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Did You Purchase an Item from Anthony Nurse or Charity Fundraising Packages? Please Let me Know...

I saw items at an auction recently that I believe to be forgeries. I'm in the process of trying to figure out if they are real or not, and would like to hear from others on experiences they've had with Anthony Nurse or his company -- Charity Fundraising Packages.

I remember being at a party 15 years ago, and somebody had a signed "Hotel California" album by the Eagles. It was fake, and I knew it was. I asked the guy how he acquired it. He told me an auction for his sons school. I didn't have the heart to tell him.

So, when I saw another fake Hotel California album at this auction, it made me cringe.

Anyway...please contact me if you purchased a forgery or ANYTHING from this company -- and I'll see if Steve and Roger can help me authenticate these items, and we'll move into the next steps involved (if, in fact, they are forged items).

It's bad enough if forged items are sold to unsuspecting people, but to do it in the name of a charity is just despicable.

(and a website that shows generic pictures of bands signing for 50 fans doesn't prove anything...neither does a photo of Anthony Nurse standing by Rod Stewart at a book signing).

At book signings, they don't let you bring albums, cds, or guitars. They sign THE BOOK ONLY. And having a photo taking with somebody, doesn't make any autographed item you sell "authentic." Most people don't realize that.

Anyway....contact me at: joshboard87@gmail.com

Thank you!

(or post your stories on this thread)

Tags: Anthony Nurse, Charity Fundraising Packages, Forgery, autograph authenticity, charity auctions, fake autographs

4 members like this

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 27, 2019 at 9:56am: BW Unlimited here is one; AutographPros.com; there are others. Most are in sports. A lot of the major licensed and private signing sources offer them.

Comment by Josh Board on February 27, 2019 at 9:58am: You know what, Gil? ON that point, I actually disagree with you. I don't like the ideas of charities getting "a list" of the good companies (although the one above this post is). Because, that merely puts the seed in the charities mind that....auctioning autographed items is a great fundraiser, and then...they stop doing the research and stop caring to put that much time and energy into it. And, it just gets more bogus forgers to realize...this is the way to go.

Comment by Sidney Fields on February 27, 2019 at 10:10am: As Josh mentions, the holy grail for one of these memorabilia stories is to get a major rock star involved...presumably to refute the purported signature and say he/she didn't sign the item.

In my experience that's very difficult.
Generally, they don't care.
And if someone was lucky enough to get one, it's probably unlikely he/she would be able to say the "signature" isn't his/hers.

One other approach is to find an item that was manufactured after the death of a signer.
Another is to find an item one of the alleged signers never would have autographed because, (for example) of tension over that particular album or with a band member.
That happened to work in one investigation and resulted in law enforcement taking a more active role.
But obviously that may be too time consuming, is very difficult to pull off and requires more than a little luck.

Comment by Josh Board on February 27, 2019 at 10:19am: If 60 Minutes does a story, or ANY media outlet, Sidney and I will be gladly to explain those things, and others, to them. For example, with the Eric Clapton guitar that I warned Make a Wish about -- HE DOES NOT SIGN GUITARS anymore, since an incident with signed guitars he did for an auction fundraiser (he was sued, because it didn't look "enough" like his regular signature, because he actually tried to write neater so the buyer could read his name). Or, the many, many signed Beatles albums that these auctions had signed by everyone but John (for obvious reasons). Yet, Ringo Starr has NEVER signed autographs in person. EVER! Even for charity or anything else. Stories like this...are enough to get 60 Minutes interested. And in this day and age, it's so easy for reporters to do the leg work. I mean...they can log onto this site, and say "Okay, we need to talk to Josh. Let's talk to Sidney. Let's show the guitars," and the story is half written!

Comment by Sidney Fields on February 27, 2019 at 10:41am: This story does have it all: major rock stars, major charities, plenty of victims and a diabolical business model in which everyone is happy with the arrangement until much later (if ever).

Josh gives good advice.
Keep your pitch short!
Maybe just to the above points.

You may also want to mention that Steve Cyrkin did a panel on autograph fraud at the annual Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) conference a few years ago.
He's a great resource and probably the leading foe of autograph fraudsters.

Comment by Gil Sainz on February 27, 2019 at 10:43am: Good points Josh.

Comment by Josh Board on February 27, 2019 at 10:46am: And I really can't thank Gil enough. I get one email a week from somebody, that sees this thread. They show me pictures, and it's always fake autographed stuff. I tell them all similar things, and ask them to post on this thread. They never do. Some get their money back, but most don't. But, 95% of them DO NOT post their stories here, and that baffles me. Why not try to help others from getting screwed.

Comment by Josh Board on February 27, 2019 at 3:19pm: I started thinking about something, Gil. It was super generous of you to, after all this, donate to that charity handsomely. BUT...you should call them and say, "Are you calling all the other folks that bought items, to tell them they might be fake?"

The reason I ask is...that's one of the things I told Make a Wish to do, and they didn't want to. I said at least give them the heads up, to which they said, "Well, they aren't complaining, so why make a stink about it?" Uh....because they most likely bought bogus stuff.

At least call the charity and ask them if they're doing anything about it.

Comment by BW Unlimited Chariy Fundraising on February 27, 2019 at 3:46pm: I absolutely agree with Josh. The charity did not just get one item, they usually get a bunch. Gil you should definitely warn them.

Comment by BW Unlimited Chariy Fundraising on February 27, 2019 at 3:59pm: I just have to vent. I have been warning charities for years - over and over and over again through written blogs, video blogs etc. about fraud in the charity industry and the reality of autographs. I am not an expert at autographs but that is why I rely on expert authenticators who are truly the standard in the autograph world. I recall that this same company use to have it on their website years ago that they self authenticate. I preach 3rd party authentication - finally they started doing that but up popped "RM Real Autographs."

The reality is - charities get caught in the "Glitz & Glamour" of this crap and go for it. They NEVER do their homework and when they do, my phone rings or I get an email.

What kills me is this - I'm a retired Maryland State Trooper and former Marine. My face, name, phone number etc. is all over my website. I'm all over Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn everywhere. If you look on their sites, you have no idea who owns or operates the company. We will NEVER accept anything that is questionable or isn't authenticated by the standard in the industry authenticators. We will not do it - period end of story !!! But yet, charities are drawn in...without any stop signs. Like Josh said, they don't care if no one is complaining. No one causes a stink.

I can't even offer the shipping back and forth like they do because our items are real - I don't have 1,000% profit.

It's nearly a joke now - as soon as a movie comes out "Poof" there is a cast signed movie poster all perfectly autographed with a silver paint pen. It's a joke. Charities need to raise hell and hopefully someone will listen and do something about it. I see it all the time.

In fact, when a charity tells me they have items from these companies and want ours too - I tell them I'm not interested and won't mix my items with theirs.