Richard Dynas of Hatred.com fame, detailed how he got scammed by a scamster on the domain Technology.com. I think it was good of Richard to take the time to detail everything so that other domain investors, especially new ones, can be more alert.

When someone won’t or can’t use Escrow, it’s time to move along, especially when dealing with big dollars.

Posted on Namepros:

I cant believe I am writing this.

I am doing this knowing I will be ridiculed.

I am doing this knowing some people will laugh.

I am doing this knowing some people with be outright nasty

I am not looking for sympathy.

I am doing this to help others.

It started a couple of weeks ago. I posted on Linkedin that I was selling my name MineCryrpto.com and BitcoinPrices.io for 1 million dollars. Sometimes I like to try odd ways of advertising to see if it works. I wanted to see if posting an obviously inflated price would prompt some discussion. Apparently it caught the eye of a Nigerian scammer and I would be his next victim.

Barbara wrote to me about the name technology.com:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I was intrigued so I did some research and couldn’t find the domain name or address with any recent action. The name popped up on linked : https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-untergasser-893193144/

She belonged to some domain groups and had a bunch of connections. It wasn’t a brand new account so I proceeded to write Barbara. I asked her how much she wanted – $120,000. I didn’t have that kind of money so I turned to a trusted person I know in the industry to buy the name and pay me a finders fee. We have done that deal before so I knew I could at least a few bucks off the deal.If I could get the price down, I could make more money. Barbara seemed niave and had no idea what she had. I asked if she would take less and we agreed on a price. I explained to Barbara that I had a financial backer and I needed to loop him in, he would handle the deal from here. I loop my backer in and he asks for her escrow information,Barabara writes me back and explains that her husband messed up their escrow account years ago and she cant use escrow. I go back to my backer and let him know the situation and he bails immediately. “Hell no! It’s a scam” I was advised to run. I wrote back to Barbara and advised her that nobody in the industry will touch her name without escrow. I thanked her for her time and went about my way.

I left work for the day and on my way home I received an email from Barabara. She wanted to do a deal and would sell it for less because she couldn’t use escrow. After days of chatting through Linkedin she explained she was from Austria and moved to Texas after she married:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

Her husband ended up turning to drugs and they are divorcing and selling off assets. She needed money to live and their domain portfolio was the only thing worth much money.

We talked for a week, we talked about personal things,domains and everything in between. I was checking stories and looking for clues the entire time. She would have bailed long ago if she was scamming me – right?

I asked for proof about owning the name and she provided it:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I told her that I wasn’t going to transfer money until she transferred the name. We agreed on a small down payment and then the transfer would start. The money exchange would be Paypal. I sent the money to her friend because she didn’t have paypal (another red flag) – I sent the down payment. The transfer started:

http://www.richarddynas.com/pics/

I wired the rest of the money and sent another small amount via Western Union to a friend she owed money to. (Another Red Flag)

I waited for the push to my enom account and nothing. I called enom and they told me the name was registered under them but managed by another party? I called the number they gave me and emailed the account. I still have never heard back from them. I started getting nervous and pressuring Barbara. All of the sudden I get a phone call from her “son” asked me to relax that I was upsetting his mom. He had a heavy accent. I knew at that point I was screwed!

I didn’t want “Barbara” to know I was on to what was happening. I kept talking to her. I was scrambling trying to cancel everything.

1. Western Union – it was already picked up. Im screwed. I filed a report and I still havnt heard anything back – that money is gone.

2. Wire – Bank Of America and USAA. I called them both before they opened to stop the transfer. My bank USAA – told me its instant, its at Bank Of America, call them. I called and talked to so many people who would do nothing. Literally nothing. The bank wasn’t open yet, they could have stopped it. They wouldn’t do a thing. I have since written to the heads of these banks and their management and have heard nothing. How can you not listen to a person who is explaining an outright scam and do nothing?

3. Paypal – what a joke! I paid by friends and family by accident. I wasn’t paying attention, my fault. They froze 2K on his account, I paid 6K. Again, they could have stopped this. I explained what happened and how it was a scam and I could prove it, they didn’t care only to tell me tough, you used friends and family. They still have 2K frozen and wont give it back to me. I even send all the proof to their executive support and their answer was to dispute it with my credit card company. With all the business I give Paypal I was expecting better support.

I tried stopping all of this before business hours and before money was taken, all of these businesses could have stopped the transactions at least to investigate. Nope, not one of them cared.

Read the rest of the story here and learn how Richard got some of the money back.