Evil Scam

I put in an bid for a domain name that was parked, and the offer was turned down so I forgot about it and moved on. Months later i start getting emails from them again, asking me for a new offer on said domain. I had totally forgot why I even made the offer on the domain, so i started doing a little research on it and it turns out to be in one of my niches. While doing research on the domain I realized the owner had already let it drop. Expiration Date: 23-dec-2009 so about 65 days ago. So at this point there is no way that they are representing anyone. What they are trying to do is pick it up on the drop (about $60) and sell it to me for a few thousand dollars. To me thats a scam. They are misrepresenting themselves and a domain owner who does not exist.

Whats a Drop?

For those of you who do not know about the drop let me explain it quickly. If you do know what a drop is then you can skip this paragraph. When a domain name is no longer wanted the webmaster essentially gives it up. The domain does not automatically become available, and there is a 75 day waiting period in which time the owner can renew the domain within 30 days. If he/she doesn’t renew then there is an additional 45 days, during which time the domain is usually removed from search engines, the PageRank usually goes away, and other such stuff. I’ll try and write more on the drop process in the future, as well as tell you where you can buy dropped domains (there are only 3 companies allowed as far as I know and Acquirethisname.com is not one of them)

The Emails

OK, back to the emails. I am getting an email every third day or so, and its some automated crap. They have to have a database and an app that sends emails, and plugs in the domain name. Just in my recent email list they sent me one the 10th, the 16th, the 22nd, the 25th, and there are others. Mind you i’ve not replied to a single one, but they keep sending them.

Here is the last email
“Your initial offer on somedomain.com was not accepted by the owner of the domain. Would you like me to email you the sellers asking price?”
Yet another
“Are you still interested in somedomain.com? Would you like me to email you the sellers asking price?”
and the same message again…
“Are you still interested in somedomain.com? Would you like me to email you the sellers asking price?”

Pool.com

Whats funnier yet is that i searched through old emails and back on 4/29/09 I had received the same message with another domain name I had requested info on. But here is the funny part.. a few weeks later I receive an email from pool.com (they are 1 of the 3 drop catching services i talked about) I had at some point put in a request with them for the domain, and ended up getting the domain for $60. What a scam Aquirethisname.com is running. Seriously.

Whats the Moral?

So if you have ever put in a bid for a domain at Aquirethisname.com and they start emailing you again months or years later, be sure to check the whois record. If the domain has expired, put in an order with pool.com or similar. Unlike godaddy.com back orders these are real, and don’t cost you any money unless you actually win the domain.

UPDATE!!! March 12th 2010 I won the domain for $60 using Pool.com This is further proof they never owned the domain.

[ad]