QTH.COM Swap Chat

Here is the text of a responcse email I recieved about an ad I haev running here on qth.com

Dear Kent E. Landis N8ZRD,

You have received a response to your ad, titled " For Sale Tektronix 475 200mhz Dual Trac", that you have running on the QTH.COM Free Ham Radio Classified Ads.

The response is from:

Name: Estrella Deherrera
Callsign: NONE
E-mail: [email protected]

The response is:

Hello


how are you doing to day?i saw ur item on CLASSIFIED,so i want to buy it, so all i want from you is honest,i need to sak some little question abt this item from you.

1.what is condition of the item

2.Did u accept cashier check or Certified check?

3. Can u wire the rest funds on check to my shipping company atfer you deduct your item money?

4. Can u wire the excess fund on the payment you will be receving through western union?


5. Can u send me ur full name and address with phone number for the payment?


6.the fanal price of the item and email me to [email protected]



So wht is there is that dont worry ur self abt shipping of this item because i have my own shipping company that will come for the item pick from u when the check clears so like i said in the early that all i need from u is honest, so when u get the check just deduct ur money and wire the rest funds to my shipping company for the item pick up fee, so hope to hear from asap................ok


SO GET BACK TO ME WITH FULL NAME AND ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN SEND THE PAYMENT TO YOU.


SO PLZ EMAIL ME BACK TO MY BOX....... [email protected]

This email is generated by a BOTT and has been around for many years. It has been generated from Nigeria.

I actually played one of them out in effort to track down who did it. I posted this years ago on QTH (it is still on QTH if you search for "Nigeria" in the search field) you can read the complete story..

I found it...

Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:11 pm Post subject:

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

The clue is the "(...)" , this is most likely done using a BOT which picks up key words in HTML coding and enters them between the " (...)". I have had a few of these and actually drilled it back to an IP account which was in Nigeria.

I learned of this when I planted a bug on a news group in that I had a "Cheap Antenna Tuner" for sale , Overseas buyers welcome , soon after I got an email with "(Cheap Antenna Tuner)" all over inside the email.

I then proceeded to see "how" it was done , knowing that this $2.00 SWR meter was going to get ripped off.

I received a Western Money Order for $35, then I got an email shortly after with a UPS Label for shipping. I put the UPS label on the box and sent it away.

Two days later , a package arrived on my doorstep from "Old Navy". Inside was 4 pairs of the most expensive jeans.

Within about 2 hours , I got an email from the guy who bought the SWR meter and he stated , he hoped I did not mind he sent some things for me to "forward" to him using the UPS label he would email me.

This is when I started to investigate...

I called Western Union to find out if the "buyer" was OK. They were happy I called in that the check was issued on a Canadian Credit Card that was stolen. This was not reported for a few days , so the Wetern Union check was issued as an "OK" check.

Then I called Old Navy. , the account was opened in MY name with a third party , you got it , Canadian Credit Card.

The biggest problem was even Old Navy would NOT let me close the account because my "Password" and "Identification Questions" could not be matched with that of the guy who opened the account on the phone.

Then I called UPS , guess what , I had a new account for shipping , based in Nigeria. How creative.

I closed that account , finally got Old Navy to close that account and the Canadian Credit Card issued me a refund for the $35 that Western Union wanted back.

To make a long story short , I wanted to see how these operations worked and did it knowingly that I was in for a ride , however I never figured that "accounts" could be opened in my name on someone elses credit card. Bottom line , they can!

All in all , I learned a great deal , lost a cheap SWR meter that was delivered in Nigeria...