Beware of Domain Appraisal Scams!
I would like to warn you for a scam that is being used quite frequently, this is what usually happens. The scammer sends you an email concerning a domain you own, telling you that he is interested in buying your domain. They want you to mail them how much you want for your domain, once you do they will mail you back and accept your askingprice.Â
They try to convince you that they are a new player wanting to invest money in the domain market. To ensure that they aren’t making a bad investment, they want you to get an appraisal done from a certain “manual” appraisal website which is part of the scam. This appraisal website gives an inflated appraisal value and charges a high fee for it, knowing that you need the appraisal to “sell” the domain.
Well you probably know the ending of this fairytale, you pay the 100 dollars appraisal fee and never hear from your buyers again. Here is an example of  the mails the scammers usually use.
 Email 1:
Quote:
Hello,
We ‘ve found your name listed for sale..
If you are still interested in seling please send your quote and I will
consider it with my partners.
Main direction of our business is software development and technical
support.
Domain names is not our business but a new way to earn on reselling. We are
going to buy domains to resell them at higher prices since we have a large
database of clients interested in good domains.
Looking forward to do business with you.
Regards,
Super Scammer
CEO
Scam Technologies
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Email 2:
Quote:
13,500 USD. Ok.
Do you sell domain with a web site or just name?
If just name it’s ok. Web site is not necessary.
Have you had your domains appraised already? Can you show me your valuation certificates? As fas I know it’s a common practice to show appraisal of domain name (even without traffic and web site) before doing business.
Without appraisal I risk to overpay. In other words I won’t be able to make a profit on reselling this name. It’s very important for you and me to know the current market value of your domains.
Of course, we must be sure that you are engaging an appraisal company with REAL manual service. I heard many appraisal companies often made inaccurate auto-generated 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. (they now give you a link of a forum you have to check out)
Just 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: escrow.com, PayPal.com check or wire?
Hope we can come to an agreement fast.
Looking forward to your reply.
So if you ever get an email like this, you know what to do, FLUSH IT.Â
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