Van Halen Signed LP Forger Busted

Just wanted to share:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-forger-pleads-guilty/

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Duncan on October 9, 2011 at 7:54pm

What a scum.

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on October 9, 2011 at 10:38pm

Thanks, Jim.

But the most salient part of this story is omitted.

According to the account in the Joplin Globe, the investigation into this crook took 4 YEARS!

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x597291837/Carl-Junction-man-admit...

This shows you why forgers and fraud can flourish. It is enormously costly in terms of resources, manpower and time to make these cases. The fact that it took 4 years to bring one guy to justice demonstrates why it's taking so long to see the results of the feds' broad probe into the industry. That's been ongoing for more than 3 years.

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Permalink Reply by Jim McFiver on October 10, 2011 at 4:43am

Sidney, you are so correct. And that's the reason I posted it here. Autograph Magazine articles are immediate and require nothing more than a few minutes of online searching to assist any fan with authenticity concerns.

The cynical part of me understands that forgery is not only easy money for the forgers, but also the associated institutions. eBay racked up some wonderful fees on this garbage, as did PayPal, credit card companies, banks, etc. Ironically, law enforcement can't be bothered because they don't make enough to justify the costs! Maddening.

Ultimately, however, the buyer must bear the final responsibility in vetting both the seller and item. And that's why I'm so appreciative of everything Steve Cyrkin has done here, turning this web site into another weapon fighting autograph fraud, 24 hours a day.

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on October 10, 2011 at 7:10am

Absolutely right, Jim.

This website is an important clearinghouse for information about demonstrable and probable fraud. There's really nowhere else for people seeking that information to turn and find it as broadly and easily as its available here.

I've said it before. Steve deserves enornmous credit for standing up to and exposing the scammers, often at great personal expense.