Free World

You get so excited because a potential buyer just contacted you for a domain with great interest, don’t go on a shopping spree or raise your expectation just yet, it might be a scam and you won’t receive any money or worse, lose your own money. There are con artists working hard days and night for your money (meaning they take time to prepare individual/personal responses, cater for each of their victim). This article could apply to any online transaction and not just domain-related ones.
These are 10 steps/tips to protect your investment and yourself:

1. Always research the other party
   Who are you dealing with? Is it a legitimate business registered somewhere? Use the Internet to your advantage. The fraudsters did research on you, your contact information; why not do the same to them? Checking for validity is very simple, a WHOIS on their domain name, or a simple search on the Internet (Google, Yahoo search) for their business name. Include the word “scam”, “fraud” into the query to specifically ask for negative results and if you could not find any relevant results then it could be they are really legitimate or they have changed their names, use another email address, use another company name or you are being worked by a new (not necessary inexperienced) scammer.
2. Think of the worst-case scenarios
   Imagine these scenarios and figure how you should deal with it. When receiving money, ask yourself the questions: can they charge back or reverse the charge? If they can dispute the charge, do you have documents to back up your claim? When sending money, ask yourself if anything could go wrong during the transactions (paid and nothing change hands, shipped but never get to the destination, dead on arrival)
3. Do not believe anything you see and hear in the reply
   Even if the fraudster refers you to another company that looks legitimate, these companies might be in the same scheme or the other company is also a victim and does not know their credibility is on the line. If in doubt, contact the other company to verify if this person is actually registered, licensed to do business with them.
4. Don’t send money because you are going to receive more money later
   This is a classic and yet general scheme that could apply to any field. Someone sends you a check for $6,500 USD and asks to get $500 back because they mistakenly added $500 extra. Someone asks you to pay for a domain appraisal certificate, a trademark search at a specific company before agreeing to buy your domain name for 5 grands.
5. Use visual cues, pay attention to details
   The first thing, the payment form has to be in a secure page (SSL-encrypted, showing a lock or yellow address bar). When you receive a link to the payment site, try to visit some other parts of the site, see if there is any content or just the form to set you up. Check out for irregularities, unprofessional details (broken links, misspelled words). These little things could trigger a potential larger problem and raise your awareness/alert for the whole situation
6. Be a little paranoid, never let your guard down
   Face-to-face (or on-the-phone) frauds and scams require a more professional breed. Online scams are much easier to pull off and therefore you’re more likely to be tricked online than offline.
7. If it is too good to be true, it probably is
   You think you’re in for an amazing deal, it could be either these two cases. You’re a talented investor, deal-hunter with proven track record in the past OR you have no clue and someone is playing tricks to get your money.
8. When in doubt, check it out
   If there is any sign of problem, step back, stop the transactions if it’s not too late and verify/confirm your doubts/assumptions (call someone for verification, call your bank, ask for additional support documents). If you think these steps are time-consuming, think about how much time, money, effort it would take to recover from a charge-back, dispute and emotional distress once you become the victim.
9. Choose the right payment method
   There are many ways you can send and receive money online. Use the ones you’re most comfortable and have previously experienced/dealt with. Checks could be fake and returned with charge back to your account later. PayPal payments by unverified, non-insured sender or by credit card, can also be charged back later (many cases up to 90 days). Even though you might think for PayPal to accept the payment, the transaction should have passed a rigorous fraud check, it might not be the case. Using an escrow service sounds safe but it depends on the service credibility. If they are licensed or accredited by a trusted source or they are just a random shop just opened a couple month ago.
10. Have some detective fun
    In the first contact, it could be hard to tell/confirm their validity. Go ahead and ask for more information, confirm your doubt, get them talking, pretend to follow their scheme but do not send them what they want (money or merchandise). Stop and let them know when it get to the point it is such an obvious scam. You can then share the experience with other online users to help people from falling into the same scam or use the evidence to help the police during the investigation.

For those who could not believe why people are doing bad things on the Internet and do not think it is an serious issue. Remember, there are good and bad people, anywhere, online, offline. Scamming, ripping people off is their business and that’s what they do full-time for a living. I hope as more and more people are aware and educated about these fraud schemes, these guys might have to work part-time or better yet become unemployed. I hope this article has been useful for those who are smart enough to smell a stinky con operation and go search the Internet for confirmation.
Now it’s time to report a recent scam. Take an example, this person contacted me (and many other domain owners as reported here and here) to show great interests in one of my domains. He offered to pay a great price but required an appraisal certificate from allfordomains.com that I believe is in the same fraud team

Quote:

From: Opera Engineering
Hello,
What is your price for the domain mentioned in the subject line?
I’m very interested in this name.
Did you get offers from other people already?
I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases
in MS SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main
business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.
Looking forward to do business with you.
Best regards,
Robert Johansen Ph.D.
CEO
Opera Engineering

Companies/Sites involving in this scam operation:

• Scammer: operaen.com
• Beneficiary: SoftForces – allfordomains.com
• Payment: emetrix.com

Hope you find the tips useful. Article source: http://www.123finder.com/

Domain Name Frequently Asked Questions Database
Note: This FAQ is NOT all encompassing. If you find any technical details missing or wrong please contact me. Also, many of the registrars listed are just the more popular registrars with the crowd here. Many others may fit the criterion, if you know of one, please email it to me with a link to the page that contains the information needed to verify whatever is being asked.
Email: domainfaq1@ohashi.us
General Domain Related Questions
Q: What is the cheapest and/or best registrar (or reseller)?
A: None. The market is always changing and defining price can vary. Some places say ‘free domain WITH widget’ and others say ‘free domain if you do such and such’ and others just claim $6 domains. Quality also varies from user’s experience. Some find an interface they like and advocate the user of a particular registrar for that reason. Some people find support to be the most important feature in domain registrars, and feedback on support quality will vary from person to person. You have to either listen to the general public and their advice or try various registrars until you find one you like.
Q: How do I transfer my domain name?
A: This process varies by TLD (Top Level Domain – .com/.net/.org/.biz/.us/.info/etc). The domain MUST be unlocked in any case. For .com/.net/.cc domains there is a loose process in place where the registrar requests a transfer to another registrar for a domain name. The domain name in question then needs to be authorized by the administrative contact on the domain name (this process varies from registrar to registrar). For many other TLDs the EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) process is used where an authorization key is provided with the transfer request. The entire process is seamless and fast. The transfer requires nothing more than the key, the administrative contact will not be contacted.
Q: How do I make sure my domain is not hijacked and is safe?
A: There is no 100% secure way to do anything online. You can take measures to make it very difficult for anything to happen such as using a strong password (long, alphanumeric passwords tend to be some of the strongest). Remember to change your password regularly. Other things that can be done to help secure the domain is to turn on ‘Registrar-Lock’ feature.
Q: I want to sell domains online, where do I start?
A: You need to work with a registrar or reseller of a registrar. The official registrar list can be found at http://www.internic.net/alpha.html. Look for a reseller or affiliate program to begin selling domains online. Be sure to do a lot of research about different programs before you commit yourself to one.
Q: Where can I find a script to perform WHOIS lookups on my website?
A: Many free scripts are available at such resources as http://www.hotscripts.com or http://www.resource-index.com.
Q: When does a domain name ‘expire’?
A: Domain names are leased for 1-10 years by a registrant. After they hit the expiration date listed in the whois they either enter ‘on-hold’ period or directly into the ‘Redemption Grace Period.’(RGP) The ‘on-hold’ periods means that the registrar has paid for the name and gives the owner the opportunity to renew at a low cost for up to 45 days approximately (afterwards the domain enters the Redemption Grace Period). The RGP period is a grace given by the registry to renew the domain name for a higher cost (often around $200) and lasts 30 days. If the domain is not renewed during these grace periods it enters the ‘Pending Delete’ cycle and will be deleted in 6 days for .com/.net domains and 5 days for .org domains.
Q: What is the best way to capture an expiring domain name?
A: Many companies and registrars offer services to catch expiring domain names. A list of some of the larger players:
http://www.pool.com(com/net/org/info/biz/ca/co.uk/me.uk/org.uk/net.uk)
http://www.snapnames.com(com/net/org)
http://www.namewinner.com(com/net/org/info)
http://www.thefirstname.com(com/net/org/info)
http://www.dropwizard.com(com/net/org/ca/co.uk)
http://www.godaddy.com(com/net)
http://www.enom.com/resellers/(com/net)
http://www.namefox.com(com/net)
http://www.dropcatcher.com(com/net)
http://www.detagged.co.uk(co.uk)
There are also many other smaller catching services and the listed drop services may catch more extensions than listed. The pricing is based on bidding or first-come-first-serve basis. Prices can vary from service to service, some cost under $10, while others start at $120. If you want the domain badly enough, cover as many bases as possible.
Q: Someone owns the domain name I want, how do I buy it/get it from them?
A: Perform a WHOIS lookup and contact the administrative contact via email/phone/fax and ask to buy the domain name. Your other alternative is to hope they do not renew the domain name and you can have services try and capture the domain name for you the instant it expires.
Q: Which is better: a hyphenated or unhyphenated domain name?
A: Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer.
The arguments against hyphens are: people do not type hyphens into domains. They carry less resale value in the aftermarket.
The arguments advocating hyphens are: search engines sometimes rank higher with hyphenated keywords. Another popular argument is that they are easier for a user to read.
Make your own decision based on these arguments (which can be further researched on any search engine). Another option is to register both domains and redirect one to the other.
Q: What is the best way to find a good available domain name?
A: One popular method of finding ‘good’ domains is checking and searching an expired domain name database. You can visit a free list at http://www.deleteddomains.com. Another popular venue is using name generators which most registrars have when you search for a domain name.
Q: What are these .shop, .xxx, .mp3, .law, etc domain names?
A: These are new.net domain names. They are not official domain names and cannot be seen be a large portion of the internet. Users must have their browser ‘enabled’ with a special plug-in to see new.net domain names. Some ISPs resolve new.net domains as well, but not a significant number. Most users see domain.extension.new.net (i.e. ohashi.shop.new.net) instead of a real domain (search engines also see this). A majority of users will advise you against using these domains for business due to the fact that most internet users will not be able to access your website.
Q: What are .us.com and .uk.com domain names?
A: These ‘domains’ are in fact subdomains being sold off to users with DNS functionality. They are not ICANN recognized, but unlike new.net domain names, they will resolve for any user.
Q: What registrars/resellers accept PayPal?
A: Enom.com reseller accounts can be funded by paypal. DirectI.com also accepts paypal payments. OnlineNic.com has offered paypal as a payment option now. NameCheap and RegisterFly both accept paypal but are both enom resellers, not registrars.
Q: What is Registrar-Lock?
A: Registrar-Lock is a status a domain can be put in. It means the domain cannot be transferred from one registrar to another.
Q: What registrars offer free API?
A: Enom.com, DirectI.com, ******.com, DotRegistrar.com offer free API (list not comprehensive).
Tucows.com (OpenSRS) offers API free with an account which costs around $500.
Q: BuyDomains.com/DomainDeluxe/UltimateSearch/NameAdminInc/etc owns the domain I want, what should I do?
A: Pay their asking price or make an offer to them. These large companies will not sell cheap, so if they do not respond, take it as a ‘no.’ These companies are earning hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars by maintaining a strong domain portfolio, they have no reason to sell their domains for cheap.

.ORG Specific Questions
Q: How come I cannot register a two character (or letter) long domain that shows as available?
A: The registration of two character .ORG domains is no longer allowed. These domains are now reserved, all currently registered two character .org domains are grandfathered and are allowed to be used and sold.
Registrar Related Questions
Enom Questions
Q: What is access.enom.com?
A: access.enom.com is essentially an interface to allow people to change settings on a domain without actually ever having control. If you buy a domain do NOT get an access.enom.com account, but make sure to have to domain name pushed to your own account. That is a common scam, but there is also a legitimate use for access.enom.com: many people need to have access to change the domain’s details.
Q: Why are people giving away all these free accounts?
A: Enom lets you create sub accounts that earn you commission. Using an account under someone means every time you buy a domain name they earn a small amount of money. That amount varies by reseller because some have different pricing levels.
Q: How much does it cost to become an enom reseller?
A: It is free, you can use the Registry-Rocket service which uses enom’s credit card processing and you do not have to make any downpayment.
Q: What is PDQ?
A: PDQ is a more advanced reseller script that allows more flexibility and customization for the reseller. It costs $99/year. Enom describes it as “PDQ is a full featured customizable e-commerce website. It is designed as a powerful tool to sell domain names. You give your site a name, set a color scheme, upload a logo (or not), and set the pricing. We take care of the website hosting, merchant processing and all other eNom services.”
Q: When do I get my commission? I sold a domain but I cannot find the money anywhere.
A: The commission you earn sits for 90 days to help cover enom from charge-backs. You can view your earnings at http://www.enom.com/resellers/CommissionAccount.asp (available under resellers–>sub-accounts–>commission account in the top menu). Once 90 days is up you can have a check made out to you or have it deposited into your account.
Godaddy/WildWest Domains/BlueRazor Related Questions
Q: Where can I register nameservers?
A: Click on the domain name, then click host summary on the right, and then click register nameservers.
Privacy/Proxy Domain Registration
QWhere can I find private/proxy registrations for my domain names?
http://www.alternativeidentity.com/about.htm
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/faq/f…&topic=Domains
http://www.networksolutions.com/doma…/private.jhtml
http://www.enom.com/privacy-protecti…is-privacy.asp
http://registerfly.com/protectfly/

Q: Where can i sell my domain names?
A: There is many places like forums and domain selling companies here is a list of places where you can sell your domain/domains at:
Domain Name Offers and Requests at Webhostingtalk.com
www.ebay.com
www.afternic.com
www.sedo.com
www.domainsystem.com
www.greatdomains.com
www.tdnam.com
Domain Specific Forums:
www.dnforum.com
www.domainstate.com
www.namepros.com
www.domaingator.com
www.domain-chat.com
www.domainnameforum.com
or run a page on the domain if it has typin traffic and put
THIS DOMAIN IS FOR SALE

So I have several domain names registered through GoDaddy and I use EveryDNS for their free DNS services. EveryDNS, EditDNS and maybe others have been gobbled up by DynDNS and are no longer going to be free. DynDNS is charging an outrageous $29.95 per domain per year for DNS services.
So where do I go from here? I have started some digging and I hope that others can join in.
freedns.afraid.org offers free DNS services. I could not tell how many of my own domains were free.
clouddns.com offers free DNS services. You can do 3 for free then it is $9 a year for unlimited.
namecheap.com is a registrar charging $9 per domain but they offer full DNS services for each domain. They also have free DNS services where you do not have to host your domain there. I am interested to see what their interface looks like and how many you can host.
Chime in!

They are all registered at GoDaddy, free push!
will add more domains to the list later
Design Related Domains
NinjaLogos.com – 4/20/2012
MichiganSites.com – 9/12/2011
TeamWordpress.com – 4/11/2012
BannerSmack.com – 7/4/2011
DesignsforFacebook.com – 10/23/2011
FacebookforaBusiness.com – 11/13/2011
FanPageForFacebook.com – 11/13/2011
LogoEffect.com – 6/22/2011
MendWebs.com – 4/11/2012
Printing Related Domains
NextDayPostCard.com – 8/21/2011
PrintingRocket.com – 8/21/2012