Invictus7 is now Scamming People as SmartBusiness on Flippa

Wow, checkout Flipping Ethics to see how many of these sites are being sold.

Andrew:

Hi.
We treat fraud very seriously on Flippa and have a number of systems in place to catch offenders (such as invictus7) trying to re-register under a different name.
Our fraud prevention measures show that it is highly likely the SmartBusiness seller is not invictus7. Our subsequent correspondence with the seller indicates that they originally purchased the domains from invictus7 but are otherwise not related. We have concluded that SmartBusiness is most likely a legitimate seller and are re-instating their account (which was suspended during the investigation).
I hope that eases any concerns – we will continue to monitor the accounts and auctions closely.

Andrew, I have been a big defender of Flippa in the past’ believing that Flippa does put consumer protection over profit where necessary. However, this to me screams icky-ness.

You are claiming that he bought the domains from Invictus7? Or should I say he is… Odd that is WHOIS should also be a PO BOX in the Chicago area. Palatine, IL is very near Chicago, IL. I used to live in both!!

Also, DOES IT MATTER? Basically if I get banned on Flippa I can sell my sites through a third party and that is just fine? So, I get banned from Flippa for scamming people with my pop-up sites. All I have to do is find someone who will sell my sites on Flippa for me and it is ok with Flippa? I mean, it is not like this is happening behind your backs — you SAY the guy told you he is selling Invicuts7′s sites!

Well, you actually said domains, but since this is clearly the SAME sites (different domains) that Invictus7 was selling what is occurring becomes obvious.

If you want, I will connect the dots further for you to demonstrate clearly that this is the same “entity” selling sites again on Flippa – regardless who the “face” is in the mirror. However, I suggest you look more closely yourselves. I look forward to your response. And, thanks again for providing buyers/sellers the best website marketplace to date.

To be frank, I think the fact that the sites are all the exact same as Invictus7 — even down to the AFFILIATE LINKS (same!!) and also of every style Invictus7 was selling is pretty compelling evidence alone.

Then, add to it the fact that both the new phone number for SmartBusiness (in WHOIS) and the old number for Invictus7 (WHOIS) are Chicago numbers that when you call them both are basically “cans”.

Add to that the fact that the “new” designer (SmartBusiness) is creating sites with the same style and same naming conventions as the old seller…

Add to that the fact that if you look at the binary from the images on the sites from both flippa users they are being created with the same program…

EVEN the feedback LEFT BY both Invictus7 and SmartBusiness look suspicious, no…?

Sure, any one of these things alone (ok, maybe not the fact that they are the exact same sites) could be ignored as coincidence. But put it all together and this is beyond obvious.

SAME SITES
SAME DESIGNER SIGNATURE
SAME GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
SAME AFFILIATE LINKS
SAME “CAN” PHONE
SAME FEEDBACK (LEAVING) PROFILE

Oh, and the new seller also just happened to open his account right when the old one ran into trouble on Flippa! Compare dates when SmartBusiness joined Flippa and when I7 left. Is it really not obvious to you what is going on here?

Andrew: I also do want to make my position clear. I am all for giving a guy a second chance. Third chance. Fourth chance. Hundredth chance… If they have indicated they are trying to improve and are demonstrating that.

The good news is that, as you have noted, the auctions are cleaned up a bit… And while I do not agree with the claimed potential of the sites (made by SmartBusiness) I am glad to see much of the blatantly false information removed in these new listings.

If you do determine that SB & IV7 are the same guy (or so closely linked it is futile to try and separate them) and, honestly Andrew, it is hard to even imagine SB is no more than a IV7 customer, maybe a ban is not the answer. Maybe he could rectify some of the problems which got him banned in the first place and you could let us all know what the outcome is…?

Andrew,
Care to update us on this? It seems SmartBusiness has had his account suspended. Did the obvious turn out to be true – Invictus7 had risen from the Flippa grave?

I notice that SmartBusiness is back in good status and selling on Flippa. Care to share what happened that caused a suspension and then a restore of services.

TO MY READERS:
I would still use extreme caution when participating in any auction of SmartBusiness. It is known that this is the same model and these are the same sites being promoted by Invictus7 and the users has been banned. Certainly there are many much better options on Flippa.

To understand that you need to look through all the posts on Invictus7. But, on the fact that he is listing the same sites re-branded everywhere it looks like he is going to do less of that. See here where he says “I will not offer any more game sites for sale in 2011, so this is a last chance to buy from me.”. So he will not sell anymore game sites… Oh, wait. See here.