QTH.COM Swap Chat

I have had a WTB ad posted for a while, and I have noticed a pattern.

The scammers seem to be responding to WTB ads offering to sell you an item. They generally have very little knowledge of the item and/or ham gear in general. That should be the first tipoff.

They are mimicking hams that do not have email or contact information listed on their QRZ page. They are then creating a gmail account with some variation of the name and call of the user matching the call sign info. Just because the call sign is in the gmail does not guaranty the authenticity and integrity of the buyer! BEWARE!

Be Safe, guys.
Tom KG8Y

Hi Tom,

I have a WTB ad too, and these scammers have come out of the woodwork. Same behavior with the QRZ email thing and photos from various sites. One sent me a picture of the front of the item I am looking for from a used gear board in California and pic of the rear with a totally different background from a board in the UK. I discovered these using Google reverse image lookup. Also, I got a couple of pictures that had zero XIFF data in the jpeg (you have to go out of your way to remove it). I suspect those were made using an AI image creation tool like Mid Journey, etc. Another thing I noticed is that they are copying and pasting the emails out of the ad and emailing directly rather than the 'Click to Contact' link.

So far in about 35 hours, I have gotten 'offers' from the following Gmail accounts. Note a pattern starting:

ae5nftom@gmail.com

radiojohnw5eex@gmail.com

kq4cgv@gmail.com

Maybe we should start a thread of the Gmail accounts here, I don't know.

To test my theory, I was thinking about posting a WTB ad for a fictitious item and seeing how long I could keep them hooked.


When I am selling something, I post a note at the top of my QRZ page which adds a bit of assurance to potential buyers: https://www.qrz.com/db/K5RHD

73,
K5RHD
/randy

I got scammed also. Bought a radio from kq4cgv, David Maye in Warrer Robins, GA. Wanted PayPal F&F, I made the mistake of paying him. $485.00 and he never shipped the radio and he is not responding to emails (kq4cgv@gmail.com). My mistake, lesson learned.

KB7OM

This has happened to me. Someone has created an email “N5mrgdan@gmail” claiming to be me with gear for sale.
I will always provide a phone number and a legit contact info.
The Google account has been reported. We shall see if they take action.

The real Dan, N5MRG