COUNTERFEIT COINS AND CURRENCY ON EBAY, MERCARI, OFFER-UP ETC.
Msesquirette
Posts: 16 ✭✭
Happy Friday! 
I am new coin collecting and to this forum but I noticed that there is a large amount of fake coins being sold on places like ebay, mercari, offer-up, etc. I've noticed that people are reporting the sellers of the items to the listing sites. However, before you do that please make sure to contact U.S. Secret Service’s Counterfeit Currency Processing Facility by going to https://www.uscurrency.gov/report-counterfeit and also see https://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Treasurer-US/Pages/if-you-suspect.aspx _Do this before reporting to the online company. _ otherwise they will just repost them under a new user identity or on a different selling site. It is also important to report it to https://acefonline.org/ as well so that these unscrupulous jerks can be stopped. Turning in counterfeit currency and coins must be done to a local secret service field office or law enforcement officer. You cannot return it to the seller or to the listing site. If the fakes are only reported to the online forums and not the above proper forums first you'll keep seeing them again and again (as I keep seeing in multiple discussions ebay is notified and the person just reposts them for sale later). Help put a stop to this and keep the integrity of coin collecting at its highest!
Comments
Sure, that will stop it.
I love your enthusiasm, but I think the issue is infinitely worse than any of those steps can accommodate.
But it's worth a try, I guess. Just don't get disillusioned if things don't go as expected. We have people who have told horror stories here about getting blatantly ripped off by sellers of fakes and law enforcement declined any involvement. It is all about allocating available resources.
@Msesquirette.... Welcome aboard.... Thank you for the contact information. That being said, it seems that even through such authorities, the fakes continue.... No action 'seems' to be taken. It would be great if actual prosecutions happened, but if they do, it seems the information is not available. Cheers, RickO
If any of the coins I buy from a coin shop turn out to be counterfeit, I will contact the Treasury Department. I will ask for a ride along.
Good luck. Even the local police are unlikely to drive you there. Best to get your money back and consider yourself lucky.
That's the reality.
If someone was making fake $100 bills the feds would be interested, but a random counterfeit coin won't excite them.
Back in the day, a fellow classmate got caught shooting a bill on a process camera in an advanced litho class. I did see the negative and it was perfect. The Fed's were there the next day and took all of our names. I'm probably still on that list.
In my previous life in local LE, a bogus banknote received, was entered into evidence on a secure U.S. Banknote web portal, assigned a #, then mailed to a regional USSS office. End of story. The more problematic notes were the ones with $20 pieces taped on the ends. I think collectors really just don't want to get screwed out of their money. Caveat emptor! Peace Roy
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You give up too easy. Not only did I catch someone. I have a police report, detectives assigned in 2 states and the secret service involved. People don't report it because they automatically assume that law enforcement doesn't care. They do and if you report it, no it won't stop, but it might make one or two think twice. @Modwriter and it was a single Morgan Dollar that was the issue. @JBK the squeaky wheel get the noise. @ricko thank you for the warm welcome.
Pls let me know when a single counterfeit Morgan dollar gets someone arrested and sent to jail
That will be a momentous occasion.
Until then, thousands of fake coins are available in plain sight right now (eBay, Alibaba, Craig's List, etc.).
Counterfeits and the issues with getting law enforcement's attention has been discussed on many threads here. One member bought a gold bar on Craig's List that turned out to be fake. The seller kept selling them and the buyer tried to get the police interested and they refused to get involved.
@Msesquirette
Welcome. As has been said, great enthusiasm, but the battle is definitely an uphill one. Some in LE may be able to pursue and even bring charges, but there is a whole pile of shi* out there to be cleaned up. Bad coins, notes, slabs ... counterfeits of almost everything that can exist and can be sold unsuspectingly probably does exist to some extent. Bigger than standard resources can police IMO.
We try to do our best to report the issues and educate other collectors here.
I keep pretty close records of my purchases, and, while this can be considered as a joke (maybe), if it was a problem on a purchase I made, and I had reasonable expectation that the seller was involved in the deceit, I have a hog-leg I might bring with me on a face-to-face visit. LE would probably have to get involved after that.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
One of the times I was at the ANA Summer Seminar, someone was showing off some counterfeit notes he picked up at a small shop as he drove to Colorado Springs. What he wasn't expecting is that one of the teachers (or at least a guest speaker) was a Secret Service agent, and he was sitting at the next table. Guy didn't get to hold onto his counterfeit notes very long...
@Msesquirette
Welcome to the forum and thank you for the websites. If everytime one was reported somethng actually happened it would eventually have a small positive effect. It has just been allowed to grow so large that only the postal system might have a positive effect to stop them entering our country.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Quick update. Not only did the local Sheriff where the seller lives in Alabama take the case, LAPD took the2 case against the counterfeiter too and are investigating him. Also, the FBI's task force on anticounterfeiting is investigating Mercari and the seller. See, the squeaky wheel gets the noise!
@jesbroken Quick update. Not only did the local Sheriff where the seller lives in Alabama take the case, LAPD took the2 case against the counterfeiter too and are investigating him. Also, the FBI's task force on anticounterfeiting is investigating Mercari and the seller. See, the squeaky wheel gets the noise!
@pursuitofliberty @Modwriter @JBK @ricko Quick update. Not only did the local Sheriff where the seller lives in Alabama take the case, LAPD took the2 case against the counterfeiter too and are investigating him. The Sheriff in Alabama is going to arrest him in the next week or two. LAPD (I know right?!) is working with the taskforce to go after Mercari. Also, the FBI's task force on anticounterfeiting is investigating Mercari and the seller. See, the squeaky wheel gets the noise!
Read here. Fake coins in Fake slabs on ebay:
From ICTA (The Industry Council for Tangible Assets):
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Barry Ron Skog, 68, of Burnsville, Minn., pleaded guilty February 21 to one count of selling counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud in the United States District Court of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Skog faces a potential maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment on the count of selling counterfeit coins and a potential of 20 years maximum on the mail fraud count. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each count and mandatory restitution in amounts to be determined by the court.
No date has been set for sentencing.
A Minnesota federal grand jury had returned a six-count criminal indictment on April 10, 2018, charging Skog with five counts related to the sale of counterfeit coins and one count of mail fraud. With the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss four of the counts related to selling counterfeit coins.
Update 7/11/2019:
A Burnsville coin dealer who admitted selling counterfeit coins was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison.
Barry Ron Skog, 68, pleaded guilty to the counterfeit coin scheme Feb. 21.He was sentenced by St. Paul District Court Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright; Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda M. Sertich prosecuted the case..
I am happy for these law enforcement actions, but the fact remains that the vast majority go unpunished.
The expression is, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".