Pilot Identity Theft, fraud alert.

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lsaway

Pre-takeoff checklist
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lsaway
I recently contacted a person selling avionics on another site. Person claimed to be Walter Barbo of Aurora CO. Scammer sent pictures of Mr. Barbo's driver's license, pilot's license and aircraft registration information. Scammer than directed payment to be made to his "daughter" Emily Elliott from Salisbury NC. Needless to say, I believe this to be all fraud and identity theft. We all know to be on the alert for this type of fraud. We also should never take photos of our licenses because they can be stolen and recirculated by ID thieves.
 
lsaway said:
I recently contacted a person selling avionics on another site. Person claimed to be Walter Barbo of Aurora CO. Scammer sent pictures of Mr. Barbo's driver's license, pilot's license and aircraft registration information. Scammer than directed payment to be made to his "daughter" Emily Elliott from Salisbury NC. Needless to say, I believe this to be all fraud and identity theft. We all know to be on the alert for this type of fraud. We also should never take photos of our licenses because they can be stolen and recirculated by ID thieves.
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Why do you believe its fraud? I often have money sent to a different person than myself when dealing with online sales, because I personally keep a very limited online profile...I have no Venmo, no Paypal, etc.
 
It does sound off
 
How old is Mr. Barbo? Would potentially explain things. Wouldn't automatically assume fraud but definitely odd.
 
Assume everything is fraud until proven or satisfied otherwise. OP just highlighting one method that scammers could use to establish enough trust to get a person to send money.
 
Sounds like a typical scam setup. Too eager to prove their creds (and needlessly for an avionics purchase?) and money is going to another person.

In some situations one thing I'll do is Google the second party and see if I can get a reasonable fix on them. In this case Emily E of NC seems to be a realtor in the RDU area (judging by a LinkedIn account with a 4 yr track record, so unlikely to have been created solely for this scam). Possible there are more than 1 w/that name (likely even), but I wouldn't bother going through the trouble of digging up more. If I independently contact that person and they verify it, I'm more comfortable with the transaction.

I wouldn't use that tactic and risk it for a $150k transaction, but for a few k$ that might be enough to put my mind at ease.
 
lsaway said:
I recently contacted a person selling avionics on another site. Person claimed to be Walter Barbo of Aurora CO. Scammer sent pictures of Mr. Barbo's driver's license, pilot's license and aircraft registration information. Scammer than directed payment to be made to his "daughter" Emily Elliott from Salisbury NC. Needless to say, I believe this to be all fraud and identity theft. We all know to be on the alert for this type of fraud. We also should never take photos of our licenses because they can be stolen and recirculated by ID thieves.
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As it turns out, I know Walt personally. He has a hangar not far from mine at KCFO (Denver area) and we've been on the board of the Colorado Pilots Assoc together. Has someone contacted him? If not, I will later today.

Update: I just called Walt, left a message for him to call me this evening. If someone has copies of his info, he needs to know.
 
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I have known Walt Barbo personally for 30 years or so. This is a scam.
 
A LOT of the top avionics shops will act as a "middle man" or escrow type service. Accepting the unit and ONLY telling you to pass payment if everything works ... worth the extra insurance in today's environment ...
 
I wouldn’t trust anyone in North Carolina
 
This is Walter Barbo of Aurora, CO and I assure everyone that I have no avionics for sale. I trust no one got hurt by this obvious scam. And that those that see such scams take whatever action possible to get them delisted. And/or prosecuted
 
Welcome to POA Walt! I think it was just a trick to get you to join POA.

if you really are 98, I’m sure you have a few aviation stories you’ve gained along the way. Love to hear ‘em!!
 
Walt Barbo said:
This is Walter Barbo of Aurora, CO and I assure everyone that I have no avionics for sale. I trust no one got hurt by this obvious scam. And that those that see such scams take whatever action possible to get them delisted. And/or prosecuted
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Thank you for replying Walt. After many messages back & forth with the thief, I knew it was a case of identity theft. I did not lose any $ on the scam. I was hoping a member here knew you and would let you know that somebody is impersonating you. After all the red flags, the final convincing message was his answer to "where are the radios now". He said they are at avionics shop getting tagged. I asked for the name of the shop and I will call them to verify because it appears to be fraud. The listing was immediately removed and no contact since. At least this listing has been stopped for now, but I suspect he will try again somewhere else.
 
Country Flier said:
Why do you believe its fraud? I often have money sent to a different person than myself when dealing with online sales, because I personally keep a very limited online profile...I have no Venmo, no Paypal, etc.
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You are right, I should have explained more details. I said I would send the deposit via money gram to Walt. He said he was nowhere near anyplace that he could pick it up, but his "daughter" in NC could get it. I asked him if he was in Aurora and he said no, he is staying with his daughter in NC for a month. Big Red Flag contradiction. If he is nowhere near anyplace to get the $, but he is staying with his daughter who is close to somewhere to get it, than he is close too. These guys are clever, but if you keep persisting with questions, their lies catch up.
 
Walt Barbo said:
...And that those that see such scams take whatever action possible to get them delisted. And/or prosecuted
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I will be happy to share the electronic communication with any law enforcement official that wishes to investigate. I am not a victim because I did not lose anything on it. Walt, you are the real victim here of identity theft, and possibly even Emily E.
 
lsaway said:
I will be happy to share the electronic communication with any law enforcement official that wishes to investigate. I am not a victim because I did not lose anything on it. Walt, you are the real victim here of identity theft, and possibly even Emily E.
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If you haven't already done so, you might want to share the ID info you received from the scammer with the real Walt. That way he can determine whether someone actually got his DL, etc., because if so he needs to get new ID, notify his banks and credit cards about the scam, check his credit history, etc., etc. You avoided becoming a victim, but Walt might already be a big victim and not know about it yet.
 
Easy to find more about me by doing a Google search of my name. Yes, I am a 98 year old active pilot starting with service as a P-38 Fighter pilot in WWII. Flew combat with the 475th FG in the South Pacific theater. Never gave up flying following the war. And currently fly my personal Cessna T210. I appreciate an earlier recommendation to update ID. I plan to follow up on that immediately. My thanks to the positive suggestions. Walt
 
Walt Barbo said:
Easy to find more about me by doing a Google search of my name. Yes, I am a 98 year old active pilot starting with service as a P-38 Fighter pilot in WWII. Flew combat with the 475th FG in the South Pacific theater. Never gave up flying following the war. And currently fly my personal Cessna T210. I appreciate an earlier recommendation to update ID. I plan to follow up on that immediately. My thanks to the positive suggestions. Walt
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So Inspirational!!! Conversations around your dinner table must be fascinating.
 
Walt Barbo said:
Easy to find more about me by doing a Google search of my name. Yes, I am a 98 year old active pilot starting with service as a P-38 Fighter pilot in WWII. Flew combat with the 475th FG in the South Pacific theater. Never gave up flying following the war. And currently fly my personal Cessna T210. I appreciate an earlier recommendation to update ID. I plan to follow up on that immediately. My thanks to the positive suggestions. Walt
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You sir are an inspiration on so many levels. Thank you for your service and showing that I still might have 60 years of flying left. Would be an honor to sit right seat in your t210 and hear some of your stories.

Who saw this awesomeness coming when this thread started?
 
Walt Barbo said:
Easy to find more about me by doing a Google search of my name. Yes, I am a 98 year old active pilot starting with service as a P-38 Fighter pilot in WWII. Flew combat with the 475th FG in the South Pacific theater. Never gave up flying following the war. And currently fly my personal Cessna T210. I appreciate an earlier recommendation to update ID. I plan to follow up on that immediately. My thanks to the positive suggestions. Walt
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Thank you for your service, sir, and welcome to POA! I hope you’ll stick around here, as you must have some wonderful stories from such a fascinating life.
 
Piperonca said:
"In December of 1942, during WWII, Barbo began flying P-38 Lightnings in New Guinea with the 475th Fighter Group. Barbo flew with the United States Air Corps until May of 1946."
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That’s the Walt I want to get to know!
 
This Walt barbo has the pilot cert and drivers license. He is a scam. I sent money through PayPal to his “daughters” PayPal account. After he figured out that PayPal would protect me - I got a refund via PayPal.
He has had a best tugs a3 for sale and avionics. The fake Walter that is. So be careful guys. Don’t use Zelle or Venmo which is what this guy asks for now.
 
Anthem said:
This Walt barbo has the pilot cert and drivers license. He is a scam. I sent money through PayPal to his “daughters” PayPal account. After he figured out that PayPal would protect me - I got a refund via PayPal.
He has had a best tugs a3 for sale and avionics. The fake Walter that is. So be careful guys. Don’t use Zelle or Venmo which is what this guy asks for now.
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Yes, he asked for Zelle or Venmo , or Paypal only if sent "friends & family" option. When sending $ to friends & family, paypal has no fraud protections to the sender and no refunds. When a seller ask to pay with Paypal "friends & family" to avoid fees, that is another big red flag.
 
lsaway said:
Yes, he asked for Zelle or Venmo , or Paypal only if sent "friends & family" option. When sending $ to friends & family, paypal has no fraud protections to the sender and no refunds. When a seller ask to pay with Paypal "friends & family" to avoid fees, that is another big red flag.
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I get that request a lot as well. Because businesses are used to absorbing 2% cost of doing business but people don’t understand the concept or refuse to accept it.

But whenever I get that request I just add the 2.8 percent back in to the amount to make then whole but I do NOT do friends and family. It’s still a PayPal goods transaction.
 
danhagan said:
A LOT of the top avionics shops will act as a "middle man" or escrow type service. Accepting the unit and ONLY telling you to pass payment if everything works ... worth the extra insurance in today's environment ...
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I did not know - good info, thanks!
 
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