Wow, very sorry this happened. Always leery when not being able to use Paypal (goods and services), unless you know the person or is well established. I know it's already been said...

Been on a couple of other forums for years, rebelscum (Star Wars vintage collecting) and Espresso Beans. There's always some a-hole (both buyers and sellers) trying to pull a scam though forums, ebay, etc.

Had this happen to me via ebay last year, but had buyer protection. I had the print verified as a fake and filed a claim and got my money back. A miserable time-consuming experience, even though I got my money back in the end.

Unbelievable that this guy continues to operate with relative impunity among other art collectors. Seems all to easy to do after padding your resume with a few legit sales and playing the name change game.

Mods: Is there a permanent "Watch Out" thread for scammers and bad buyers/sellers?

Good for you, otherwise it looks like you would have gotten swindled too.

Happy that UAA members have each other's backs and can hopefully prevent stuff like this from happening in the future.

Well he did bust Tommy the Animator for hyping his own art under a second user name with the same IP address so somehow it can be done. I would think a forum like this should have a program which automatically links different names with same IP addresses. If it doesn't have one, it should. Care to weigh in on this Daniel?

Yeah, that would be good, but I don't think it's possible. Remember people use wifi in all sorts of public and work places, so an IP address match doesn't necessarily mean anything, plus I believe they are easy to cloak or redirect.
I think the best that can be done is to encourage PayPal payments, as that seems to be the safest way for those needing to claim money back.

Can't you talk to your friends at Mi6 and have them figure it out for you? I must agree as I've never had a problem with Paypal. I hate the fees but if it's substantial money it's worth the cost. I also recommend Transferwise for lesser fees on smaller purchases.

It really makes me mad these actions. Like in every business there has to be somehow a level of good faith to perform an transaction. You never believe these things happen until they happen to you. I performed a lot of transactions using bank transfer but it seems that I will be more careful now.

Now regarding those who were tricked by this guy I believe you should gather data from all cases and present charges together, as a whole. Find a good attorney that can represent you all, share the expenses and even if you do no recover your money at least you will put him in jail.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you get your money back.

I didn't know that, that's pretty funny....

i am not an expert on .. well.. anything really.. but here's another 2 cents. i got messed about in a fake art deal years back. one thing that saved my a$$ was that in paypal i actually used my credit card to pay. Paypal was a total complete waste of time - however, i contacted the credit card company and they have fraud coverage as part of your annual fee. They told me if there was a police case opened they would pretty much immediately refund the money. As i was not the only one impacted the person selling the fake art was eventually arrested for fraud. I called the police department in that city and they gave me a case number. I called the fraud department at the credit card company and gave them the case number. My next statement had a reversal of my charge - no other questions asked. Paypal would still be hassling me over this.. they were worthless. in fact - sorry i am on a roll now- they told me that the person involved had been on their watch list for a while for fraudulent activity. i went total nuts on that.. like 'how can you process payments when they are already under watch' - they basically said 'hey this is America - you are innocent until guilty and if we shut off the account too soon then we are the bad guys' oh whatever.. they annoyed the hell out of me.. anyway, just wanted to say -- paypal does offer some protection - but basically until you get proof of the fraud - ie. a police involvement - they did not seem too interested - and neither did the CC company. So, bottom line to all of this if you get messed about by the seller and want your $$ back - if you can at least get the cops to call the guy and maybe open the smallest investigation - you may get some faster movement from the financial institutions.

Long time lurker here (but active on Obey forum under same name).

I read about this dope over on the Obey forum for years....

I live 10-mins outside Fitchburg, MA... Let me know if there's anything I can do to help

Not talking any psychical harm, but I like to rattle cages

... ty ... ty ... ty ... ty .... ty .... ty ... ty ... ty .... ty ... ty ... ty ...

Ty + warm regards

I think there is some software on forums that automatically look for duplicate IP addresses. I rarely log in to EB, But I randomly got a message one day that said I was banned for having multiple accounts. I think it had something to do with using my iPhone to access the site with chrome and Safari, maybe even simultaneously because of pages left up or clicking links in emails. I scarcely have enough time to keep up with one account, much less two. They finally realized it was a mistake and reinstated my account, But it made me frustrated and I rarely go back.

Use PayPal and a CC as method when you don't know the person. Ask for references. EASY DEAL. If you are convinced the deal is so epic that you don't want to ask for references, then It may just be too good to be true.

I haven't lost a penny but I'm in for 100 quid just to give the f@%ker a run for his money. It will make others more cautious...