Scam alert
 

Good evening!

This is an old scam, I'm aware of that, just thought I'd give those that do not know a little heads up. I recently received an e-mail from someone wanting to buy one of my domains. The e-mail looked like this:

Hello,

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

I'm very interested in this name.

Did you get offers from other people already?

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 Anestad Ph.D.
CEO
Opera Engineering

Alright, so far so good, right? The next e-mail read:

How about 1,200 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.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies
in a forum

http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/archive/63059.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 because
I need a room to make profit.

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

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.

Bottom line here people, don't fall for this. The message board he links to is a fake one and so is he. Fake.

Peace out for now!

The good ol' we want to buy your domain, but you have to appraise it first scam?

Thats old news, but thanks anyway.

that's an old one :)

Damn guys, the first thing I wrote was that I'm aware that this is an old scam lol but some aren't aware of it as it turns out in other forums. Just trying to help.

I've never encountered it but I wouldn't fall for it...

Considering the scammers still are up to no good, there must be people that still fall for it out there. You'd think these internet scams would stop one day, but no... the last idiot isn't born yet :)

An old classic for the desperados.

:disgust

thanks for the warning. :)

as long there are people there are (obvious) scams like this...

i dont get it

The scammer tells the domain owner that he'll buy the domain, but only if it's appraised by his "reputable" appraiser, the cost of appraisal, of course, paid by the domain owner.

The "reputable" appraiser is a fake, set up by the scammer... as is the fake message board posting (notice the main forum is closed, and there are no other archive threads except for the one single thread.)

The scammer makes money by selling worthless domain appraisals, and, if the domain owner is stupid enough to fall for it, by buying a domain for less than what it's actually worth.

I can't believe people actually fall for this shit, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.