I am finally going to buy a domain I have been looking at. The domain owner wants me to give him my Godaddy account information and send him the payment via Paypal gift, so that there will be no extra charges. Should this cause suspicion? Does Paypal offer any kind of fraud protection? What is the best way to protect myself from fraud in this situation, without the need for escrow services, such as escrow.com? Any advice welcomed. Thanks.
2 Answers
If you are purchasing a domain you shouldn't be giving them your godaddy.com account information. That is completely unnecessary. And when buying a domain always use an escrow service. That way you can be sure everything goes smoothly and you don't become a victim of fraud. Sending the money via PayPal is almost as good as giving them cash.
Basically, if you do what they say, you are setting yourself up to be defrauded. Don't give them any login information for anything and use an escrow service. Otherwise bail out on the transaction. If they are legitimate they will agree to this.
answered Feb 1, 2011 at 14:28
Smells funny to me. I wouldn't give up my account information to anyone. I have gotten a 90% refund from Paypal when I was suckered by a bad eBay auction (the auction price less a few fees), so they do have some fraud protection in place.
Why don't you contact GoDaddy and ask how they would recommend a safe transfer? I've had very good interactions with their customer service. Tell them straight up you're worried about fraud, and ask how you can protect yourself.
