Comment by Brad on February 23, 2012 at 7:18pm

Keep up the good work Chris! Fellow collectors and I definitly appreciate your hard work and dedication to the hobby

Comment by Mike B. on February 24, 2012 at 7:00am

@ Chris - I dont think it's fair to compare ARA to a seller on E-Bay. That's just ridiculous. ARA ran a slick operation and had all the bells & whistles that went along with it. To group every buyer that was conned into the same group because you're one of the chosen few that just knew better is elitist and just wrong. These guys didn't survive as long as they did out of luck.....they're were professional con artists that knew exactly what to do and how to do it. And again, the legit dealers are the minority....not the majority. I'm not saying buyers aren't responsible for their own actions. They absolutely are.....but being screwed by ARA is very different then buying a signed Beatles album at your local state fair......being conned and being stupid are not the same thing.

Comment by sling on February 24, 2012 at 7:50am

I was taken in by ARA too.  What cinvnced me to buy? First. they had a physical store, in fact claimed a chain of several stores so they werent anonymous over the internet. But most important was third party authenticator morales.

I thought he was an independent third party, not connected with the store other than being hired to autheticate. And his credentials seemed great. I think it was a former fbi agent trained by the feds in documents authentication. What's better than that. One automatically thinks " a former fed?  a guy like that in not going to cheat ya! And who would dare masquarade themselves as former FBI? No one got that kinda balls. So he must be real.

And trained by the feds in foresic document analysis? These guys are the best, using sophisticated tech to find forgeries like fake dollar bills, handwriting anaylisis in court cases where death is at stake...etc. Someone with that training surely could authenticate beatles...

 

who new someone had the balls to fake all that?

Comment by Fuddjcal on February 24, 2012 at 8:23am

CW was one of the first to start coming out against this scam years ago. Thank you for speaking out about this when nobody else would. 

I share the same feelings that there was no where to go for information to find back then. Now there is all over the internet and the scam is properly exposed. So much so, that many dealers don't even think it's a problem because the forgeries don't cost too much. I'm sure you all would argue otherwise.I t is not known the cost of these misdeeds, but this hopefully sheds a light on it for some that damages can add up pretty quickly. Over $100,000 lost with just these few stories. Not to mention the bad taste in the mouth of the collectors, all with worthless autographs and tainted memories of the autograph business. YUCK 

Comment by CJCollector on February 24, 2012 at 8:57am

Well written, Fudd, and thank you.

@Mike...the point I was trying to make is that whether it's Ebay or a physical store like ARA had, this garbage is all over the place because the scammers know the market for autograph and memorabilia hunters. The majority of people who own autographs own forgeries. Forgeries outnumber authentic autographs by a huge number.

Sellers of forgeries know that the majority of autograph seekers aren't in the inner-circle of the hobby and that's where the information is about sellers of forgeries. The fact is, those outside of the inner-circle of the hobby don't do one iota of research and the sellers of forgeries know that.

Unfortunately, it's very rare that a buyer of a forgery finds this site and it's usually years after they've made a purchase. All of this garbage makes me sad and angry, and it should make all of you angry, too.

Christopher Morales calls himself a Forensic Investigator. You gotta be kidding me, Morales!!!!!

Comment by Mike B. on February 24, 2012 at 12:19pm

@ Chris - point well made. It's incredibly frustrating....and you're 100% right, I found this site about 4 years too late. Steve Cyrkin was a huge help pointing me in the right direction. For me it's probably too late to recover my $ and that's truly a shitty feeling.....BUT....if I can help awareness and prevent someone from going down the way I did....well then at least I'll have that. I'm don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of guy that's going to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I'm a big boy & I F'd up....so be it. My plan is to beat down those pricks Jerry Gladstone & Christopher Morales (and those like them) with as much negative exposure as I can muster. That's how I get my payback....

Mike

Comment by Mike B. on February 24, 2012 at 12:26pm

Wow - sorry for all the typos in that last post. Damn tiny buttons and auto-correct get me every time.....;-)

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