Fraud? Deceit? Shill bidding? Bait and switch? On Ebay? I suspect we've all read or heard about such cases, which in part of why there's not much uptake on the thread. It's somewhat "Yeah? So what? What else is new?"
Gimmicks to jack up the perceived value of a domain?
"Who woulda thunk!"
Yep, most people that follow domains have read about, heard about, seen or experienced it all: Shill or pretend bids. Stories of great offers - "I was offered $$$$$$$$$$$, but today only I'll take $$". Appraisals. Stolen domains.
It's like everything else in commerce. Where's there's a buck to be made there will be people looking to steal it or get their hands on it the easy way.
When doing business in domains always do your homework first and respond to your instincts. Check things out. Check with experienced friends about doubtful circumstances. If the deal sounds too good to be true it probably isn't a true deal.
And forgive yourself for being human when you get it all wrong. We've all been there. I once let an unintended city typo drop, thinking "It's a mistake." Then someone bid $2,500.00 at auction for my dropped mistake, at which point I finally got what typo/mistake domains are really about. Doh! ;-/
