Welcome! You are visitor
Click To Go Back To The Main
www.GlenStephens.com Stamps Homepage
Welcome! You are visitor to www.GlenStephens.com
Glen Stephens
A dangerous ring of ten ebay "handles" selling forged Australian, New
Zealand and New Guinea stamps and cancels was uncovered and dismantled
in April.
ebay Fake
Rogue's Gallery
Monthly "Stamp
News"
Market Tipster Column
June 2007
ebay forgery ring smashed
The ten ebay "handles" appeared to be inter-connected and were selling
bogus material to unsuspecting stamp buyers on the large ebay website.
These unsuspecting buyers were paying many $100s for stamps that would
not be saleable for even 10% of that sum to real dealers.
Much of the detective work involved in un-ravelling this dangerous ring
was un-covered by members on a new postage stamp Bulletin Board -
stampboards.com
Members of stampboards.com reported suspicious sellers, and many offered
links to other sellers who were offering the same material. The pattern
slowly emerged.
In several cases it was shown these ebay "handles" were bidding up each
other's material. This is known in the ebay world as "shill" bidding.
It is outlawed, but ebay does not seem to take action or be bothered,
unless alerted to it rather forcibly.
A detailed discussion of the gang and the forgeries is
outlined on the stampboard website -
www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=230
Readers of this article that have purchased Australasian
stamps off ebay in the past months from any of these
following ten sellers would almost certainly have purchased
forged material:
|
The ten faker ebay IDs were -
aw1940, aussiestampsales, nswstamps,
modlink2002, stampbuyers,
indepbrokers, george0mighty,
wynstoninvest, gregbear_61 and
bexapunk101
The last seller in this list "bexapunk101" for some reason ebay overlooked banning, and the web link above contains evidence of the fakes and shill bidding associated with this account. If anyone reading this is an ebay member they may care to re-report this seller. Stamp dealer body APTA also got involved, and I am told have senior stamp collector contacts who work in the NSW Police, who also are placing colleagues on this fellow's tail. I am aware of one NSW APTA member reporting this matter direct to a senior member of NSW Police as a matter of fraud. APTA members internationally have been briefed on the perpetrator and his many fake ebay "handles", and none of them will likely be conned into buying any of them, as they are now fully aware of what is out there. I kept APTA President Michael Eastick fully informed on new developments, and fellow columnist Simon Dunkerley was active in adding pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of this mass of inter-connected seller names. ebay moved, and de-registered these accounts in April, based on dealer and stampboard member complaints. The seller's oxygen is then starved. No outlets = no reason to keep offering the dud stamps, as he will get lumbered yet again. A job well done by all involved I'd say, and a large pat of the back to all concerned.
A hundred sets of vigilant eyes are
now watching ebay for his possible
re-appearance with new fake handles.
|
|
This person is a fully trained and qualified medico, and one wonders what drives someone that smart into this kind of petty fraud. He knows enough about stamps to make more money selling legitimate things for the same expenditure of effort, but this all seems to be a giant game to him - "fleece the ebay bunnies". Most fakes offered were Australian official perfins and overprints, and a small range of fake cancels and overprints were also involved - including a few New Zealand issues. Some fakes were fairly convincing, and many were quite appalling. Where some ebay buyers get their brains from, one really wonders. When one sees total obvious fake rubbish attracting a raft of high bids to $190 for comically bad things like the stamp illustrated nearby it is of concern. It was pretty clearly fake cancelled only a few days before it was listed, with a cheap rubber stamp pad, and a quite laughable rubber cancel. The jet black ink still looks like it was damp! |
Faked NWPI
|
The 10/-
NWPI
under-lying
Kangaroo
stamp
would
have
been
genuine,
but
probably
thinned,
toned or
heavily
hinged.
These
stamps
are
worth a
lot more
"used"
than
mint,
therefore
this
con-man
glued it
to a
piece of
brown
paper
and
applied
the
absurd
fake
cancel.
This turned a $20 retail probably thinned stamp into a $190 "fine used on piece" example. At least to ebay buyers it did. To the buyers of $10,000s of forged junk from this crook ..... kiss your money goodbye is my guess. |
|
Next time you plan to spend
$600 apiece on fake stamps
on ebay as some of these
folks did, please check them
out first with a REAL dealer
for a once over and advice,
before you get possibly
conned.
Or visit a site like
stampboards.com and post the
images of what you plan to
buy - and first seek input
from experts.
An established dealer will be in business next week, next month, next year - and usually next decade if you end up with something you might want a refund on. As we can all see, these ebay cons are always out of business sooner rather than later, (often a day after the sale closes!) and your only recourse is to whistle in the wind for your $600 refund. ebay absolutely do not want to know, and even PayPal do not want to know it seems.
ebay and PayPal make money
EVERY time a sale occurs.
Whether it is a fake
stamp or not is
apparently not of any
interest to them at the end
of the day.
Unless a watertight case is
laid out in front of them,
nothing generally occurs.
That dodgy seller
joanne620 continues
to sell over-described junk
at will, despite endless
complaints to ebay - from
ebay users and the stamp
trade.
On May 10 the usual gaggle
of ill-informed ebay nuts
bid up a yellowed gum,
almost certainly forged pair
of 1937 robes "Specimen"
overprints to $775 from "joanne620".
No warranty and dodgy
photos, yet they are paying
$775 for a set I would offer
them just $50 for tomorrow.
Terrifying.
This hurts all dealers and
genuine collectors as when
these folks finally get the
bad news broken to them they
have been ripped off, they
often leave stamp
collecting forever.
One member of stampboards.com who bought forgeries from one of these now banned handles, applied to get an refund as he paid via PayPal. After taking an eternity completing PayPal on-line forms and paperwork, and obtaining expert opinions to add to them that the stamps were fake, he got told there was a $25 "administrative" fee from any refund they might approve. So much for the "pay with PayPal and you'll always be safe" mantra that ebay continually espouses. (ebay own PayPal of course!) Even buying outright proven fakes you will not get all your money back. |
|
Hall Of Shame
|
One very useful resource for checking up on ebay stamp con-men is www.scads.org who has a "Hall Of Shame. This is a US based ebay watchdog since 2002, that was alerted by stampboards.com to all the banned sellers above. joanne620" is also listed. (The only Australian active ebay seller to be named.) |
Sold for $56
|
As I typed
this article May 12, the stampboards folks pointed out
another ridiculous item being offered on ebay closing that
day - lot 270116543182
|
Ross Smith Vignette
|
For the benefit of these who do NOT want to pay good
money for reprints, here is a summary of the REAL
item!
The high priced "Local" item most collectors think of immediately is the 1920 Ross Smith 'Vignette'. This is more a semi-official issue than a "Local" or "Cinderella". It was ordered by the Prime Minister's Department (by no less than PM "Billy" Hughes!) via Treasury, and printed by the Note Printing Branch on watermarked paper - the same wide crown watermark as we find on 1914 KGV heads, or "Second" watermark Kangaroos. For the dozen hopeful folks who ask me each year if their 'rare' vignette is really valuable ....... just hold it up to the light. If there is NO watermark you have one of the many types of near worthless reprints done over the years.
Some are very crude like the rubbish sold on ebay
above, and some were far better productions of quite
fair standard.
Some are so roughly printed virtually none of the perf holes are punched out - like the one shown nearby.
In ALL cases, the colour is quite wrong, not being
the deep steel blue of the genuine as you can see in
the photo nearby.
|
The REAL McCoy!
|
So, it is not a "Local" or a 'Cinderella" strictly
speaking, but in my view is an officially printed
label and should be more correctly termed a
"semi-official" production. All the same a lot still
exist as mint or used stamps, or on cover.
A fine MUH sheetlet sells for about $A20,000 and a really superb cover was auctioned in recent times in the region of $A50,000. There are still quite a number of these existing, either as mint sheetlets as illustrated nearby, or on covers. Dealer Simon Dunkerley once told me when he was working at an auction house lotting up the Sir Hudson Fysh collection, he recalls there were at least a dozen flown covers bearing this 1920 'stamp' carelessly dispersed among it.
|
|
Mentioned above is a new stamp bulletin board -
www.stampboards.com |
|
There are already very active members
from all over the globe - in Asia,
Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand. From Newfoundland to Tasmania
- with the great bulk of the members
being based in Australasia.
A very busy stampboard is up and running
in just two short months of
existence, with about 10,000 member
posts made already as you can see -
posting on everything you can possibly
imagine related to stamp collecting.
There are forums for - Cinderellas and
Revenues, New Issues, errors, ebay,
numismatics, Rarities, coming auctions,
"Stamps Wanted", Club News, Reference
Books, "Exchange Partners" etc.
|
|
Members helped identify an apparently
unknown Australian "Pamaba" Cinderella
recently - illustrated nearby. Full details
on the board.
Type into Google the words "Stamp Bulletin
Board" or "Postage Stamp Chat" etc, and you
can see the word is already out on this new
venture. We are the number one Google match
worldwide.
The Bulletin Board software allows actual
stamp photos to be posted up quickly and
FREE from your own computer, so if you are
selling, buying, or wanting ID help on
anything, this is the place to load your
stamps or numismatic photos.
There are many hundreds of stamp photos
posted up large in full colour to comment
on, or to learn from.
The ebay forger summarised above was
uncovered by the board posting up
large images of his fakes. Often of the
same stamps before and AFTER he faked them!
If dealers have an auction or special sale
schedules - by all means post the details.
If you are attending or running any stamp
shows - add the details and dates and cost
there. If you distribute a new catalogue of
anything or handbook - add the details and
photos. All free.
|
|
For all members of stamp
clubs and societies there is
a board where you can add
all the details of what you
are doing, location, dates
and times of meeting, annual
dues etc. You can even load
each stamp
club/society journal up
FREE.
If your Club or Society is
NOT listed already - please
bring this Bulletin Board to
the attention of your Hon.
Secretary or President.
Listing all your club
details to a world
audience clearly makes it
stronger - at no cost.
Clubs and collectors and
dealers can load color
photos of anything they
wish.
We have light hearted time
wasting threads, jokes
threads and cartoons, and a
few silly things like this
one - which also shows how
quickly photos can be loaded
up -
www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=5412
All members can have colour
stamp "avatars" totally of
their choice, and all
members achieve fun "Star"
ratings based on their
posting history.
Stampboards even has a
numismatic Forum where
new product can be
posted and
illustrated and
discussed if you wish.
There is a team of 12
volunteer Moderators on
hand to remove any spam the
moment it appears. There
are NO pop-ups, NO annoying
ads of any kind, NO banners
and NO spyware.
A lot of collectors and
dealers are new to Bulletin
Boards and we have set up a
lot of easy to follow "How
To" help threads to address
commonly asked questions -
www.stampboards.com/viewforum.php?f=18
Stampboards.com is not any a
threat to any magazine -
indeed "Stamp News"
publisher Kevin Morgan is
one of our most active
posters and supporters.
(Editor's note - I was just
about to start such a board
when I saw Glen had done
so!)
The internet is "immediate"
- something no monthly
magazine can ever be. If
you are really moving with
the times, do taken a moment
to check out stampboards.com
today!
|
|
|
Instant
Currency Conversion
FREE!
Just click here...
see exactly what my lots cost in your currency.
If you would like to be notified of updates to this website, Click HERE.
If have any questions,
I am a Member Of
 |
 |
 |
 |
Full Time Stamp Dealer in Australia for over 25 years.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Time and Temp in Sunny Sydney! |
GLEN $TEPHEN$ Full Time Stamp Dealer in Australia for over 25 years.
Life Member - American Stamp
Dealers' Association. (New York)
Also Member - Philatelic Traders' Society. (London) ANDA. (Melbourne) American Philatelic Society, etc
Sydney's BIGGEST STAMP BUYER:
Post me ANYTHING via Registered
Mail for my same-day cheque.
Avoid the "Lothlórien", 4 The
Tor Walk, CASTLECRAG (Sydney), N.S.W. 2068
Australia |
Instant Currency Conversion
FREE! Just click
here...
E-mail me at glen@glenstephens.com -
Every credit card shown is
accepted WITHOUT fee.
Earn Frequent Flier points while buying at bargain prices!
ALL prices are in weak Ozzie Dollars. I charge NO nasty, nasty
"Buyer's Commission" on stamps like nearly every "Auction" does.
