Is this a Scam? Doesn't sound right to me.. Domain Scam???
 

I will just show you what happened, see for yourself..

Hello
my Name is Steve Strand i am the administrator for ezeweb a small but busy webdesign company,well to get right to the point i have a client who is extremly interested in your domain name.
What is the price you are asking for this name.I would be willing to pay any reasonable amount to aquire this name as soon as possible
Hope to hear from you soon
Steve Strand

My Reply:
Hi Steve,

Make a reasonable offer. I am not expecting to get rich
by selling a domain so I will take any reasonable offer
into consideration. Thanks

I did get another offer about a week ago but they have
not gotten back to me yet on my counter offer.


Here is the kicker and the confusing part:

There is another important issue for me. Some of my friends lost money after buying stolen names. Others had problems with trademarks. So I must be sure you are the real owner and your domain name has no trademark conflicts.

This is a serious problem for the whole domain industry. You can read about the problem at
http://www.stopscum.com/archives/i_j..._was_easy.html
More information about trademark conflicts can be found at
http://www.patents.com/dno.htm

I hope now you understand why I need to verify this information before we go further.

I made my online research and found two reliable services we could use to verify your domain name.

First service URL http://www.legalzoom.com

But their service "WorldScan U.S. and International Search $499.00" is very expensive for us.

I found a cheaper service - http://www.domaincheckers.net/domainchecks.htm
These guys were recommended as Internet security professionals. Looks like this service is unique because I've not found anything similar in the Internet. They will verify your domain through the stolen names database and will run other tests. I'm not a lawyer and need a professional opinion on the trademark issue. After we check your domain name we'll proceed with the payment through paypal or the service of your choice.This "check domain" service allows to split the fees 50% / 50% between buyer and seller.The fee is $110 dollars or $ 55 dollars for each party ,the buyer and the seller. I thinks it's fair.

When the results come back from them and everything checks out alright with your domain name"and im sure it will" I will be more than happy to add the price you paid for the domain name checking service to the price i am paying for the domain,please understand i am not trying to be diffucult i just need to protect myself and my client from having any issues with this domain.I hope you understand.

After everything is checked out and i make the payment to you for your domain name,i will put you in touch with our tec support person Sara Hearst,she will handle all the details of transfering the domain over to our registry.
I've already ordered my part and paid $55 fee. I specified your email address so you must receive a confirmation from them shortly. You should submit your information and they will check your domain name.

They will email us the results within 1-2 business days.

Kindest Regards,

The funny thing is none of the links work for me and I couldn't answer him anymore because his email keeps bouncing back. Anyone ever dealt with scammers like this?

I know it is a long read, and I know that the attention span of most on here is not long enough to read the whole thing, I figued I post it anyways.

Tell them to pay the whole thing up front or fuck the hell off.

I told him that he should start with an offer.. hahaha.. and there is no way in hell I would pay anything for something like that. If he doesn't believe me then fuck him.. He came to me

not sure about these people but 2nd company usually owned by the "interested" party. they aren't looking to buy, only generate sales for the Trademark or Appraisal company.

good luck.

Exactly.

It looks like an appraisal scam.

Yeah that's what I thought too.

Its an old scam - I thought it was dead.... I havnt seen one in a long time.

Just send me $50 and save $5, and we'll all be happy. :)

tell him to suck your dick

Scam for sure...tell him to pay the thing.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

scam. :):)

yeah sounds like a scam, try to get the payment upfront..always!

If he's so worried I guess he should have ran a check on it before he even came to you with an offer.
He's from a small but busy web design company and can't afford $110.
What a scam but I'm sure people get suckered in every day

Most likely the fee is 55 bucks and its his company drumming up business:Oh crap

sounds like a scam to me, i love the run on sentences

100% scammy

Somebody thought long and hard to come up with that one! haha

I wonder how much these idiots seriously make...

Just tell em to Fuck off

scam for sure, why do you even have to ask?

People must still be falling for it because they are still circulating the same old shit.

thats a scam

Defently a scam.

Scam scam scam

I'll jump on the bandwagon... it's a scam.

Tell him that you know the domain name is legally yours, and therefore can't see why you should blow $55 proving something you already know... if he's concerned, it's his concern, and therefore his cost...

And then forward all your crap to the Department of Justice.

Tell him ok you'll pay the fee for the service they wanted BUT that you have a concern that the money they'll pay you with is real and not conterfeit so he'll need to overnight you (in cash) the full amount of the asking price of the domain prior to your settling his concerns so that you may have an independent test of their money by a person/service of your choosing

Tell em' they won't have to split that fee :)

lol fucking people .. SCAM

yeah, i think its a scam

It's an old scam.

It's been around a few years, but not quiet as popular as the hundreds of others in my spam folder.

:disgust

I got an email like this a few months ago. It was a scam. After I emailed him my asking price he came back with the same type of reply you got. I was firm on my price and told him to get his own appraisal. He replied that I wasn't serious and negotiations died. A few weeks later I started to receive spam for various domain services from the site he wanted an appraisal from.

I've sold several domains and domain appraisals aren't the norm at least in my experiences. If he wants your domain he'll get his own appraisal.

I got the same shit a year or so back..delete