The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued their Annual Report a few months ago. Among the highlights is that auction fraud – a frequent topic in the hobby of collecting original television and movie props and wardrobe – was reported to make up one of four complaints made to the organization. [Read more…]
Heritage Holiday Catalog of High End Collectibles Includes Sub from “The Spy Who Loved Me”
Heritage Auction Galleries is hosting their annual “Heritage for the Holidays” catalog on their HA.com website. The catalog includes “rare and appealing treasures” of fixed price (non auction) collectible items including stamps, comic books, sports memorabilia, art, book first editions, currency, historical artifacts. [Read more…]
Auction Fraud at Center of FBI & Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Report for 2008
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued their Annual Report a few months ago. Among the highlights is that auction fraud – a frequent topic in the hobby of collecting original television and movie props and wardrobe – was reported to make up one of four complaints made to the organization. [Read more…]
Heritage Auction Galleries “Holiday Catalog” Of High End Collectibles, Includes F-16 Falcon From X-Men 2
Heritage Auction Galleries is hosting their “Heritage for the Holidays” catalog on their HA.com website. Among “holy grail” of offerings – including stamps, comic books, sports memorabilia, art, book first editions, currency, historical artifacts, – are a handful of movie-related memorabilia pieces. Included is an F-16 Fighting Falcon attributed to X-Men 2 and Independence Day. [Read more…]
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Releases 2007 Report
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released it’s 2007 Internet Crime Report last week.
The IC3 is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Per their webpage: [Read more…]
Red Baron “Memorabilia Collector’s Auction”: Atlanta, GA – May 2-4, 2008
From the Red Baron Antiques website: [Read more…]
Flashback: Operation Bullpen
I thought it might be interesting for readers to reflect back on governmental efforts in the U.S. circa 2000 to address the issue of counterfeit sports and entertainment memorabilia, which was part of a three-year investigation.
While this investigation was predominantly focused on sports memorabilia and autographs, there are some obvious parallels with the hobby of collecting original props and wardrobe, particularly the employment of certificates of authenticity and consumers’ reliance on these documents.
What follows is a press release from the United States Department of Justice (see usdoj.gov website): [Read more…]
Internet Crime Complaint Center
I thought the Internet Crime Complaint Center would be a potentially important resource for any original prop collector that becomes a victim of fraud. Given that significant dollar amounts are typically at risk in hobby-related transactions, and communication and/or payment usually involve the Internet, this is a valuable resource to be aware of. [Read more…]