Three impostors for same WTB: N4NQY N0BL and N7RAK
Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 2:36 pm
Greetings: I posted a WTB ad for a Q5 transverter for 222 and within an hour or two (the first clue) had two suspicious responses. I don't think they're from the same person. I offer this as history and to offer some pointers on how to detect scams.
Neither made the initial contact through QTH. When challenged on that, "N4NQY" did and that revealed an IP address of 23.150.152.62 -- a "probable static" address in New Jersey. N4NQY is in Virginia. Also, I immediately noticed the bogus email address jay.n4n9y@gmail.com (he's substituted a 9 for the q, as shown in N4NQY's QRZ entry).
I emailed N4NQY's listed address and asked if it was him but received no answer. His QTH bio is extensive but doesn't mention 222 and only general VHF/UHF interest.
Initially the response was
>>Are you still interested in purchasing the Q5 transverter ?
Please let me know,I have for sale <<
without mentioning the model or offering a picture. When challenged to do that, he offered me a photo and a bunch of text, which when searched led me to a classified on eHam.net. Same text, same picture but with N0YK's callsign cropped out. And he was offering this, which sells for $2499 new, for $350, which was the real "if it's too good to be true" clue. $350 for a single-band Q5 transverter ($499) was tempting -- just on the safe side of that TGTBT line.
The other guy was not as good. His initial email was
>>Hello..are you still interested in acquiring the listed AD at an affordable price? Let me know and we can discuss.<<
Notice he's too lazy to even mention the item he's claiming to want to sell by name.
and the email address was huelchalliburtonn0bl@gmail.com -- Huel N0BL does not list an email address nor any biography detail on QRZ. I just ignored this one.
I searched both callsigns for evidence they were interested in VHF/UHF weak signal work and found none. There was no listing of either call here. I imagine both scammers will abandon them now and choose another.
Update 5/10: Another one, claiming to be N7RAK with a fake email address.
73 de Dave KF6XA
Neither made the initial contact through QTH. When challenged on that, "N4NQY" did and that revealed an IP address of 23.150.152.62 -- a "probable static" address in New Jersey. N4NQY is in Virginia. Also, I immediately noticed the bogus email address jay.n4n9y@gmail.com (he's substituted a 9 for the q, as shown in N4NQY's QRZ entry).
I emailed N4NQY's listed address and asked if it was him but received no answer. His QTH bio is extensive but doesn't mention 222 and only general VHF/UHF interest.
Initially the response was
>>Are you still interested in purchasing the Q5 transverter ?
Please let me know,I have for sale <<
without mentioning the model or offering a picture. When challenged to do that, he offered me a photo and a bunch of text, which when searched led me to a classified on eHam.net. Same text, same picture but with N0YK's callsign cropped out. And he was offering this, which sells for $2499 new, for $350, which was the real "if it's too good to be true" clue. $350 for a single-band Q5 transverter ($499) was tempting -- just on the safe side of that TGTBT line.
The other guy was not as good. His initial email was
>>Hello..are you still interested in acquiring the listed AD at an affordable price? Let me know and we can discuss.<<
Notice he's too lazy to even mention the item he's claiming to want to sell by name.
and the email address was huelchalliburtonn0bl@gmail.com -- Huel N0BL does not list an email address nor any biography detail on QRZ. I just ignored this one.
I searched both callsigns for evidence they were interested in VHF/UHF weak signal work and found none. There was no listing of either call here. I imagine both scammers will abandon them now and choose another.
Update 5/10: Another one, claiming to be N7RAK with a fake email address.
73 de Dave KF6XA