Re: Help with buying domain name through escrow.com

[Jeni Li <jeni.li () ASU EDU>]

Tim, as far as validating the owner, I would compare the email address with the whois record for the domain. If the 
administrative contact is a different email address, you might ask the seller to reply to an email message that you 
will send to the email contact of record (the administrative contact).
 
As to escrow.com, I have no personal experience with it, but do know that it's a legitimate escrow service and a common 
tool for payment of domain transfers. A good friend of mine has used it for this purpose and for many other 
transactions, and remains quite pleased with it. The basic principle is that the seller does not receive the money 
until the buyer indicates his/her satisfaction with the completed transaction. The process is described on their FAQ 
page at https://www.escrow.com/solutions/escrow/process.asp
 
Hope this helps a little. If you know Allan Ellis there at SCU, please say hello for me.
 
Kind regards,
Jeni Li
Web/Unix Systems Administrator
Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus

  -----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Discussion Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU]On Behalf Of Tim Lane
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 8:01 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: [SECURITY] Help with buying domain name through escrow.com



Hello,

just wondered if someone could offer some help here.  Someone at our University here in Australia is negotiating the 
purchase of a registered .com domain name  through another party (an individual), who is claiming title to the domain 
name.  The only contact they have at the moment is an email address.  This individual wants the purchase to be done 
through escrow.com, based purely on email address exchange.

Although this all may be legitimate, we are not sure of the process to validate this and therefore are treating it with 
some caution.  Right at the moment we only have an email address for the seller, nothing else.

The main problem is validating the process.

I am attempting to:

1) validate the authenticity of the claimed owner and;
2) validate the process for transfer of title through escrow.com

Can anyone give me some tips or ideas on how this could be achieved?

Thanks a lot,

Tim Lane

Tim Lane
Information Security Program Manager

Information Technology and Telecommunication Services
Southern Cross University
PO Box 157 Lismore NSW 2480

Ph:  61 2 6620 3290 
Fax: 61 2 6620 3033 
Email: tlane () scu edu au 
http://www.scu.edu.au <http://www.scu.edu.au/> 
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