. You may receive the payment in crypto-currency or they may convert it in USD to send via wire/Paypal. You transfer the domain and get the other 50%. It's safe and easy.

But you need to certify your domain for Japanese market first. His lawyers prohibit him to buy non certified names and the Japanese escrow also accept certified names only to avoid selling illegal goods. After you send us the certificate we will proceed with the sale the same day.

Our authorized certification agency is a GMO in partnership with : They provide full refund if your domain is not sold. It's safe to use them.

Go to this site and select Certification. Specify in the comment field you need a copy in Japanese. Submit your request. If they approve it you will get payment instructions. The main certificate in English and a copy in Japanese will be sent to you within 24 hours after you make the payment as PDF file. Send it to me and we will proceed with the sale/transfer the same day.

It will be easier if you follow instructions of their customer support. Please send me your Telegram user name and I will ask @to help you. He is responsible for customer support for the certification service.

If you don't have Telegram you may install it from Google Play or AppStore.
The sale process is very easy:

1. You send us the certificate in Japanese.

2. We transfer the funds to you.

3. You transfer the domain to our buyer through your registrar.

Click to expand...

It is a scam, don't bother responding, just ignore and send to spam folder.