NOTE: If you are posting to inform us about a fake bank or other site related to advance fee fraud, please use the Fake Bank Forum.

Please be aware that escrow fraud does not fall exactly within the set of scams that aa419 usually concentrates on. However, this does not mean we don't want to hear about those sites! By posting them here, we're helping make people aware of fraudulent sites and preventing them from falling victim to escrow scams.

You can also visit the forums at http://www.escrow-fraud.com for more opinions.

Rules

1. This is a working forum. Frivolous comments may be deleted or moved without further notifiction.
   
   
2. Be civil to other forum members, and be thorough in your investigations. Make absolutely certain that a site is fake before you write an abuse complaint to a hoster. If you're in doubt, mark a thread as "Need Help" and ask questions.
   
   
3. Use the "State" system to indicate progress on a site. If you are not sure how to file a post, please mark it Need Help and a more experienced member will investigate.
   
   
4. Respect the "Keep Off" state without exception. This is used for escrow companies which are subject to investigation by law enforcement agencies, financial regulators, or other groups. If it goes offline too quickly, they can't effectively do their job -- a "Keep Off" gives them time to do their job!

What should I include in a post?

1. Before starting a new thread, please search for an existing one. The idea is that each escrow company in this forum has a single thread, so any changes to it can be tracked easily. Always re-open an old topic before starting a new one for the same site. Duplicate topics may be locked, deleted, or merged without further notification.
   
   
2. The heading of each thread should contain just the URL of the escrow company without the protocol portion "http://www" (For example: fake-escrow-site.com is an appropriate heading, http://www.fake-escrow-site.com is not).
   
   
3. Include the full website address (WITH the http:// and www parts) in your post content, so it can be searched for easily (see 2 above).
   
   
4. Do a WHOIS search and post your results.
   
   
5. Check the aa419 online database for the site and post a link to the page (if found) or note if it is not found. If the site is not in the database, please set the state to "Need Help" so a database maintainer knows to act on it!
   
   
6. Are there other fake escrow companies of the same design? Has a legitimate site has been plagiarized by the fake? The easiest way to check this is to do a web search for unusual sentences from the fake escrow company. If you find a "clone" when searching this way, make a note and start a new thread for the new escrow company.
   
   
7. Escrow.com has put together a list of indications that an escrow web site is fraudulent. This is a great place to start your research.

Things to know about submitting abuse complaints to web hosts

1. A complaint about a fake escrow company should be copied to the appropriate contact at escrow.com. Their legal department will send supporting complaints to the web hosters. See here for the most up-to-date contact information.
   
   
2. If you're looking through this forum for a site to kill, please prioritize sites that already are in the database. If it's not in the database, then aa419 needs time to do research and put it in!
   
   
3. Always be polite and courteous when communicating with a hoster, no exceptions. You won't get anywhere by insulting them.
   
   
4. WARNING: Sometimes hosters are unaware that their customers are dangerous criminals and may forward your complaint to the web site owner. For your personal safety, it is strongly recommended that you set up a web-mail account for a level of anonymity. (NB, you're much more likely to just get tons of spam than be in any real danger, but why take the risk?)
   
   
5. There is no such thing as "possession" of any fake escrow company listed here; they all need to be taken offline and we don't care who does it.
   
   
6. NEVER impersonate law enforcement when sending an abuse complaint to a hoster! Do not spoof abuse complaints either. If the hoster responds that they need a court order or similar "official" notification, then (1) continue pointing out that they have the power to enforce their own TOS, and (2) find the appropriate legal authority and request they send an "official" complaint.