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Anatomy of an Internet Scam at QRZ

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by AA7BQ, Aug 18, 2014.

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  1. AA7L

    AA7L Ham Member QRZ Page

     
  2. K9DWB

    K9DWB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Hmm, I wonder if his cancel is better or worse?
     
  3. KA8DKT

    KA8DKT Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    The faked passport was two years out of date. Your conversations with him are dated 2014. The passport expired in 2012.
     
  4. WJ4U

    WJ4U Subscriber QRZ Page

    [​IMG]
     
    VE5KE likes this.
  5. W8GL

    W8GL Ham Member QRZ Page

    Another red flag to me was that Annette's photo looked like she could be old enough to be Paul's MOTHER instead of his WIFE!
     
  6. KI5IZR

    KI5IZR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Hmmm.... Interesting. I'm reading the comments and even one written a two weeks ago is mentioning what they saw in the photo.... but I can't see ANY of the photos in the original post. Are they still up?

    Anyway -- Thank you for posting this warning. I hope it will help many people to NOT fall into such a scam.
     
  7. KJ7QQG

    KJ7QQG Ham Member QRZ Page

    To see the photos, right click on the broken photo icon and click open image in new tab. They still show up.
     
  8. KA9JLM

    KA9JLM Ham Member QRZ Page

    That is a maybe or maybe not.

    It is worth a try.
     
  9. K4KQR

    K4KQR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Maybe say you are sending check by slow mail to his FCC listed address. Also ask him what frequencies he hangs out on when operating. Pictures showed up for me (Apr 2022).
     
  10. OH2AXE

    OH2AXE Ham Member QRZ Page

    Many thanks for this post, Fred!
    Everything you say is valid, except a few things:
    1. If the buyer/seller is from abroad (as related to US or Canada), it may be very difficult or impossible to verify his/her credentials through "official" channels.
    2. A lot of people outside the English speaking world are not all that proficient in that language, so the messages may have plenty of typos and grammar mistakes. But that person may still be 100% legitimate. I am originally from OH land (OH2AXE), but been living in Crete, Greece (SV9RMU) since retirement and English is not my native language.
    3. Are real hams really selling their equipment in ebay? I NEVER EVER buy anything from ebay or other similar places, because I don't trust the quality of anything sold there. I'm an electronics designer.
    4. I NEVER EVER use PayPal for any payments one way or another. The same applies to Western Union and all other similar companies. I consider them very unreliable. Me and my wife have lost a fair amount of money because of PayPal - NOT because of some fraud, but because PayPal did not deliver the cash! In Europe the ONLY SENSIBLE way to transfer money is with direct bank transfer, but, of course, one must make first sure that the other person is not a scammer. From some comments here I deduced that bank transfers are not so reliable in US and we have personal experience on that, too, 'cause my XYL is from US. Cheques have not been used in Europe at least for the last 25 years. There is no way to cash them here, because no bank accepts any kind of company or persomal cheques.

    So, all in all, when dealing with foreign hams, use your phone, email, Skype, Messenger etc. to contact them, and if anything seems suspicious, end the conversation there and block that phone number, email address etc.

    Best 73 de Jukka - SV9RMU (also OH2AXE)
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2022
  11. PAULRON

    PAULRON QRZ Member

    a tip off for the drivers license picture, the card id on a slant but the photo is perfectly straight instead of being parallel with the top edge and show the correct perspective relative to the slant.

    ive been very lucky so far with the few purchases ive made here.

    kd2suf
     
  12. KI7Z

    KI7Z Ham Member QRZ Page

    I would like to add another indicator of scam. Using the word "Kindly". Kindly so this, kindly do that. As someone in the tech world, and having trams located around the world, I Can tell you only one region uses that term excessively. If you see it, you know it is not domestic, and is likely a scam operator.

    For a good laugh, look up Mark Roper Scammers on YouTube. Mark built a device that spews glitter, releases roaches, and propagates fart spray in an Indian scam call center, all caught on camera as they had access to the CCTV system in the building. Mark Roper for the win!

     

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