SAMMED -- A WARNING !!!!

[Rick Beatty]

Hello PNW — I am writing this because I have been scammed on QTH and I want everyone to know, so that you can avoid this happening to you.

I put out an ad for a 122Ghz transceiver on QTH. I received a number of responses, but when I asked for details (price, pictures, and “PayPal address) there was no more communication. I continued to run the ad, even though I had gotten 6 scammer inquiries.

Finally, I received what I Thought was a real ad and responded with my three questions and received a reply, with picture, price, and PayPal address.  I responded in kind and sent my money, $180.00 for the transceiver and $50 for shipping. Now, this is where it gets weird.

He wants a receipt that I sent the money. Which I did, he says he will ship Monday, but needs another $85.00 for shipping. After a lot of thought I sent the money, expecting to hear it was being shipped.

Next, I get an email from PayPal that the Paypal address provided is closed.
I requested his new address that, supposedly, his son’s and we are on our way. Again he says he will ship on Monday.

Monday I got an email telling me that he was not able to get the money out of his son’s account and that PayPal will only allow him to withdraw part of the $85.00 because he has exceeded his limit.  AND would I send him another $20.00 so he can ship.

At this point, I told him NO and that he either ship or send my money back. Now, I have received two more emails requesting the $20.00.
This morning, Friday I stumbled across a text from the real person telling everyone on QTH that the guy has got his Name, Call, and address but that he is a scammer. And to top it all off the person I have been dealing with is a foreign national with poor English.

Now, I know it seems odd that I would get into a mess like this but I guess it happens, as you can see. I don’t know if I have any recourse, but in another 8 days I am going to file with PayPal and see what happens.

The takeaway here is not just this guy going by the name Jim James Kern, but the other 6 scammers that inquired as well. How do I know that they were fishing? Well, for one, the last one I got there was no ad on QTH ! I had pulled the ad because I thought I had a deal.

All I can tell you is —

BE CAREFUL !!!! It is getting bad out there —

Thanks for listening — Rick W7RNB

[ba...@k7bwh.com]

Can confirm: Any sale, not just qth.com, where someone mentions “exceeds some paypal limit,” or asks for more money, or claims to suffer some paypal account problem, or “is out of town and will send someone for pickup (or dropoff)” is scam. I ran into this on craigslist a few years ago. Fortunately, I escaped without losing anything.

Be wary of $50 for shipping; that sounds excessive. A medium USPS flat rate box is $21.95.

Good luck, Rick, it’s an old scam and it’s good to remind people.

73 Barry K7BWH