Deber May - Anyone seen this??

[Joe]

I'm sorry we weren't more vocal with our opinions of this from the start guys.

Although we spoke about it in private the whole thing gathered momentum rather quickly and all we could do was step back and hope for the best. Frank, Dennis and SeerDrakon all helped to co-ordinate the biggest whip round I have ever seen and while we found it a bit fishy we couldn't put a stop to it without proof - and we didn't have any

Deber is the only forum member in the last 11 years that I have ever seen talk about their insurance concerns and then get robbed weeks later...I'm sorry but that just doesn't happen.

I suppose looking back it was a text book scam.. :twisted:

I hope I am wrong and this is all a big misunderstanding but I didn't believe it from the start and I believe it even less after reading the RS thread..

Sad days

 

[plantman]

maybe dennis could pay him another visit with a few friends and get our forum members donation back, ****ing twat deserves it.

 

[Jez]

I agree with you Joe.
I privately spoke with a few guys to suggest and discuss my suspicions, I wish I had aired my doubts, I'm sorry.

Glass half full? For every crook trying to scam us, there are a bunch of great guys out there.
Let's learn from this, tighten up and move on.
Heads up high guys, you all meant well and I'm proud to be one of you.

 

[mumbo]

If this turns out to be what is looking likely then I'm not convinced the sole intention was to fake the theft in order to gain from the generosity of the community, would this person really have considered such a scenario :?: Perhaps there is a bigger scam behind it with regards to the insurance claim or the intention to rip some people off on some deals and the generosity that followed wasn't expected which is why it took a lot of effort to send the collection once it had come together :?:

 

[naughtyjedi]

I guess thats the end of their star wars trading, get the evidence against them published (as legally possible), put the word out and make sure they are blacklisted by the community.

 

[PIGCITY]

Looks like we are suckers for a pretty face..

Exactly what I thought at the time, was pretty surprised how quickly people ponied up stuff for someone with no real history on here. Shame really that people stalk forums to do stuff like this.

 

[db94]

Is this the same Deber that claimed to have their collection stolen so everyone sent her stuff and she didn't even post a thank you? Hmmm.
:? :roll:

Yep that pissed me right off, a nice "thank you" pm to those that donated would have been nice - the whole "my laptop was stolen so I can't reply" bugged me at the time because access to the internet is so easy these days from work, mobiles etc. Turns out she didn't say thanks because she's actually a bloke and a crook.
We did it for the right reasons, well done to all that donated but equally well done to those that had their suspicions and held back - we'll learn as a community.

 

[PGowdy]

Is this the same Deber that claimed to have their collection stolen so everyone sent her stuff and she didn't even post a thank you? Hmmm.
:? :roll:

Yep that pissed me right off, a nice "thank you" pm to those that donated would have been nice - the whole "my laptop was stolen so I can't reply" bugged me at the time because access to the internet is so easy these days from work, mobiles etc. Turns out she didn't say thanks because she's actually a bloke and a crook.
We did it for the right reasons, well done to all that donated but equally well done to those that had their suspicions and held back - we'll learn as a community.

I didn't donate anything and i didn't feel bad about it either. It just seemed a little off to me.
Having said that, people ought not to feel bad about trying to do a good thing. She clearly played on people in this hobby's good nature which is something we should be proud of in a weird way. :?

 

[PGowdy]

Doesn't she have a Facebook page and some of you are friends with her.

Are there not any photos of her on there. And does she have friends who aren't part of the star wars community?

Great minds ! Just checked that but they all look to be Star Wars friends - and no personal pictures

Sounds familiar. Remind you of anyone?

 

[JuniorChubb]

And there was me feeling guilty that I did not donate.

After Kennerbabe and Karen I think we need new tag line for the back of the SWFUK t-shirts...

Bro's before Ho's :wink:

 

[TC-14]

Been away from the forum for a good few months... and it saddens me to read this. I do remember 'her' joining up last year. Just a real shame it's come to this, and the good will of this community has been abused. Sad, sad day.

 

[Palifan]

This really is terrible if it ends up being what it looks to be. I'm thinking though that he/she never expected a whip round and was probably just going for an insurance scam. Maybe that's why there was a lack of response as it ended up getting bigger than they thought and maybe even felt a little gilt.

I'm not trying to find some good in this person as the whole VCJ cape switch and Han up for sale after it had apparently been sold seems very dodgy, but I'm not so sure they ever thought it would go as big as it did with the community rallying around for gift.

Sad that it maybe happened and sorry to write this if it's not the case but the whole thing really didn't feel right at the time and the longer there's silence the worse it'll get, just look what happened with Toni's lack of response (although I'm sure he's going to turn up at a toy fair one day and have to answer for himself).

 

[poncho]

I didn't donate anything and i didn't feel bad about it either. It just seemed a little off to me.

same here pete.

 

[tiefighterboy]

The odd part is she was supposedly a high end collector, the stuff we sent was not high end. So whats the gain? Maybe his collection was fake pictures of other peoples stuff. I know I always assume female collectors are just guys faking...but come on..how many girls really collect vintage star wars??? (Dont say Karen as there is the desire for cock in there somewhere)

 

[momike]

This really is terrible if it ends up being what it looks to be. I'm thinking though that he/she never expected a whip round and was probably just going for an insurance scam. Maybe that's why there was a lack of response as it ended up getting bigger than they thought and maybe even felt a little gilt.

I'm not trying to find some good in this person as the whole VCJ cape switch and Han up for sale after it had apparently been sold seems very dodgy, but I'm not so sure they ever thought it would go as big as it did with the community rallying around for gift.

Sad that it maybe happened and sorry to write this if it's not the case but the whole thing really didn't feel right at the time and the longer there's silence the worse it'll get, just look what happened with Toni's lack of response (although I'm sure he's going to turn up at a toy fair one day and have to answer for himself).

I agree, something is very fishy about this whole thing and had i known about the whole vc jawa swap i would of never contributed, I remember thinking to myself before posting my parcel to Frank that if it turned out to be a scam i was not that out of pocket so no harm, point being i was a little suspect, and even more so with her late response/thanks that seemed a little hollow in all honesty thinking back.

Anyway like i said something is fishy about the whole thing but don't think we were targeted like that, i mean its hardly the scam of the century and how could they know we were going to do that :?: Seems more like an insurance scam to me, hope not and will reserve judgement for the time being.

 

[poncho]

but come on..how many girls really collect vintage star wars???

none i reckon not of a sane mind anyway

 

[M4K3R1]

BUGGER!!!
If true, I am out two loosies,
I hope not, im always happy to help anyone,
but not scammers.

 

[Stargeezer]

Sorry MAtt, i did not wanted to forget about you, but i just mainly had contact with Frank on here about the donation, but you did your part surely aswell on this.

To echo what i said on RS and some more thought i wanted to share with you guys.

So i am pretty convinced now that her husband Erwin Ockerse is the collector and the guy behind the internet profile Deber instead of Deborah May (who may be a real peson and his wife).
I guess that's is also the reason why there where no pictures of her unboxing the items, as it was probably something she did not wanted to get involved in. Anyway, i don't think this was a scam for us our to get the stuff we donated. I think this was more and insurance claim scam wich took and unforseen path for mr. Erwin on the forums.

Remember Deber was not the person breaking the news of the stolen collection, and yes people where fast to do somthing good and organize a donation, i got involved as her pc/laptop was also reported stolen at that time and i had her phone number from previous dealings.

Here is what i think really happened:

Erwin was a vintage toy collector and collected Transformers and got caught out on a scam (see my post on RS) and faked his death like every other scammer does. Then he switched to GI Joe's using his wife profile and collected Joe's (and for all we know scammed joe collectors), and also began to collect star wars. Then switched from Joe's to star wars and collected high grade 12, 20 and 21 backs.
Came on here, startted feeling home and tried his smaller scams on people (items got damaged in mail, condition of item does not meet description, etc...) nothing to big, just getting nice stuff for low prices or free, without people getting suspicious.
Lets assume a real theft happend (altough i am not really believing that either anymore) and many things of his collections where taken because they had a move planned to their new house and the burgelars just sntached some moving boxes as it's was an easy steal... (unlikely but plausible). So he says his whole collection is stolen to make the full insurance claim (this is an excellent opportunity to take advantage off the situation for the small time crook).
Then he mentions the theft to a friend/collector and the news got out on the forums, you know how it went, people donated stuff and everything was sent to him.... He did not expected that and doesn't know what to do or how to react, how to answer all question if he comes back to the boards... he is losing his stories, things don't match up anymore and we keep pusching to make a thank you post with some pictures. (wich was piss poor and that's where we gave up).

Now fast forward and she/he isn't really active anymore on the forums like here and RS, but joins the facebook groups, and says to start collecting again, then post up multiple 12 backs for sale and says those are doubles she's selling and she only needs 3 more to complete her 21 back set again, and 3 days later, post a picture showing off her completed 21 back set again.... this was really weird for alot off people and doubts where beeing raisd. This is allso how the switched VC jawa came to light.

 

[spoons]

Really shocking news, this hobby really didn't need another scammer so soon after Tonigate.

Hope no-one is out too much cash

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

This is absolutely sickening! :evil: :twisted:

I didnt donate personbally as I too throught something was not quite right.

I have dealt with "Deber"/Erwin on one occassion

This thread
http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18312

I brought a large junk of here Modern Collection. (Around 75 MOC)

Everything went smoothly. She posted the items the next day after recieving payment. I opened the package - Only 74 MOC? a Convention Exclusive Original Trilogy Collection Leia was missing!. I asked her why it was missing. She said she had miss counted and was very sorry. I asked her to post it as It was included as part of the original deal. She said she would but Shipping would be 14.50 Euro. I really wanted the piece but I decided the piece wasnt worth it so I declined. Looking back now I dont think she had any intentions of posting that figure? :shock:

This all took place a few weeks before her collection was "stolen" .