Thank you for this article , I will do my best to send my friends to the QRZ website , as I have already , but when this is widely read, you will have helped so many more people understand how serious this problem is. 73s, Rich KD2GHL
These scams are moving on shore now too. On another site, I had a guy post from a US location and even provided a US phone number. When I spoke to him, his off shore accent did not match the profile of the ham from Iowa who I later located and warned. I asked him a very simple question that any ham would know and he failed it. You have to do this on the phone or they will google it.
This is the reverse of the scam that sellers were getting hit with a while ago, where they would list a piece of equipment, the scammer would send a cashier's check for an amount far and above the amount of the purchase, and the scammer would tell the seller to send the remainder of the money to some odd address. The cashier's checks would obviously be fake, so the seller would be out the equipment and the cash. My personal selling policy is PayPal, Cash on Delivery, or your check is held for 21 days or until it clears the bank, and only then does the merchandise ship.
Thank you Fred, Ham radio is supposed to be fun, but guys like this are taking the fun out of it. l had a microphone for sale and a guy bought it using the name and call of a ham that l actually know! l, like you played along. Long story short, l was "overpaid". l was sent a cashiers check for $1400.56 for a $40 mic. l was supposed to cash it and send the balance to him as his "secretary" wrote it for the wrong amount. lt is now proudly displayed in my ham shack. Thanks again for all you do Fred. 73, Joe WB0MMZ
Let me join in and add my thanks. I have been lucky to have purchased from great fellow operators on this site. Another reminder that as "hams," for the most part we are a self policing group. 73, Jim W4FJT
Dear Fred, Top Notch Job! That's the way to follow through. Thank You for sharing all of the details from this scam. Now those of use who have never purchased used equipment have a better idea of what to look out for. Please keep us up to date with the Law Enforcement effort to catch this person or persons. Much Respect, John.
There was a time on QRZ, and maybe I just have missed it lately, when you could put in a town in the database search and get info on every ham that lived there including their address. If hams were willing, a list of folks that would agree to check on items for sale in their area could actually verify that a supposed ham selling something on QRZ actually had the item for sale and was legit. Nothing like knowing someone is going to knock on your door to check. I had the experience of buying an imaginary TS-2000, along with lots of other folks. The guy was real novice ham but was a doper and had no radio. His parents caught wind of it and refunded everyone's money. That normally would not happen. Great article and lessons for us all. Thanks. Bob
Good catch and also I... DHL only ships overseas not domestic shipments and big red flag: wife not same address as husbands. The biggest laugh I got was the passport signature. Damn, messing with the poor cancel patient...
You should definitely contact the bank and inform them of the scam. They can then look into the account for other unusual activity. I worked in the fraud industry for 10 years, the banks really do appreciate getting this kind of information.
