Ebay seller allhopeisgone1980 selling fake autographs

[sinocc]

I have the guys' name and phone number now

am trying to get his mailing address so i can call the feds tomorrow and hopefully get this guy investigated. the best evidence that this guy is forging autographs is that he purchased the card on eBay without the signature and then, voila, the same card appears at a later date, he as the seller, with a nice autograph on it! that is the smoking gun! he is so stupid he is leaving a trail of evidence out in the open for all to see! a federal investigator would have no trouble getting a conviction against this fool and would probably just plead out the case and put this guy in a world of hurt!

either way, getting him out of the market is our goal; no matter how it gets done, it works for all collectors to be rid of a cheat like this!

will keep you informed if i get his address. i may try calling the guys' phone number later today or tomorrow just to check that it is really him.

wish me luck!

 

[ckinney]

Here's the problem with that. How can you 100% definitely prove that those autos are fake? Even if you get a third party to rate the auto as fake, it is just their opinion.

I would guess if the company (Topps) never created the card, it would be fake. I can understand the "opinion" point you make, that is why I was asking about neglegence - if the possibility of fraud was brought to their attention and they chose to ignore it, with out any type of investigation are they held copable. A lawer would know better than me if there was any cases similar to that, might get Ebay's attention to come down on anyone committing fraud.

- Chris

 

[hatesgoats]

I am curious what his answer would be to the simple question how in the world did you get all of those 1/1's. I can tell you that in 48 years of busting wax I have gotten 1. The odds were 1:10,500 packs. I am not talking a printing plate either.

 

[sinocc]

If the feds get involved, yes, eBay could be in trouble!

If the feds investigate this and the press gets a hold of it, eBay would take a huge hit. And they should! I don't know whether the press would go after eBay for this but, because I live in California I know the press here hates the ex-eBay ceo Meg Whitman, who ran for governor. I am sure they would love to vindicate themselves for their smears against her in the campaign by showing any eBay misdeeds. I don't think it would be too hard to get the press in California to jump on a story like this one!

Anyway, getting ahead of myself. If the feds can get involved, yes, eBay could take some huge hits, both with the public, stock market (although with their stock so low, I don't see how it could go any lower!) civilly and criminally. Yes, they could get hurt big-time! I hate eBay but that is not my motivation here. I just want a crook off eBay so innocent people don't get screwed.

Yes, buyers should be smarter but not everyone has 40 years of trading and buying experience in this industry. So, some protection is warranted. I would never buy these signed items but hey, you cannot force people to be smart so yes, some people are going to be taken no matter what you do. This guy is a criminal and needs to be punished for his theft and tarnishing our hobby. Period!

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

If the feds investigate this and the press gets a hold of it, eBay would take a huge hit. And they should! I don't know whether the press would go after eBay for this but, because I live in California I know the press here hates the ex-eBay ceo Meg Whitman, who ran for governor. I am sure they would love to vindicate themselves for their smears against her in the campaign by showing any eBay misdeeds. I don't think it would be too hard to get the press in California to jump on a story like this one!

Anyway, getting ahead of myself. If the feds can get involved, yes, eBay could take some huge hits, both with the public, stock market (although with their stock so low, I don't see how it could go any lower!) civilly and criminally. Yes, they could get hurt big-time! I hate eBay but that is not my motivation here. I just want a crook off eBay so innocent people don't get screwed.

Yes, buyers should be smarter but not everyone has 40 years of trading and buying experience in this industry. So, some protection is warranted. I would never buy these signed items but hey, you cannot force people to be smart so yes, some people are going to be taken no matter what you do. This guy is a criminal and needs to be punished for his theft and tarnishing our hobby. Period!

Dang straight. Well said.

 

[sinocc]

This would have to be done by the feds

For eBay to get serious and go after this guy or any other fraud on their site, it would take the feds threatening them with criminal action or a lawyer filing a lawsuit for millions of dollars. I am thinking the latter is not happening anytime soon so it would definitely have to be the feds putting pressure on eBay for them to get off their butts and care about this type of thing!

I will contact the feds tomorrow with what i have, if i get this guys address. I will have no problem giving them my name and information. I have nothing to fear since I am not committing fraud. Anyway, we shall see if anything can come of this. We all hope so!

I would guess if the company (Topps) never created the card, it would be fake. I can understand the "opinion" point you make, that is why I was asking about neglegence - if the possibility of fraud was brought to their attention and they chose to ignore it, with out any type of investigation are they held copable. A lawer would know better than me if there was any cases similar to that, might get Ebay's attention to come down on anyone committing fraud.

- Chris

 

[ckinney]

For eBay to get serious and go after this guy or any other fraud on their site, it would take the feds threatening them with criminal action or a lawyer filing a lawsuit for millions of dollars. I am thinking the latter is not happening anytime soon so it would definitely have to be the feds putting pressure on eBay for them to get off their butts and care about this type of thing!

I will contact the feds tomorrow with what i have, if i get this guys address. I will have no problem giving them my name and information. I have nothing to fear since I am not committing fraud. Anyway, we shall see if anything can come of this. We all hope so!

Thank you for your efforts.
- Chris

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

Thanks you for helping our great hobby

 

[hatesgoats]

one other thing comes to mind.... How many A.Pujols 1/1 autos do you see listed here ? You see a few Pujols autos come up...The trade value would be astronomical....
I also noticed he seller quit showing the back of the card as he had before.

 

[valediction]

I would guess if the company (Topps) never created the card, it would be fake. I can understand the "opinion" point you make, that is why I was asking about neglegence - if the possibility of fraud was brought to their attention and they chose to ignore it, with out any type of investigation are they held copable. A lawer would know better than me if there was any cases similar to that, might get Ebay's attention to come down on anyone committing fraud.

- Chris

And the problem I see with THAT is, unless you're going to point out every instance of possible fraud/misdeeds, it amounts to a glorified witch hunt. This seller is NOT the only one selling fake autos. A quick search for 'Bob Feller auto*' turns up over 1,000 hits on ebay. It wouldn't be tough to scribble his name on a few All Time Fan Favorites or TCMA cards, toss them up for $5-20 and pocket some cash. Is a laser printed COA from Ken's Sportscards and Collectibles going to be enough proof to keep ebays butt out of the fire? How about the stuff from the Fleer/Pinnacle fire sales? People could take cards from them, do dang near anything, and claim they got it from a guy who bought it from the guy who bought it at their settlement auctions. And if they go after the sportscard frauds, what about people selling copies of other peoples photos without permission?, what about 'working pulls' of electronic components that don't work? what about trimmed/altered cards? There are tens of thousands of listings for Doc Martens and Birkenstocks on ebay, do you think there aren't knockoffs that get passed off? What about the Jeter/Mantle/Bush card? A lot of people that sold that card KNEW it wouldn't be corrected, but had NO problem letting people who weren't as familiar with the hobby bid it to high heavens. Is there going to be a dollar limit where it's okay to take advantage of people's greed and ignorance, but over that it's not okay?

 

[sinocc]

This is a different circumstance and case

This guy left evidence all over that he is forging signatures and selling them as authentic, officially sanctioned and licensed by topps, autographs. You are correct that the feds won't go after every tom, dick and harry for all that stuff. It boils down to what they can prove. The key word here is prove. The trader who started this thread has done all the leg-word for anyone investigating this case. All they really would have to do is contact the seller, warn him and it could all be over. I doubt they would want to throw him in jail unless enough buyers filed complaints. The main goal is to get this criminal off eBay and stop selling these fakes as real. I bet he would run for the hills if the feds even talked to him!~ These kinds of thieves are cowards and always run away when the heat gets turned up on them!

By the way, anyone have the name of the one buyer who got ripped off on another trade site by this seller? If so, contact me and I can use that as evidence for this case with the feds, if the buyer is willing to step up and file a complaint.

Let me know!

And the problem I see with THAT is, unless you're going to point out every instance of possible fraud/misdeeds, it amounts to a glorified witch hunt. This seller is NOT the only one selling fake autos. A quick search for 'Bob Feller auto*' turns up over 1,000 hits on ebay. It wouldn't be tough to scribble his name on a few All Time Fan Favorites or TCMA cards, toss them up for $5-20 and pocket some cash. Is a laser printed COA from Ken's Sportscards and Collectibles going to be enough proof to keep ebays butt out of the fire? How about the stuff from the Fleer/Pinnacle fire sales? People could take cards from them, do dang near anything, and claim they got it from a guy who bought it from the guy who bought it at their settlement auctions. And if they go after the sportscard frauds, what about people selling copies of other peoples photos without permission?, what about 'working pulls' of electronic components that don't work? what about trimmed/altered cards? There are tens of thousands of listings for Doc Martens and Birkenstocks on ebay, do you think there aren't knockoffs that get passed off? What about the Jeter/Mantle/Bush card? A lot of people that sold that card KNEW it wouldn't be corrected, but had NO problem letting people who weren't as familiar with the hobby bid it to high heavens. Is there going to be a dollar limit where it's okay to take advantage of people's greed and ignorance, but over that it's not okay?

 

[ckinney]

And the problem I see with THAT is, unless you're going to point out every instance of possible fraud/misdeeds, it amounts to a glorified witch hunt. This seller is NOT the only one selling fake autos. A quick search for 'Bob Feller auto*' turns up over 1,000 hits on ebay. It wouldn't be tough to scribble his name on a few All Time Fan Favorites or TCMA cards, toss them up for $5-20 and pocket some cash. Is a laser printed COA from Ken's Sportscards and Collectibles going to be enough proof to keep ebays butt out of the fire? How about the stuff from the Fleer/Pinnacle fire sales? People could take cards from them, do dang near anything, and claim they got it from a guy who bought it from the guy who bought it at their settlement auctions. And if they go after the sportscard frauds, what about people selling copies of other peoples photos without permission?, what about 'working pulls' of electronic components that don't work? what about trimmed/altered cards? There are tens of thousands of listings for Doc Martens and Birkenstocks on ebay, do you think there aren't knockoffs that get passed off? What about the Jeter/Mantle/Bush card? A lot of people that sold that card KNEW it wouldn't be corrected, but had NO problem letting people who weren't as familiar with the hobby bid it to high heavens. Is there going to be a dollar limit where it's okay to take advantage of people's greed and ignorance, but over that it's not okay?

I'm not really sure what your point is but I agree that this is probably not the only seller who is possibly committing fraud, and all should be held accountable for their actions. That being said, our legal system is set up to only deal with what can be proved. My intial question was how much liability does Ebay open it self up to, if when contacted about possible fraud, does nothing to stop it, or at the very least investigate. Perhaps going after someone hard for fraud, will stop others from starting...

- Chris

 

[sinocc]

Good point

My point was it is not about eBay being punished as much as it is about this seller not selling his fakes any longer on eBay. Of course, the law is all about evidence and proof. The feds won't go after eBay unless it is big and they can win. No, I am simply trying to get this loser of a seller to stop stealing from people. If the feds call him or do any investigation at all, this seller will probably stop because of fear. That works for me! Thanks for your input and wish me luck!

I'm not really sure what your point is but I agree that this is probably not the only seller who is possibly committing fraud, and all should be held accountable for their actions. That being said, our legal system is set up to only deal with what can be proved. My intial question was how much liability does Ebay open it self up to, if when contacted about possible fraud, does nothing to stop it, or at the very least investigate. Perhaps going after someone hard for fraud, will stop others from starting...

- Chris

 

[oldschool]

Hopefully we all can work as a team and not let this thread turn into a thread about what you can and what you can't do..Yea we all know their is ton of sellers committing fraud on ebay..No way they all can be stopped at once and they probably never will be stopped but if they are it's going to be a team of people knocking them out one by one...I don't care if it's the feds or ebay that removes this guy..I would just like to see him removed because i hate seeing people getting scammed by **** like this that's just flooding the hobby with fake autographs and ripping people of their hard earned money!

 

[abeabe]

I have noticed on some, not all, I'm guessing it is whether they have them in autograph section aswell as cards. A screen pops up saying are you sure this item is authentic, with certain cards like the greats of the game or others its easy to say yes that was pack pulled and click yes. When bidding $100's of dollars on 1/1's maybe you'd hesitate ad do some checking before hitting that bid button.

 

[oldschool]

Just updated the fake carl crawford auction in the first thread.It sold yesterday for $121

 

[sinocc]

Here we go! This is the seller's name and information. Get it out to other sites too so we can maybe embarrass this guy into stopping his thefts!

Gregg Drew
365 Portland Street
Rochester, NH 03867
(603) 534-4156
email address: [email protected]

i will contact the fbi tomorrow or tuesday and see if we can get this guy investigated for forgery and fraud.

wish me luck!

 

[redsoxfan1979]

WOW Right near me!!!!

 

[sinocc]

You should see all these emails this seller has sent me in less than one day! over 10 emails! man, he is panicky! I am sensing that thieves don't like to get messed with too, huh? Really, I have never seen a seller this jumpy about some sales he made on eBay. Maybe his gut is telling him it may just about be retribution time for the world against this punk! I hope so! I should paste this guys' emails to me on here for laughs. Quite funny!

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

I would love to read his emails

I can see them now.."Please dont send the FEDS after me..I did nothing wrong..These cards are real" lol