There was a press release put out that reported the domain name imoveis.com.br stolen. The release says that the domain was purchased in 2010 for $300,000 and checking out the archives on DN Journal that sale is reported.
iMoveis means real estate or homes in Portuguese.
The press release details how they believe the name was stolen.
Press Release:
In 2010 it was worth 300,000 USD and is one of the most important Brazilian domain names
In the last hours someone robbed www.imoveis.com.br, one of the most important Brazilian web domains, and the actual owners have just reported the rubbery to the authorities.
The domain was bought in 2010 for 300,000 USD by the Real Web company, who own many other important web-stars companies including the Italian Immobiliare.it.
Through fake documents presented to the NIC, the domain is now registered under the name of Lucas da Silva Cavalcante di Recife. Last night the real owners noticed from Italy a suspicious change of the access credentials. A control done in the Database owned by NIC, the association who deals with internet domains in Brazil, allowed to discover that someone, producing fake documents (including Real Web owner’s ID), proceeded with a new registration.
Andrea Piccioni, Real Web spokesman, said: “It’s a very serious event and we have asked our lawyers to deal with it. Authorities are already investigating about the possible involvement of other people that could have created a fake certification in a local notary office used for the swindle. It is important to proceed as speed as possible: above all, because it is possible that Lucas da Silva Cavalcante di Recife intends to sell the domain www.imoveis.com.br to other people or companies that are completely unaware of the fact that the domain actually belongs to Real Web. We have already presented a motion to the NIC/Brazilian Register to throw light on this serious event”.
For any further info:
Marcus Crofton +44 (0) 20 7 247 8334
While the domain was purchased for $300k I would argue given the market it represents that it is probably worth far more than that. The population of the top twelve cities in Brazil alone exceeds 37 million while Brazil has close to 200 million inhabitants in total. Yes, it is an emerging market country so the average property is worth less than what you find in the US.