[meteorite-list] Ebay Fraud - steelhorse1994, bfr475 and adrian332010

From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 15:38:34 -0400
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW-2Hk+rK6oWOiK31rHpE2Mc4cwbouvCkvaaJLPACvmPLg_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Maria and List,

I'm not surprised by this, but it is very unfortunate for everyone
involved. Things like this hurt the entire meteorite community.

As time has gone on, eBay has become more risky for meteorites. Most
subscribers to this List frequent the same circle trusted dealers, but
there are still people willing to take risks with an unknown seller.

Has it been determined whether or not the bogus Moon and Mars rocks
were intentionally sold as a scam, or is the seller unaware and just
passing along material he/she thinks is genuine

Best regards,

MikeG
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - MikeG
Web: http://www.galactic-stone.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GalacticStone
RSS: http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
-----------------------------------------------------------
On 5/9/12, Maria Haas <dragonsoup at msn.com> wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> As expected, the fake (NWA 4925) and potentially fake (NWA 4881 and NWA
> 4734) material is being sold by other sellers now.
>
> Seller bfr475 in Blue Mound, IL USA:
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/Rocks-Fossils-Minerals-/3213/i.html?item=251057332565&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a742ee155&_ssn=bfr475
>
> adrian332010 in Ontario, Canada:
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/Rocks-Fossils-Minerals-/3213/i.html?item=260963123019&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cc29d3f4b&_ssn=adrian332010
>
> See updated webpage with examples of the front and reverse sides of the
> boxes here:
> http://www.impactika.com/steelhorse1994.pdf
>
> Again, if anyone has purchased pieces of NWA 4881 and NWA 4734 in these
> boxes marked with "American Meteorite Collector's Society Authenticity
> Guaranteed" on the reverse side, please let me know. One of our very kind
> and generous scientists has offered to do the analysis on these other two
> for us and I'd rather not have to purchase them from these sellers.
>
> Please feel free to contact me with questions.
>
> Thank you,
> Maria Haas
> Treasurer
> I.M.C.A., Inc.
> www.IMCA.cc
> Member #5520
>
>
>> From: dragonsoup at msn.com
>> To: dragonsoup at msn.com
>> Date: Sun, 6 May 2012 18:14:48 -0700
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Ebay Fraud - steelhorse1994
>>
>>
>> Dear Fellow Members of the Meteorite Community,
>>
>> I have bad news about some material introduced to the market through an
>> eBay seller named steelhorse1994.
>>
>> An enthusiastic IMCA applicant named Daniel Noyes bought some supposed NWA
>> 4925 from eBay seller steelhorse1994. The material is packaged a lot like
>> Chladni's Mars and Moon boxes (except they are square instead of
>> rectangular) and I am sure that is by design. The red flag for the
>> applicant was the reverse side of the box where it said, "American
>> Meteorite Collector's Society Authenticity Guaranteed". Of course, there
>> is no such association. Steelhorse1994 is also selling what he is calling
>> NWA 4881 and NWA 4734 in the same packaging.
>>
>> The reverse side of the box is not being shown in the auctions so you'll
>> have to study the picture to identify these boxes. A webpage is being
>> prepared to show all three boxes from the front and an example of the
>> reverse side. For now, this page has a picture of the front and back of
>> the NWA 4925 box. When the other page is ready, I'll post that as well.
>>
>> You can see what the boxes look like here:
>> http://www.impactika.com/steelhorse1994.jpg
>>
>> Now the really bad news... Daniel sent the material to Dr. Randy Koretov
>> for examination and his preliminary analysis reads as follows:
>>
>>    Dear Mr. Noyes:
>>
>>    I have preliminary compositional data for your alleged martian. I
>>    can say on the basis of that data the rock is definitely NOT any kind
>>    of meteorite. It's a terrestrial rock.
>>
>>    I'll send you the final data in about 3 weeks.
>>
>>    Randy Korotev
>>
>> I had been in contact with steelhorse1994 before I knew about the
>> analysis. His name is Max and he told me he purchased the material in a
>> bulk lot a few months ago and cannot remember who he purchased it from. I
>> don't know if he is the perpetrator or not. I have emailed with him a few
>> times and he seemed honest but the fact remains he is still selling FAKE
>> material. No analysis of NWA 4881 and NWA 4734 have been done but their
>> authenticity is also guaranteed by the "American Meteorite Collectors
>> Society" and may also be FAKE. Please beware. I count 193 of these boxes
>> having been sold just since the middle of February. Several of us have
>> already contacted eBay to have the remaining auctions pulled. I have
>> followed every lead I could find to trace these boxes back to whomever put
>> them together and I got nowhere. If you know anything about where they
>> came from, I would welcome the information.
>>
>> I would like to be clear that these boxes, sold by DANOVANNI, at
>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTHENTICATED-MOON-MARS-METEORITES-2-Premium-Rock-Art-Displays-w-Easels-/130690281958
>> ARE authentic and are NOT part of the fraud.
>>
>> If any of you have already purchased any of this bogus and potentially
>> bogus material, the IMCA would like one of the NWA 4881 and NWA 4734 boxes
>> from this seller for analysis. Please contact me about that and any
>> questions or concerns.
>>
>> Please keep an eye out for this fake material and lets put our heads
>> together to get them out of the meteorite market.
>>
>> A big thank you to Daniel Noyes!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Maria Haas
>> Treasurer
>> I.M.C.A., Inc.
>> www.IMCA.cc
>> Member #5520
>>  		 	   		
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Received on Wed 09 May 2012 03:38:34 PM PDT


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