Trade Domains Securely

There are a number of domain name scams around, and you are likely sooner or later, to fall trap to a scammer online. The losses you will suffer could often be severe. This section will take a look at how you can securely buy and sell domain names.

 

 

The Scams

 

One of the most common scams on the Internet is a scammer claiming to be the owner of a domain, usually a premium domain, something like forgot.com. This scammer will claim that he wants to sell the domain, but that is an urgent sale and that he needs the funds urgently. The domain will then be advertised at a ridiculous amount, usually around $300 to $500. This is an amount affordable to most domainers.


Once you show interest the seller will state that the domain will be sold to you if you immediately pay the funds into his/her Paypal account, or some other means of payment. You will be told that the domain will be transferred once payment is made. The scammer will also ask for your personal information for purposes of the domain transfer.


Once the funds are paid you will never see the domain name.


Another scam is an e-mail you might receive claiming that an organization is interested in acquiring one of your domain names at a very high price. You will be requested to transfer the domain upon completing negotiations. Often these scammers will pay money to you with either stolen credit cards or fraudulent checks.


Once the domain name is transferred and you discover that the funds have been reversed from your bank account, the scammers are gone and you will be responsible for any funds you utilized, and minus your domain name.

 

Avoiding Scams

 

Avoiding these scams are often hard to do, but being prepared and knowing what to do, might just save you from falling victim to these scammers.


Selling on Forums


If you are trading on forums, always ensure that you buy from or sell to users with good ratings. The majority of these forums work on a system called iTrader, where users can rate one another and leave comments. Make sure that you read a seller’s comments and that he has a positive iRater rating.


Be very careful of a ‘newbie’ or person with no iTrader rating or comments. You need to conduct proper research into this individual’s posts made to ensure that he/she is legitimate.


Conducting Whois Searches


When you are buying a domain from a person, you need to ensure that this person is the legitimate owner of the domain. Obtain the buyers information prior to the sale and conduct a Whois enquiry on the domain name involved.


DomainTools.com


Go to www.domaintools.com from where the enquiry can be done. Simply type in the domain name and you will find the details of the legitimate owner of the domain. In addition you will also find the e-mail address and contact telephone numbers of the domain name owner.


From here you can contact the legitimate owner and establish whether he/she is indeed the owner of the domain and in the process of selling it.

 

 

Using Escrow Services


Escrow services are the safest way in conducting transactions related to domain names. These services cater for a process in which payment is made and domain names transferred. These processing usually are conducted as follow:


1. The seller initiate the transaction by providing details on the domain name, the amount involved and the buyers’ information.


2. The buyer is notified of the transaction and requested to pay the funds into Escrow. The funds will be held by the Escrow service and not released at this time.


3. Once the funds are received by the Escrow service and secured, the seller will be requested to transfer the domain name to the buyer. The details on the transfer will be provided to the seller by the Escrow service.


4. Once the domain name is transferred the Escrow service will ensure that the ownership changed hands. If done correctly, the buyer will be awarded a period of inspection, usually a minimum of 24 hours.


5. Once the buyer is happy with the domain name transfer, the funds will be released to the seller once the inspection period expired, with permission of the buyer.


6. If the buyer is not happy with the domain name, the process starts again with the buyer requested to return the domain name to the seller.


We highly recommend the services of Sedo.com


As mentioned, this is a very secure service, especially when dealing in domain names with high values.

 

Again, always be weary of offers that seem too good to be true, often they are!