HAMS AVOIDING SCAMS buying online without ripoffs by

HAMS AVOIDING SCAMS (buying online without ripoffs) by Ivan Shapiro WK 1 W Presented at AARA Meeting April 4, 2013

P. T. Barnum “There’s a sucker born every minute” He did not say this, though often attributed to him. There is some truth to it, however, We must be vigilant!

We want a bargain We hams look for bargains on websites: Qrz. com Qth. com Ebay. com And hamfests So…. Let’s avoid scams

HAMFESTS *** Lots of “goodies” out there *** Other hams’ stuff they don’t need or want Do you NEED it (Impulse buying is a problem) You bought it and it doesn’t work…tough luck because you bought it and no recourse Can you send it back if it doesn’t work Is it a bargain? Know comp pricing before Can the seller demo the item

HAM LISTINGS ONLINE • Get reviews from hams who bought it: • New Equipment Reviews • Used Equipment Reviews • Reviews of Services • Visit www. eham. net/reviews

eham. net/reviews general categories

eham. net/reviews example of specifics: transceivers

DON’T GET RIPPED-OFF Pay attention to the wording Try to know the seller Don’t fall foreign scams Don’t send payment by Western Union If paypal don’t use “personal” unless…. . Try to find reviews of the seller not always possible) Only buy from licensees (make sure-here’s how

qth. com example of wanted ad AMPHF - WTB: Peter Dahl Transformer 77 SX/DX – Looking for an internal Peter Dahl Plate Transformer for an Alpha 77 SX/DX. – Listing #1048076 - Submitted on 02/18/13 by Callsign KA 1 J - IP: host 253 -136. excalibur. tvcconnect. net – Click Here to Email -- Send this Ad to a Friend

qth. com example for sale ad AMPHF - Alpha 77 SX Hf Amp Beautiful!!!! – Alpha 77 SX Hf Amp. Looks Beautiful!!!! New panels and looks great inside. Works 100 Percent!! Tubes are new with warranty which Iam keeping or if you pay more I will sell the tubes with amp. So selling without tubes. But works 100 percent!! Will ship or can be picked up at my shack in NJ. 4400. 00 Plus shipping. Great deal for someone that wants a great amp. With tubes 5600. 00 Thanks. Rich 973 -857 -1195 – Listing #1053087 - Submitted on 03/15/13 by Callsign KF 2 GG - IP: ool 45769925. dyn. optonline. net – Click Here to Email -- Click Here to View Picture -- Send this Ad to a Friend

Ads: Wanted vs. For Sale Scammers are lurking for suckers Scammers respond to wanted ads For sale may be scam, but at least you can verify the IP address and check him out

Response to my ad What is wrong here? • Name: juan • Callsign: EA 0 JC • E-mail: juan 17880@gmail. com • The response is: • if still interested , i will email you some pics and details as soon as i hear from you, thanks

So I look up the call sign on qrz. com EA 0 JC Spain King of Spain Juan Carlos de Borbón Royal Palace Madrid Spain Juan Carlos is King of Spain. Verified on qrz. com and google and by a ham from Spain. King has this call…. . but (next slide tells the story)

Call Sign Stolen The scammer finds a call on qrz where there is no email. He takes the call and creates a “generic email” callsign@yahoo, com callsign@gmail. com

Pictures of For Sale equipment Copied from others on line I have at least three sets of same pictures Three showing same serial # Could be from three sellers…. or same seller using generic email with call sign Is that a giveaway or what ? !? !? !?

Same serial # I’ve seen before

QTH. com • • Ham Radio Classified Ads A Free Service by KA 9 FOX & QTH. com • QTH. COM Home - Classifieds Home - Swap Chat Board - Callsign Lookup Search - Place Ad - Edit Ad - Delete Ad Feedback Forum - Safe Trading Tips Banner Advertising - Web Hosting - Domain Name Registrations - Make Donation

Counterfeit Money Order • • • EST 123 Counterfeit Money Orders by N 5 LON » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4: 02 am I have been "dealing" with a guy named Hank Thomas (or Hank Thoms) on a radio that I had for sale. It was one of those deals where he wanted to send me a Money Order for $1000 for a $75 radio, and I was to cash it and he'd arrange pickup of the cash and radio (he was supposedly sending the radio to his client in Malta and that was the smallest denomination of MO they could get). Of course I knew the scam and got the post office involved right away. They have had a rash of fake MOs lately and really have no interest anymore. I even got the guy to relinquish control of this deal to me, where I was calling all the shots when I refused to Western Union the money to him. . . claiming I was an invalid and couldn't get to Western Union. He finally agreed to have Fed Ex pick up the package of money and radio (they even came here today for it), so I know the address it's going to is legitimate (in NY). Do you think the PO would even act on this? Not even chasing shadows here, we have a definate pickup point, and they don't even care. Guess this fake-money-order-thing would be a great business to get into. . . it's apparent it's not against the law if enough people do it. At least that's what the PO told me indirectly, ("there's so many people doing it now that we just can't follow up on the leads. ") I guess if everyone shoots someone, then it's a crime that becomes legal by default! N 5 LON – – – Posts: 1 Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2005 3: 53 am

Scammer w/ callsign (? ) • Scammer representing himself as KG 4 TUP, Has ad on here also • by bgtatum » Tue Jan 15, 2013 11: 24 am • Recently I posted a wanted ad for a nice TS-130 S. I received a reply from a scammer posing as KG 4 TUP. It is very obvious by his wording and offering of the equipment he is a scammer. He also has an ad on this site( Listing #1040235) offering a new in box IC-7566 Pro III. In his response he was offering me a nice, in the original box, TS-130 S with all accessories, and told me he was selling it to obtain money for medical bills. In his ad on this site he says he needs the money for a project at hand. • bgtatum – – Posts: 2 – Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 2: 42 am • Top

Good Luck • • Vigilance Attention to detail Suspicion Check qrz. com and FCC, though not totally reliable. Could be misrepresentation • fin