Forgeries and Facsimiles seen on Online Auction Sites, etc

[Jerry Weirich]

A fiscally used 5/ Sideface with a fake barred numeral 125 is posted for sale on ebay. The seller ("raamino" of Melbourne) describes the item as postally used. I contacted the seller to tell him/her that the item was actually fiscally used with a fake canceler applied to hide the fiscal pen marks, but the seller decided to keep the incorrect description. I don't usually post items that have been fiscally used and offered as postally used, but this item has appeared on ebay previously.

Fake BN125.jpg (326.58 KiB) Viewed 541554 times

[Ross Ewington]

thanks Jerry

I have just sent the seller this message with an image of a real BN125

Dear Raamino ..... this stamp is a cleaned fiscal with a faked BN125 postmark ..... a real 2nd Allocation BN125 is quite different to the one on this stamp .... I thought I'd let you know before you end up with an unhappy customer ...best regards - Ross

Ball now in his court

regards, Ross

[John Campton]

The 5/- BN 125 sold for $70.98 with 13 bids.

[Jerry Weirich]

The SPECIMEN forgery on the surcharged 5d Keyplate is offered again on ebay (see previous bulletin board post of 13 April 2021). The difference is the forger's seller name has changed to "a_l_77" with a location of NSW, Australia. Previously it was "ocean-5002" with a location of Australia, Australia.

Fake Specimen.jpg (152.84 KiB) Viewed 541523 times

[Jerry Weirich]

A third example of a forged SPECIMEN overprint on a Halfpenny surcharged Sideface has been posted on ebay. This time the forger is using the seller name is "a_l_77" with a location of NSW, Australia. Previously the forger used "ocean-5002" with a location of Australia, Australia for the second example. (I didn't record the seller name for the first example.)

SPECIMEN forgery on Halfpenny surcharge (3).jpg (94.01 KiB) Viewed 541514 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Two new fake Specimen overprints have been posted on ebay. The forger has listed both under their current seller name of "a_l_77" with a location of NSW, Australia.

Fake Specimen halfpenny pictorial.jpg (144.53 KiB) Viewed 541439 times

Fake Specimen 2d Sideface.jpg (127.53 KiB) Viewed 541439 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Four new fake Specimen overprints have been posted on ebay. For this group, the forger has changed their seller name back to "northgate14" with a location of NSW, Australia. The halfpenny surcharge item is the fourth example seen with this forged Specimen overprint. The 3d pictorial is the second example seen.

SPECIMEN forgery on Halfpenny surcharge (4).jpg (68.63 KiB) Viewed 541431 times

Fake Specimen halfpenny Sideface.jpg (64.59 KiB) Viewed 541431 times

Faked Specimen on pictorials.jpg (55.84 KiB) Viewed 541431 times

[Jerry Weirich]

A new SPECIMEN forgery has been posted on eBay. This time on a 2 1/2d surcharge on 9d Sideface. The forger is using a new seller name of "philatel_12" with a location of Albion Park, NSW, Australia.

Fake Specimen Sideface surcharge.jpg (60.51 KiB) Viewed 541235 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Two more forged Specimen overprints have been posted on eBay. Both items are new (not previously offered as best as I can tell). The forger has again changed their seller name and this time to "buhay_ko1" with a location of NSW, Australia.

Fake Specimen (2).jpg (85.55 KiB) Viewed 541217 times

Fake Specimen on halfpenny (2).jpg (102.37 KiB) Viewed 541217 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Another example of a forged SPECIMEN overprint on the Sideface 2 1/2d surcharge has been posted on ebay. The forger is using a new seller name of "riz_878" with a location of NSW, Australia. The forged Tasmanian item (first stamp, second row) is one of many other items being offered in the same lot. While there appears to be some genuine fiscally used material one should assume all the overprinted and punched perfin material is also forged.

Fake SPECIMEN Sideface surcharge.jpg (130.49 KiB) Viewed 541145 times

[blue-within-blue]

Most of the recently posted photos and Ebay accounts based in New South Wales belong to one criminal counterfeiter - George Nassar. He has been defrauding Ebay buyers for about 15 years via over 120 IDs, usually selling faked overprints, perfins, and cancellations on piece. He also makes computer-printed counterfeits of old classic stamps, and ages them artificially.

A few members of the Stampboards forum are anti-Nassar "activists" - we occasionally buy from him in order to post adverse feedback, but mainly publish his name and Ebay ID changes so that potential buyers who Google his IDs can find out about his criminality. Sadly, Ebay takes little interest in stopping him and appears to be unable or unwilling to see the links between his accounts. They usually take no action, even when I or others show them before-and-after photos of the same stamp, bought using one ID and then sold via a different ID with a fake overprint added.

His current known IDs are :

stamp_archives : George Nassar (changed by deed poll from Naji Azar).

starcollectables : Nicole Nassar (step-daughter of George Nassar).

windsor_60_6 (changed from northgate14) : false name Jayden Cook, using the same PO Box address as ID starcollectables.

stamptre_548 : Nabil Azar (brother of George Nassar), using the same PO Box address as the older ID ocean-5002, now banned for shill bidding.

premiumequ-88 : false name Premium Equipment Supplies.

stampomtrad : false name Davendar Deo / Omram Trading.

evinty0 : account details not yet discovered.

These older IDs appear to be still live but dormant :
strampsdownunder
sl_143_44
a_l_77

Recent older IDs which are now de-registered by Ebay (mainly for shill bidding and bogus feedbacks) include :

la-lune-collectables : Luna Heloui, sister of George Nassar.
rayahelou-0 : Rayan Heloui, nephew of George Nassar.
antiquesunlimited111_1
riz_878
a_l_77
buhay_ko1
el73_28
philatel_12
fel3634
la_4211
worldstamps_29
stampcollections

There are almost certainly more active IDs. If anyone spots similar regular activity on other accounts, please post details.

ROB

[admin]

Thanks Rob,
One of our members has been very actively involved in including with various Federal and State Govt authorities in having this guy's fake eBay ids cancelled. I believe information has been shared with the StampBoards team working on this.
You will see various reports over time in this topic, above, on various fakes some of our members have spotted. Some are Nasser and some from other sources.
Thanks for your post.

Pete

[blue-within-blue]

The serial counterfeiter Nassar has a new Ebay account : tin7778. All the usual fake overprints, perfins and laser-printed forgeries of old classics, dipped in tea to look old, with blurred photos so you can't see the details.

ROB

UPDATE - new ID now changed to skystamps1010 .

[Jerry Weirich]

Another fake Specimen overprint has been listed on eBay by the NSW forger. This time on a halfpenny electrotype. The forger is using the seller name "windsor_60_6" with a location of NSW, Australia. ROB from an earlier post on 21 Sept 2021 indicates that the seller name windsor_60_6 is a known id for the forger.

fake Specimen overprint.jpg (156.56 KiB) Viewed 541085 times

[Jerry Weirich]

More fakes (Specimen overprints and OS perfins) from the NSW forger. The forger is using the seller name "windsor_60_6" with a location of NSW, Australia.

[blue-within-blue]

George Nassar the Sydney stamp forger yesterday changed the username of his account stamptre_548 to ozstampcollect . Same feedback score and start-date, all the usual counterfeits. This is the account registered to his brother, Nabil Azar.

But there is also some good news - Ebay today cancelled his account with username windsor_60_6. This is a good step forward, as it was a longstanding selling account, live since December 2018 and with a high feedback score of 292. And now that Ebay has split from PayPal, he will need to produce real documents to be able to register new selling IDs linked to a bank account. Previously, anyone could run unlimited numbers of Ebay IDs with payments all going into the same PayPal account.

His IDs skystamps1010 and ozstampcollect are still active and selling. Please report all identified forgeries direct to Ebay customer services.

ROB

UPDATE ; today he revived ID premiumequ-88 as a selling acccount ; previously dormant for several months. All the usual fake garbage again.

[Jerry Weirich]

A forged 1d Courier with forged cancel has been listed on ebay by the NSW forger. The forger is using his skystamps1010 seller id with a location of NSW, Australia.

Forged 1d Courier.jpg (175.42 KiB) Viewed 540808 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Forged Chalon stamps on ebay. I thought they were obvious, but a number of collectors can't tell the difference. The forged 2d pair is already at A$100 with 20 bids. The seller is "unclegordon56" with a location of Dapto, NSW, Australia.

forged 2d Chalons.jpg (262.34 KiB) Viewed 540808 times

Forged 4d Chalon.jpg (163.27 KiB) Viewed 540808 times

[Jerry Weirich]

Another fake Specimen overprint on halfpenny electro. Forger using the "skystamps1010" seller name with a location of NSW, Australia. Image not very good, but forger is intentionally posting poor images in hope that will help deceive collectors.

fake Specimen on halfpenny electro.jpg (110.46 KiB) Viewed 540784 times

[Jerry Weirich]

More fake Specimen overprints. The forgeries appear to be creations of the NSW forger.

Fake Specimen overprints 2.jpg (83.9 KiB) Viewed 540775 times

Post updated 17 Dec to remove seller name and location. The seller removed the items from ebay upon learning they were fakes and after discussions with administrative staff of the Bulletin Board they believe the seller did not know they were fakes and there was no intention to mislead.

[John Campton]

Hi Jerry,
Just a short note on this one. We believed, after a few rounds of emails, that this was one of this sellers initial attempts at selling on ebay. We had a look at his history and gave him the benefit of a doubt. Ross contacted him and the items were withdrawn immediately.

I feel it may be a case of insufficient knowledge of the subject matter and the seller is, I believe, going to call in and see Ross and talk about the issue.

Agree the forger who facilitates and generates these miseries benefits from the broad lack of knowledge on the subject in the wider amateur philatelic community. We can only persevere, be diligent and educate. As I said to P.A. this is one very good reason to help Barry Gibson with the publishing of his Tasmanian Specimens book.

JC

[Jerry Weirich]

Another forged 1d Courier is posted an ebay by the NSW forger using his seller name "skystamps1010" with a location of NSW, Australia. This time, the forger did describe the item as a fake.

Forged 1d Courier 2.jpg (171.37 KiB) Viewed 540760 times

[blue-within-blue]

Serial counterfeiter George Nassar's Ebay ID ozstampcollect was de-registered yesterday - a good scalp to get, as it was one of his higher feedback scores.

His other current Ebay selling ID skystamps1010 (formerly tin7778) is still live. There may also be two new IDs in use, although there are not yet enough connections to be sure. New ID bottlejfb is one ; the other is centrestamps_6 . Both are again located in NSW, both have multiple items for sale resembling Nassar's typical fakes.

Opinions from specialists will be welcome on these sellers' items.

ROB

[blue-within-blue]

Information received now confirms that Ebay ID centrestamps_6 is yet another account run by the Sydney stamp forger, George Nassar. Now that Ebay requires payments to go into a traditional bank account instead of a PayPal address, he is apparently having to use friends and family to set up new accounts to replace the older banned ones. Previously he could set up unlimited IDs all using the same PayPal account ; but now, Ebay checks that the registered name matches that on the bank account.

ID centrestamps_6 is registered in the name of Louchelle Heloui. That surname is already known to Ebay's security team, and the Stampboards forum. Her Facebook account shows a young woman, so she appears to be Nassar's niece rather than another sister.

The family connections to Nassar are confirmed by Louchelle's Facebook "friends" list, which usefully includes :

Luna Heloui , sister of George Nassar and registered owner of banned Ebay ID la-lune-collectables ;
Rayan Heloui, nephew of George and registered owner of banned Ebay ID rayahelou-0 ;
Nicole Nassar, stepdaughter of George and registered owner of banned Ebay ID starcollectables ;
Jayden Smith , registered owner of recently banned Ebay ID windsor_60_6 ; and
Richard and Chantelle Azar, relations of Nabil Azar, registered owner of recently banned Ebay ID ozstampcollect. Nabil is the brother of George Nassar, who changed his name by deed poll from Naji Azar many years ago.

All these details have been passed to the Bankstown Police for investigation.

ROB

[blue-within-blue]

Yet again, serial counterfeiter George Nassar - the Sydney stamp forger - has rebranded himself. An item which I had saved from user ID centrestamps_6 is now showing the new username globalstamps1 with the feedback carried across. The Ebay user homepage inexplicably no longer shows an icon or message to warn buyers that a seller recently changed his ID.

He has also recently listed a couple of items under his new ID bottlejfb, which had been dormant for several weeks, including another of these wonky forged overprints :

Nassar item 393903204411.jpg (81.44 KiB) Viewed 540464 times

ROB