Domain Appraisal Scams Are Still Going Strong In 2014

If you own a fair number of domain names there is a very good chance that you’ve encountered the famous Domain Appraisal Scam. I wrote a post about this scam back in March of 2012 and it now has a whopping 452 comments all from people who have caught the scammers in the act.

In case you don’t know about this scam, I’ll help save you some time and money. It works like this:

An exciting email hits your inbox – someone wants to buy one of your domains, and the good news is, they have a very meaningful budget. You jump for joy, that big sale you’ve been waiting for has come in. There’s only one more step, you need to get your domain appraised by a “trusted” domain appraisal service.

However the appraisal service the “potential buyer” is talking about isn’t a real appraisal service. Sure, they’ll show you a review on some blog about how great it is, but that’s a scam too. Unfortunately for many new domain owners the emotion of getting a nice big offer on a domain name takes over and they can’t resist. They pay for the domain offer and then the waiting game begins.

The problem is, nobody was ever interested in their domain name, instead they just wanted to steal their money. The money spent on the “appraisal” went directly to the scammer. My post back in 2012 has helped hundreds of people avoid getting scammed and hopefully this post will do the same.

So next time you get an offer on one of your domains, make sure they’re not asking for an appraisal because in real life, that never happens.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton