By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

The Web is full of scams, limited only by one's imagination.  Some are truly sinister; for example, intended by (1) human traffickers to lure women into sexual slavery, or by (2) the cartels to target victims for organ harvesting and drugs like Fentanyl.  Others are more "benign," simply bent on fleecing unsuspecting targets of their monies.  I have written about them in the past.[2]

The latest iteration involves the solicitation of domain name owners for purported sales to ostensibly-reputable buyers who, in fact, may not exist.[3].  Such a scam has been described as follows:

Domain name scams are types of Intellectual property scams or confidence scams in which unscrupulous domain name registrars attempt to generate revenue by tricking businesses into buying, selling, listing or converting a domain name.

. . .

False offers to buy, or to find buyers 

Scam methods may operate . . . with a stranger . . . communicating an offer to buy a domain name from an unwary owner.  The offer is not genuine, but intended to lure the owner into a false sales process, with the owner eventually pressed to send money in advance to the scammer for appraisal fees or other purported services.  By mimicking aspects of the legitimate sales process and agencies, the scheme appears genuine in the early stages.  The prospect of an easy, lucrative sale disarms the owner's normal suspicion of an unsolicited offer from a stranger with no earnest value.  Since an actual transfer through the registration system is never involved, legal safeguards built into the official transfer process provide no protection.[4]

Why focus on SEDO?  Because it claims to be "[t]he world's leading platform for domain buyers and sellers."[5]

SEDO and its purported agents—aka "Domain Acquisition Specialists"—are ostensibly located in Germany, so arguably they are beyond the reach of American laws.  But SEDO has an office in the USA, and its "German" agents may be actually located here as well.  If so, they can be sued for fraud and other causes of action, if that's what they have engaged in.[6]

The bottom line with respect to any scam is that if it seems "too good to be true," it probably is.  Caveat emptor.  During increasingly-difficult economic times, women especially can be ripped off, as they struggle to make ends meet.

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© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/   He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/lawyers-and-internet-scams/ ("Lawyers And Internet Scams")

[3]  See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name_scams ("Domain name scams")

[4]  See supra n.3.

[5]  See http://www.sedo.com/ (e.g., "When a sales agreement is reached, a 15% commission applies")

[6]  See supra n.5.