ZR6GMG - GARETH MORRIS - REAL SCAMMER !!

[w9car]

I placed an ad on QTH.com:
RADIOHF - WANTED: RME-45 RECEIVER
I AM LOOKING FOR A CLEAN WORKING RME-45 RECEIVER.
Listing #914787 - Submitted on 05/29/11 by Callsign W9CAR.

I received a reply from:

ZR6GMG
Gareth Morris
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
United Kingdom,
England

He told me he had a real nice one with matching speaker over there. Now, I have been an active ham since 1959 and have bought & sold a lot of radio equipment. He stated that he would sell it to me for $160 shipped. He sent me several pics when I asked for them, all looked ok, so I said OK, He wanted me to send the money via Western Union. I have used Western Union several times in my life for other things, so I knew how to do it online. Western Union wanted to charge a $22 fee to send the money. I emailed Gareth ZR6GMG again and about the fee and he said to deduct the fee and send the rest, so I did, $138.00. ( I know what you are thinking guys) should have known better! Yeah, now in hind site sure. I have never been scammed, before, but have seen a lot of it. I did as much of a check on him as was seemingly available. He claimed Fed Ex & UPS were to far away and to expensive so he shipped it via a company named: First Flight Courier Express. I pulled their up their website. All seemed in order. Hhttp://www.firstflightcourier.cz.cc He provided the tracking number: 56X00000058US. The number seemed to work. Then it was supposed to transfer to FedEx when it reached the states. So, I followed it for several days. The tracking system stated on the status line " in transit " Then on June 9th, 2011 the tracking info changed to:

From Gareth Morris
To Ralph Henes
Parcel RME-45 RECEIVER
Current Location Mexican Border Post
Date 9-Jun-2011 17:30:51
Destination 402 South Owen Drive Madison, WI 53711 USA
Status: Withheld By Customs


Now, that made alarms really go off for me.
First of all, why is it "withheld by customs"
And 2nd, why & how did it get to the Mexican Border Post coming from the UK? This is when I began to smell a rat.

Then on June 10, 2011 I received an email from Gareth ZR6GMG stating:

Hi,
I spoke to the shipping officer today and he says there is being a little problem with Custom officer assigned to supervise the delivery of your shipment. He says the shipment is being placed on On Hold by the Mexican Customs. The shipper officer says the Customs are asking for a Customs clearance and Insurance certificate. I was able to pay $110 to cover Insurance but its only $95USD left to be paid. I would have loved to pay the balance but my wife is currently down with chronic cancer and she is at hospital undergoing treatment. I lost my daughter to cancer last year so I hope you understand that I really need to take care of my wife. You would need to get the balance sent as soon as possible so the shipment can be released and assigned for delivery. Let me know your thoughts.

73,

Gareth.
zr6gmg.

----------------------

My immediate reaction from that email and it's sentence phrasing told me that this person was UNEDUCATED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. How can that be, he lives in the UK !! Or so I thought. I then went to the HAMCALL.NET website and plugged in his call: You guessed it:

G Morris, ZR6GMG
PO Box 100018 Moreleta Plaza
Pretoria, 0044
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
----------------------------------------------------

Now the wording of his email made a loud click in my head! I AM OUT $138.00 for the first time I got scammed. I have sent him 3 emails asking him to re-think the price of his reputation to no avail. So gang, be aware of ZR6GMG. He flushed his reputation for $138.00 !!!

I hope this story will help others to beware of this pattern of theft. I will survive without the $138.00, but I hope someone who might know him will pound knots where they are needed !
73, Ralph W9CAR[/b]

[K9XR]

I am sorry you have been scammed, BUT I am almost positive you didn't get scammed by the ZR6. I would almost bet that someone was just using his call to scam you and probably countless others.