In an effort to part unsuspecting e-bayers from their hard-earned money, there is a scam being perpetrated in the sale of old photographs.  This scam is obvious to most people on the surface as most folks are not blind, but there are always a chosen few that will think, "well...maybe..." and learn to their sorrow later that they were soaked by a wiley con-artist.  This guide is to try to expose this fraud and to stop the crooks that perpetrate it on e-bay and elsewhere. 

HERE IS HOW THE FRAUD WORKS:

E-bay seller finds a 19th century image (CDV, DAGGEUROTYPE, ALBUMEN, AMBROTYPE, TINTYPE) of an unknown civilian that has a very passing resemblance to a historical personage.  NOTE:  Abraham Lincoln, The James Gang, Lieutenant Dixon of the CSS Hunley, Jefferson Davis, Clara Barton, Lewis Payne, and General Grant are some of the bogus images that have been offered to date.

E-bay seller auctions the image as a previously unknown and rare image of this famous personage. 

E-bay seller may have a fraudulent "certificate of authenticity" from a fictional source, or from a source that anyone can obtain a certificate from if they pay a fee.  Also, it has been seen in a recent fraudulent auction from a known scam-artist that the "authenticator" is conviently deceased within months of the photo being auctioned (e-bay terminated the auction and suspended the user-ID.  It was the second ID this particular criminal had suspended for selling these bogus images).  NOTE:  The sort-of founder of this type of scam auction now has a website in which he showcases the bogus images he sells.

E-bay seller often uses vague language in the auction such as "in my opinion", or "I believe," and gives more historical context than any type of accurate description of the photo.  It reads more like a justification than a well-researched, historical photograph.

E-BAY SELLER OFFERS NO REFUNDS!!!!!

Have you seen one of these rip-offs on e-bay?  If so, you have witnessed a serious conman at work.  Below, I'll re-create a version of one of their e-bay auctions:

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CIVIL WAR CDV OF CLARA BARTON

IN MEMORY OF ERIC J. POOPENDORFF

Here for your consideration is a VERY rare CDV of Clara Barton, a nurse famous in the Civil War and known as the "Angel of the Battlefield."  Ms. Barton is the founder of the American Red Cross, and is one of the most famous people of mercy in American History.  This CDV is one of a kind as it was made for Ms. Brton in the late 1870's as a gift from the US Sanitary Commission.  This CDV was verified by Mr. Eric J. Poopendorff a very noted authenticator of famous images, but since he died right after verifying this CDV, you can't contact him to be sure I'm not lying my kiester off.

(INSERT GENERIC CLARA BARTON INFORMATION)

I have included a few legitimate...er...other images of Ms. Barton for you to make your comparisons.  Now, if I was a legitimate expert or had a real picture, I would not need to make all these comparisons as you could look at the photograph and tell who it was without having to compare it to other photographs that leave no doubt.  But as I am trying to SELL YOU on this image, I will use any comparison or tool I can to make you think I may be right.  I also include a certificate from the (luckily) deceased Mr. Poopendorff that you will have NO WAY to verify.  As a matter of fact, the certificate I have has no images on it, but only a paragraph on letterhead paper.  If you have ever seen a REAL certificate, you know how detailed they are because the authenticator is a professional and wishes to photograph and document every detail, and will add a seal and often a Notary stamp.  My certificate is missing all this as I just made it up to make you and e-bay think its good.  You see, I'm sly but not too smart.

Please e-mail me any questions but I will only add positive querries to this auction to add to the illusion that my item is real.  I will have friends use their e-bay ID's to submit questions as well to try to create a legitimate buzz on my auction.  And if you call me out as a fraud, I very likely will threaten to sue you and begin to harass you with insulting e-mails as long as you are dumb enough to respond.

Here are my comparison images.  On the left is my CDV, on the right is a legitimate...er...known image of Clara Barton.  Gee, see how close they are???  Man, it's just GOTTA' be her! 

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Do you see how easy this scam is?  Now I made my auction a joke, but this really is the format these crooks use...or a similar variation.  The CDV I used as Clara Barton is a generic civilian CDV I had in my collection that cost less than $20.  I add a Clara Barton ID and I can hope to get a sucker to pay me $500 and up depending on how dumb my buyer is.  Even at $500 I made a heck of a profit!  And this scam is dangerous because THE ACTUAL IMAGE IS REAL!  It isn't a fake image, but a legitimate period image that the enterprising conman has added a fake provenance or ID to.  He then does ten minutes of cut-and-paste research online, "borrows" some legitimate images for comparison, and WALLA!  He has the perfect fraudulent auction for an image!  Think about it, do you need five "comparison" images to be able to pick Abraham Lincoln out of a photo?  Of course not!  You can look at an image and see if it is Lincoln or not.  These scammers are trying to put JUST ENOUGH doubt in your mind to get you to bid.  It is almost like a phishing scam you see in junk e-mails telling you that you have a long, lost uncle in Nigeria that died and willed you millions of dollars, all you need to do is wire $1000 for "processing."  The bogus photo scammers figure if they just get enough people to look at it, someone will eventually bid.  It is the law of averages.  So if you see these, be careful!  Do your research!  Go to the internet and view the American Relic Hunters "e-bay Fakes Forum."  It has a list of crooks that sell fraudulent Civil War era items on e-bay.  NEVER EVER expect to see legitimate images of famous people being sold in this manner.  It doesn't happen.  If you do your research a bit more you will see the scam for what it is.  DON'T GET PLAYED FOR A FOOL!