Warning - Do Not Use Western Union

[AB0CD]

This happened to me -- and I wrote about it in the recent issue of The Low Down/The Official Journal of the Colorado QRP Club, names included. It began with a want to buy ad I placed for an OHR 500, and it brought the cockroaches out into the light. I got scammed, with the aid of Western Union as well.

Do not - ever - use Western Union. It is a despicable company.

Now, go buy my Mosley mini-beam and my K2. I will not scam you!

72/73,

Dick Schneider/AB0CD/Denver..
Editor/The Low Down

[W5QI]

Same thing happened to me a few years back, He wanted Western Union money order sent to a 3rd party.... 3609 dollars down the drain, FBI said it would take several years because of a large backload, I kissed it goodbye... I bought a Icom 7600 for 3550.00

73 de KA7W

[LZ2ILR]

western union has been used for scams for years. far better to use moneygram as they demand passport, phone number, and usually far more id than they need to. as an ex-pat in eastern europe i use them to receive and send cash every couple of weeks. they are also a lot cheaper than WU and available in most banks (in europe at least) the only other way i use is COD from a reputable courier within my country. payfail is out of the question after they tried to hold funds from the sale of some fairly simple scientific apparatus under grounds that 'i might be a terrorist'! I got my funds in the end and never used them since.
one other way that should be safe is to open a seprate bank account just to send and receive funds and never keep money in it otherwise. iban and swift codes send cash fast, and to a verified account. just make sure you do check who they are first. why not ask to speak to them via telephone, where you call them. you can reverse check the number then. or even on air, i doubt most criminals know how to do a correct qso and operate the gear (if there is any gear).

[N4KCN]

I was contacted by a guy in Spain via E-mail asking about a rig I have "for sale". In his email, I could see the conversation between him and the other guy. He asked the "seller" for his call sign but never got it. I don't have a rig for sale. Apparently, the "seller" lifted pictures of one of my rigs off of my website. Somehow, he figured out who I was and he contacted me. Smart on his part. It probably kept him from getting scammed.

One of the things you should ask for a picture of is the serial number plate. That's generally not something a scammer could arbitrarily be able to find a picture of on the web. it's POSSIBLE, but a LOT harder to find than a pic of the radio itself.

[WB4TJH]

Paypal certainly is not perfect, but it is the ONLY way I will do business with an individual on line. Period. Only a naive fool would take a chance sending money any other way to someone they don't personally know, in my opinion. At least PayPal gives you some recourse if you get ripped off. Sending money any other way is like throwing it down a hole.

[N0AZZ]

USPS or any money order is the same thing as sending cash to someone pure and simple no real recourse I have found out the hard way and ripped off using a USPS money order.

The only way to do any business online is to use a credit card or to use Pay Pal with a credit card tied to the account as primary for every purchase then your protected. This is the only you can be sure you will get what you buy and in a timely manor if you do not all you do is notify your credit card company and tell them you have a fraud case and they will take care of everything. Your account will have the money back into it in a day ot two. As soon as you notify your credit card company notify Pay Pal second but they will do nothing for months for you but that doesn't matter it will finally be resolved and you have your money back anyway by the time they finally respond back to you.

If someone doesn't doesn't take Pay Pal beware usually means no bank account or credit cards so they can be traced or trusted. Pay Pal is just to easy and I have no problems with the 3 1/2% they charge buying or selling just part of doing business online to be safe. Do it any other way fine just don't come crying when your ripped off or you buy a 9.5 out of a 10 radio and get a parts only piece of junk or whatever. You could have protected yourself with a guarantee for 3 1/2% and many times an extended warranty on new equipment using your CC.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

[AJ4GQ]

Fred,
PayPal charges 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction. The fee is 3.9% if the other party's account is not in the USA.
Hart

[N0AZZ]

Fred,
PayPal charges 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction. The fee is 3.9% if the other party's account is not in the USA.
Hart

Still dirt cheap for what you get or don't get if that's the case. How could anyone complain about something so cheap for insurance for the seller and the buyer?

[G4LNA]

Put your mugshot on the ZED and ask for a picture of the person offering the sale holding the said item, not foolproof granted, because they might have hacked your QRZ account, but my guess is that lowlife are oppotunists and don't have the intelligence to hack accounts.

[W6FDU]

A few weeks ago I received a USPS money order that turned out to be counterfeit. I even had it examined by the bank officers before I deposited. Chase Bank later re-examined it and stated that it was the best forgery they've ever seen. They've turned it over to the proper authorities for investigation. Yes, it was a postal money order that was a good copy of the U. S. Postal Service's one. I was lucky since I waited for the "money order" to clear before sending the goods. Judging from the e-mail messages from the sender, this annoyed him/her. The result was that I didn't lose the funds, but I did have to pay Chase Bank for a fradulent returned check transaction fee. It looks like I was dealing with two different types of crooks on this one.

73,

Ben, W6FDU