Dropped domain scam.
A new domain scam is making the rounds, and it involves domains that were registered previously, but which were then dropped.
It works like this:
You let a domain drop, and someone registers it and sets it up for sale for a relatively low price, for example $499 dollars.
At that point, as the previous owner, you get contacted by a third party (supposedly) that offers you a sum well above that price point, for example $1,499 dollars.
Naturally, as you’ve let that domain drop, you explain that you don’t own it any longer.
The scammer then says that along with his “business partner” they wanted this domain for an organization they were starting for homeless people, who had been rehabilitated, or some other sob story.
Once informed about the fact that you’ve dropped the domain, the scammer responds with an offer to use you as a proxy buyer, to buy the domain on their behalf at the $499 asking price, which they’d then pay back, tacking on $50 bucks for your effort.
Easy money, right? 😀
Naturally, both parties are the same scammer, and once you buy the domain for $499 you will never hear back from the buyer ever again.
Many thanks to domain investor, Jason Franklin, for reporting this incident of domain fraud.
Similar scams involve the popular domain evaluation certificate, where you’re asked to purchase a domain appraisal in order to complete a sale.
