Info Marketing Money Machines

Sarah and the Webatronics Tele Scam

by 24 Comments

Seth Godin sold a fair number of books with the title, All Marketers Are Liars.

And these days, that’s just scratching the surface.

It seems no matter which way you turn, there’s no shortage of nefarious types willing to prey on good-natured — and often hapless — entrepreneurs trying to make it in this cut-throat world of business.

Just today, I got two calls from a bubbly little ball of goodness named “Sarah” with Webatronics.

Sweet as a scorpion, this was her message.

“Hello, this is Sarah with Webatronics.  Please call me back concerning your recent domain purchase and your web robotics subscription. My number is 888-534-6477 option 1.  I look forward to hearing from you.”

Have a listen if you like. Click on the nearly invisible button on the very left of the media player.

My, she sounds cheerful and ever so helpful, doesn’t she?

And, I register a lot of domains alright, so I’m a good mark.

You’ve heard of drunk dialing?

Well, in the old days, “drunk domain registering” was my pastime.

Funny how those brilliant bolts of inspiration at midnight seem so pathetic by the light of day next morning, reinforced by a stiff hang-over.

And if you care to buy BuenasNiches.com, I’ll make you a good deal. Buenas Niches. Get it?

Back to Sarah.

The problem is I don’t know what the hell “Webatronics” is.

I’ve never heard of them till today and I neither have an account with them, nor a “web robotics” subscription. But Webatronics is an authentic, ubiquitous sounding name and that’s why good ‘ol Sarah had me for a moment.

The Russian aphorism, which became a Ronald Reagan favorite, ”trust but verify” is a good mantra to follow.

It’ll also keep you out of the clutches of the Sarahs of this world trolling for a meal.

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Comments

  1. Yep, I wouldn’t say all marketers are liars but there’s definitely quite a few of them!

    I live in the UK and there’s a TalkTalk scam where I keep getting friendly calls from Bob, the helpful Indian sounding gentleman from their Internet security department.

    I know it’s a scam so it can’t be compared… or can it.

    Because there are a tonne of no risk no fee lawyers that keep ringing me about my car accident that I never had too.

  2. I concur with Will. I do not have an account, subscription nor any other affiliation with Webatronics, yet they call me about my subscription. Another reason to stay away. I several real estate websites touting homes for sale in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, but none of these has any connections to “Webatronics”. If people need to find me as a Military Relocation Professional, REMAX REALTOR or agent, or simply needed to find a great real estate agent in Hampton Roads they do and they have so far found me without any subscription to this Webatronics service. As Will said be wary and do your homework. A suggestion for marketers, do not give my your literally correct statement e.g. “I want to speak with you about your subscription with us” when I never had a subscription. Honesty and purpose goes a long way!

  4. I have just been made aware that someone @ 813-862-0357 is calling up and impersonating me and my business WebaTronics. This person is NOT ME!!! I am NOT CALLING PEOPLE SPAMMING and looking for business!!! I am now trying to track this down to figure out what I can do about this!!!

  5. I just got the same exact MSG for the first time.
    Fortunately I never answer the phone unless I know the caller.
    If the caller has something important to say I return their call otherwise just ignore them so I do’t talk to Sarah or IRS threatening agents – that says I must return their call or I be arrested by local cops- or other criminals like them.
    They keep calling and calling but because of lack of response eventually they go away.

    By the way I know what you mean by “drunk domain registering” . I have done that and wasted money so don’t feel too bad about it.
    Thanks for the page.

  6. I just got a call but the intro
    Was skipping…it kept same the same intro over and over again…lmao

  8. It’s January 16, 2017 and I just got the same call this morning, so this is still going on.

  9. Just got a call as well after purchasing a domain over the weekend. Sarah’s back at it….

  11. Just got it too:

    Voicemail Transcription

    Hello this is Sarah with Web(?) Tronics. Please call me back concerning your recent domain purchase and your web robotic subscription. My no. is 1-888-534-6477 option one. I look forward to hearing from you.

  12. Anyone else who is getting these messages in real estate too? I see a post above from an RE agent. Im a licensed agent too. Hmmmm…….

  15. Just got a call from Sarah too. Our call came from a phone number in Half Moon Bay, CA. So it is continuing into February.

  16. I got that call today and actually called them back to tell them to never contact me again or I’ll notify the police on them.

  17. As I write this comment I am being bombarded with phone calls, from Sarah. Last night I registered my domain name, which is a pun, already. I have been called 6 times today. I found this website in a desperate google search, to find out why I had a Web Robotics subscription.

    I would like to know if anyone wants

    http://www.gulliblegoat.com

    I would like to buy it, but I ran out of money, purchasing 6 domain names yesterday.

  18. Being a web developer I always do my own site development and never buy any of the extra options or frills that sometimes go with the purchase of a domain name. So I listened to the message and laughed knowing it was a scam right off. I also got an email from a different company that said final payment was due on my brand new domain that I just paid for. These scammers will stop at nothing.

  19. I just got the same message. I never look up phone calls but this one seemed funny. Glad I did some research before calling back. Thanks

  21. I just got the same call today from Sarah calling from 650-889-4691, Half Moon Bay, CA. But the call back number is 1-888-534-6477 option 1. I have never purchased a domain, or subscribed to Web Robotics. UGH My name and number got purchased on some data list from some place:( And it was my cell phone, which I don’t usually give out…that’s what the home phone is for!! LOL

  22. Got a voicemail from a “Sarah” who wanted to talk to me about my recent domain purchase from Webatronics as well as a web robotics subscription. Was asked to call 888 543 6477 option 1. The call came in with spoofed # 805-637-7243.

    I buy about 10-20 domains per day and receive no less than 25-50 similar type calls thanks to GoDaddy’s lack of protection of their customer information. As soon as you purchase a domain, websites such as the ones below are used by bottom-feeding scammers to spam and scam you to death.

    https://whoisds.com/
    http://getwhoisdata.com/
    https://wwws.io/

    These lists are updated daily and exist for one reason only… For scammers. In my opinion, these businesses are WORSE than the scammers themselves because they are the ones enabling the scammers to do what they do on a massive scale. These are the companies we need to go after. If the scammers cannot get our info, they cannot scam us anymore. Domain registrars should be bound by the same laws as other businesses to protect our information. It should not be something we are forced to pay extra for. Some registrars now offer FREE privacy protection. GoDaddy is not one of them.

    So even though these scammers are not from GoDaddy as they claim, they may as well be because it is GoDaddy and their lack of concern for our privacy that is at the root of the problem.

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