USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN DEALING WITH...

[K4ICL]

Folks, PLEASE use extreme caution swapping and/or buying from people who:

· Have NO callsign. (After all, it is not that tough for people to be legally licensed if really interested in ham radio.)

· Address does not MATCH the FCC callsign database. (Perhaps the person just made up the callsign so you would think he/she is a ham. Use the QTH.com callsign lookup link which is on every page on this site, to verify the address you are sending the check or equipment to, is the same as the what the FCC has on file for that callsign.)

· Has a freebie email address like xxxx@juno.com or xxxx@hotmail.com. (Scammers have ruined this for honest people who want to take advantage of these services.)

· Has no phone number or an untraceable phone number (Search for the number using Google, no hits? Time to wonder why…)

· Has negative feedback on the Feedback Forum (http://chat.QTH.com). (Negative feedback rarely “just happens.” Usually there is a reason for it.)

· Has to sell the item “ASAP” or “Right Away.” (There are many reasons for needing to sell something in a rush but there is NO reason for you to rush into buying it.)

· Does not give his/her first and last name in the ad. (How are you going to find “Jim” in Denver where thousands of “Jim’s” live?)

· Wants you to send money right away or the deal will go to another who is waiting to buy it. (This in an old very time worn ploy and probably needs no further comment. But it still happens.)

· Has no callsign, is not a legitimate dealer, and wants to sell you a transmitter of any kind. (Ask yourself what an unlicensed person is doing with a transmitter or amplifier that requires a proper FCC license to legally use.)

· Wants to send you a CASHIERS CHECK for MORE than the agreed upon sale amount, then wants you to send the balance to a third party. This is a well known scam. The cachiers check will turn out to be fraudulent and may come back to you weeks later from the bank, meanwhile you are out the money you sent to the third party.

If any one of the above fits a prospective seller, your resources could be at risk, so start asking serious, direct questions. If you don’t hear the right answers, look somewhere else. After all, there are thousands of good solid honest sellers out there and there is no deal good enough to throw caution to the wind.

[N6ATF]

"Use the QTH.com callsign lookup link which is on every page on this site, to verify the address you are sending the check or equipment to, is the same as the what the FCC has on file for that callsign."

My callsign is not found through the QTH callsign lookup link.

However, if you use the FCC search in my sig, it will be found. Every time I post on this site I get someone bugging me that my callsign 'doesn't exist'.

[w0bkr]

Just a note: There are quite a few "Sellers" on here with Callsign = NONE.
Trend lightly when considering dealing with someone without a call.

[wf2s]

In the last month, responses to two ham ads have brought them out of the woodwork.. The old ploy of sending a cashier's check in excess with my refunding the balance to their shipper by Western Union, no callsign, no last name, using freebie mail accounts and not responding to requests for callsign.. The first clue is the repeated failure to capitalize the pronoun "I" when referring to themselves.. I respond only once that I only accept US Postal money orders or a direct PayPal deposit. So far I am batting 1000.

My professional career involved making instant assessments of persons and character where errors were likely to result in personal injury or worse... I learned fast to 'get a read of the land'.

as P.T. Barnum once said 'there is one born every minute and two to take them'.[/b]

[KB3RPE]

I have another "gripe" re: "sellers" ... be cautious<IMHO> about hams who use "pen names" & not their call-sign when posting an item for sale....are they embarrassed about being a ham or is it a ploy

I won't respond even if it's the "rig of my dreams" .....

[KP4HE]

If he doesn't take [b]PAYPAL it's might be he has no or bad credit.
PAYPAL runs on checking accounts or Credit Card accounts. If there is no funds in the account; it give a wait period.
All must match with your original Person's real name. Don't use someone else's.
He might not want to pay the service fees. That's up to both. Paypal will charge the seller always. Maybe you will need to pay for this service when buying. You will be able to get your money back if something goes wrong.[/b]

[KD8Z]

Many of the older generation will balk at using systems like PayPal and even classifieds like Ebay which has btw been the victim of many scams lately. So if you are not prepared to send me a postal Money Order and I mean a US Postal Money Order forget dealing with me. Better yet come by the house and pick up your item and confirm that it works, is as described and has all options listed.

When I am the buyer I always like to call the seller's home phone/land line, cell phones are very dangerous and mean nothing from a buyers point of view. But in my case my LL is used only to get internet access and does not even have a phone hooked to it.

Google the sellers email addy, LL phone, name, home address and any other pertinent info you can get or pry out of the seller. Googling a callsign will almost always get a corresponding phone number somewhere in the search, then you can compare the numbers.

You can almost always get a local ham club member to vouch for the seller as I like to do with any big dollar purchase.

Above all if the deal seems to sweet to bwe true it probably is.