Derek Halvorson KB6RDI

[kb9si]

I paid via paypal for the AL-800 amp he listed on QTH. I spoke with him and he seemed alright. But of course I have received nothing and he no longer repsonds to emails or phone calls. So unfortunately I'm out my money. I filed a Paypal claim but have no idea if I can get my money back. Maybe someone can tell me the result of a claim who has been down this road before. Its a shame we have hams out there who will knowingly screw another ham. I just wish I could meet him and spend a few minutes of "quality time" with him. Oh well I guess it will work out in the long run. Guys like him end up somewhere guys like me never will!!

Hope no one else falls for his deception.

73,
K-K
KB9SI

[LVPD90]

I responded to the AL-800 as soon as he posted it. I said I would take it. He said I will call you this evening. Like you said....no communication could be made with him after that. I didn't get a chance to buy it. To answer your question, normally PayPal does not give funds to the seller right away. They wait about a week or so. If he has not sent the amp., they will most likely not fund to him. Good luck. By the way, he took down his ad. That means he is alive.

[N5KBP]

He got me on an Icom 746. Same story. Money sent. No Item, No communication.
Marty
N5KBP

[kb9si]

Marty,

Did you pay with paypal and if so what happened to your money?

Thanks
K-K

[N5KBP]

Marty,

Did you pay with paypal and if so what happened to your money?

Thanks
K-K

Yes I did and from my experiences with Paypal I'm sure it is long gone. I have absolutely no expectation of them doing the right thing. They have a history with me of aiding and abetting thieves.

Marty
N5KBP

[LVPD90]

I always thought you were safe with PayPal. Please follow up in a reasonable period of time and tell us if PayPal refunded your money. This is a clear cut case of fraud. I wouldn't take this lightly if I were you. Very best of luck.

[K3MKB]

Add me to the list that has been swindled by this character. I always said to my wife that buying from another ham is relatively safe because you know where they live! HA I filed a complaint with PayPal but from what I've read, I'm going to be disappointed. I thought I was getting a good deal on an Icom 746. What I can't understand is, based on the previous complaints againest this low life, PayPal continues to process monies to his account?
Can a group of us who have been scamed file a joint lawsuit againest this fraud? From now on, I will only buy at Hamfests. Our hobby, like our society in general, is being eroded by bottom feeders like him!

[N5KBP]

To everyone who has been a victim of Derek. File a claim with Paypal, the San Joaquin County Sheriffs office, your CC company if you used a cc and while your at it send an email to Abuse@engineer.com to get his email terminated. Let's turn the heat up on this low life.
Marty
N5KBP

[K9XR]

This Crap never seems to stop. Not that it helps the guys that got screwed but a little common sense goes a long way in protecting yourself from these jerks. You have to realize that people just don't sell $1000 radios for $650. This guy capitalized on good old American Greed and it should be a lesson learned for all of us.

[LVPD90]

This Crap never seems to stop. Not that it helps the guys that got screwed but a little common sense goes a long way in protecting yourself from these jerks. You have to realize that people just don't sell $1000 radios for $650. This guy capitalized on good old American Greed and it should be a lesson learned for all of us.

These victims did what a normal "smart" person would do. They acted promptly, spoke to the seller and used PayPal. I think they will get their money back. Now and then there is a "good" deal on QTH and Ebay. If you sit there and keep kicking the tire, the deal goes to someone else. They are just victims to a real con-man that we don't often see. What ham in his right mind would do this. Maybe he's an imposter. He gave his call sign, address and telephone number and was a member of PayPal. That requires a credit card/bank account and traceable ID. This was a small amount of cash. Not even hot ticket items. How many want an old 746? There's got to be more to this than what I'm seeing. In the long run, this con-man will get his. Bob

[kb9si]

I don't know why you would say greed. If finding a good deal on radio gear is greed, then most hams are greedy. You are greatly over simplifying the situation. I am always a little leary when buying but was duped by his demeanor when we spoke on the phone. He did a great job, unfortunately for me and others.

You might consider rethinking your re marks if for no other reason than honest hams were ripped off.

[K9XR]

Alright K-K, tell me, would you sell an AL-800 for $600 or whatever it was? He also had TWO 746 PROs that he was selling for $650, as well as a plain 746. I know you trade as much or more that I do and if that didn't seem a little too good to be true, I don't know what else to say. A little research made me wonder what he was doing with an AL-800 and three 746s with only a TECH license. I talked to him on the phone too and he told me he wasn't in any hurry to sell the stuff. I figured as long as he wasn't in any hurry he would take a check and sit on it till he clears. He wouldn't do it. Maybe he was afraid of mail fraud? I don't know if that would be any better than what he did. He said this equipment was his and it just didn't make much sense to me. I keep hearing the stories of the good deals that pop up on these sites and I've been on them for quite a while, but I have never seen anybody sell for 30 - 40% less than market value, not even in an estate. I can guarantee you that if he was selling those radios for the normal $900 - $1000 he would never have had the chance to screw as many people as he did. Another thing that set off a flag in my mind was that the ads stayed on for way too long at those bargain prices. I used to post when I was pretty sure that a ad was a phony if I couldn't get through to Scott by email. I quit doing it when a "4" accused me of saying that so I wouldn't have any competition in buying from the crook. I said at the beginning of my post that it doesn't help the guys that got screwed, but it should be a valuable lesson learned by anyone who reads this.

BTW Yes, I have some experience with PayPal claims. I have never had a problem getting my money back from a bad deal. They always require that you send back the merchandise to the seller. That's pretty hard to do when you don't get anything but you can still get your money back. I had a guy say he shipped me a radio and I never got it. Somehow the tracking info said it was delivered here but my mailman said he would have remembered delivering a 55 LB. radio to me and he didn't. I had to sign an affidavit for PayPal stating I never received the package and they promptly gave me my money back. I have heard of some guys saying they had the same thing happen with no refund. I always pay PayPal with a credit card and if PayPal won't back you the credit card company will as long as you have documentation and that should be no problem for the guys that he screwed and I think it may be a lot more guys that we would care to believe. Guys like him are real pieces of crap and I've run into a few (mostly not as described) and I have never lost a dime except of course for the return shipping on a bad item. You usually have to eat that but I would rather be out of $30 or $40 than $1500 anytime.

[LVPD90]

In reference to the last posting, you make a good point only after the fact. Sure, we all knew there was a problem when his posting stayed up. Most had already acted by then. He was only a tech. class, but it was a relatively new call sign. He could have upgraded. Why did you offer him a check, you would have lost everything when he cashed it. I just bought a TL-922A off of Ebay for $725.00. 1.4 KW out and mint condition. I was leery, but it turned out great. I'm not going to ramble on, I didn't loose anything to this guy, but I feel that the guys that did, were not acting poorly. AND, like you, I think they will get their money back. Just as an added comment......I didn't think it was a scam, my concern was that the equipment might have been defective or in poor condition. That's the gamble I thought we'd be taking, he posted no pictures.

[K9XR]

Ahhh. Really? You don't think the "check in the mail" would have given me time to figure out if he was crook or not? BTW eBay shows only one TL-922A sold in Sept and it was for a lot more than $725.00. They must have missed the one that you bought. Oh yeah, one more little detail that I forgot about. His IP address (and his cell phone) pointed to L.A. and I believe he was supposed to be up north in Stockton or somewhere in that area.I am not making light of the fact that he screwed people, I am just trying to show that there are flags that go off that should make you very cautious when "it seems too good to be true". Why don't you post with your call letters? You would seem much more credible.

[LVPD90]

I didn't say I purchased it in September. See how you fabricate. It also included a 3-500Z spare. So you are one of those guys that says the checks in the mail and waits to see how it goes down when he does not get the check. Doesn't make since to me. If you sell to this ham, and he says the checks in the mail, you might be waiting for a long time. (he is testing you)

[K9XR]

Yeah Sure, whatever you say. So if you say I just tested it it could mean a year ago? BTW I seldom use checks. Oh what is your call? So who is fabricating. Also maybe you should look up the meaning of "just" before you accuse me of fabricating.

[K3MKB]

I received an e-mail this morning from PayPal stating that since this low life wouldn't respond to inquiries regarding my situation, they are refunding my money to my credit card. WHEW Hope anyone else who was swindled by this shister recovers their monies as well.

[kb9si]

That's great news!! I have not heard from Paypal yet but hope to shortly. Thanks to the guys telling me about their experiences and for the support. Never will understand how some people operate but glad to know most of us out here are good guys...

73,
K-K
KB9SI

[N5KBP]

Got my refund from Paypal today. My faith in them is still tempered by my last bad experience but all is good on this one. Hope everyone who got scammed also get the refunds coming to them.
73
Marty
N5KBP

[K9XR]

K-K, You are absolutely right. About 99.99% of the guys out here are great guys, but the.01% can sure drive the good guys nuts. This guy did a great job of screwing people. You don't usually expect that from a guy who has been around 25 years or more.

I am happy to pay the 3% PayPal fees even when sellers want to add it to the sales price. Yeah, I know it is against the PayPal rules but in the long run it is pretty cheap insurance for a deal gone bad and this just proves that point once again. I am pretty confident that everyone will get their money back. Now it is PayPal's problem to get the money back from the crook. Being that they are both in California, I will guess that they will catch up with him sooner or later.

[nn4e]

I almost fell for this too. One thing that I see missing in this thread is that it is most likely an imposter. The phone number is a t-mobile number as is the IP address that 3 of the 4 ads were posted from, the other is a charter cable IP from Riverside, CA, a long way from Stockton. Could be a hotspot but could be a sloppy mistake that would ID this scammer.

http://whatismyipaddress.com/ip/97.93.134.40

Other indications are the free email address used at engineer.com which anyone can sign up for and the QRZ account for KB6RDI was setup on 2014-09-01 07:55:01, just weeks before the scam was executed.

be careful out there and 73

[N5KBP]

I almost fell for this too. One thing that I see missing in this thread is that it is most likely an imposter. The phone number is a t-mobile number as is the IP address that 3 of the 4 ads were posted from, the other is a charter cable IP from Riverside, CA, a long way from Stockton. Could be a hotspot but could be a sloppy mistake that would ID this scammer.

http://whatismyipaddress.com/ip/97.93.134.40

Other indications are the free email address used at engineer.com which anyone can sign up for and the QRZ account for KB6RDI was setup on 2014-09-01 07:55:01, just weeks before the scam was executed.

be careful out there and 73

The only thing that contradicts the imposter idea is that the phone # is the same number listed to his name and address in whitepages.com. So it's still a mystery.
Marty
N5KBP

[w5cia]

PayPal just returned the $ to my account.
Steve
W5CIA

[LVPD90]

That's great news. PayPal has a lot of safeguards. I would be REAL curious to know if PayPal took any losses. In other words, did the scam work for Derek? He went through a lot of BS for a few bucks. Bob

[kb9si]

I was wondering the same. I still have not heard from Paypal but I believe they said a response was needed from him by the 24th. Seems to me if Paypal refunded the money then he must not have gotten anything, don't know. I agree a lot of scamming for little return and hopefully legal trouble.