Fake Dealer Back Pawel Nowak

[Frundsberg]

Well, I do not know him but we had here in Estonia similar con artist - let's call him Aivo. B (I quess that many Estonian collectors know him). And what happened - Estonia is a small country, but still this person is very alive and still in business.

[gentrex]

yes he tried to cheat me too ..but he wanted 450 Euro for 1 original ss dagger.. Worthless and brainless guy PAWEL NOWAK

[GasMasksUK]

Those were unusual and un-expected posts...... best to keep the personal stuff off the forums though, the members here despise of such people enough already.

Thanks

Danny

[nkumburis]

When I firsted started collecting he emailed me thank god I just started asking too many questions so he never email me back! Then a friend of mine told me he is a BS artist. - Nick K

[Masonk]

I remember reading this thread when it was first started. I recently started posting ad's on Craigslist and low and behold, got one from Pawel Nowak a week ago. I of course immediately deleted it. While I understand some think it's good to string these guys along, it makes for an amusing time, but in reality, I'm sure they have five other people sending them money who aren't aware they are scam artists, so it really does nothing to hold them up from committing the act to someone else. In addition, I’m in agreement with Bob (Militarymania) that there’s probably more than one person portraying themselves as Pawel Nowak. Whether it be a network of scammers working together, or a rogue scammer using Pawel’s alias as the crime would be linked back to him.

Even if I had not read this thread, I surely would never send this guy money; especially via a bank transfer. It amazes me that people don't understand this is the worst way to send a payment, next to cash, as you're completely unprotected. This is why you should only buy from reputable sources or via EBay using PayPal. This way you will know you're going to receive the items you paid for, or be reimbursed if the seller fails to follow through.

As for Craigslist, or an unsolicited email, I would never just send money without seeing the product in hand. This is why I only deal with people locally who I can meet in person. Even this is a risk because you never know the persons true intentions, so always bring a friend and meet in a public area during the daytime....it also doesn't hurt to carry a gun, which I have the luxury of doing in good ole Pennsylvania!

With the internet full of forums and social websites, it's also easy to look up the person beforehand, either by their name if provided, phone number or email. I've had two people contact me on CL where this proved beneficial. One was an ex-cop. I know he's an ex-cop because I looked up his name and found that he was fired from the police force for selling heroin. Needless to say, I didn't respond to him.

Most recently was some kid who contacted me saying he had his "grandfather's WWII stuff". When I looked up his name, I found him posting on a forum asking if anyone could get him OXY's (for those unfamiliar, these are highly concentrated pain killers). Now, the cynic in me looked at this two ways; either he's trying to meet me somewhere to rob me, or he really does have his grandpa's WWII stuff and I can get it cheap because he needs to get his fix...I actually emailed him back just on the chance it was a legitimate offer, but no response...as of yet.

Regardless, with so many scam artists out there, and a plethora of information at your fingertips on scams and the ones perpetrating them, it astonishes me that people still fall for them. However, as Mr. Hritz said some posts back, these guys are “playing upon the greed of the pigeons they are going to rip.”

My outlook; if you use common sense, you'll smell the BS a mile away.

[artur95]

Im just wondering, has anyone contacted the Polish authorities about this Pawel Nowak guy?
-Artur

[SAVAGE]

I deal with scammers in American Civil War militaria every day. It is a sad, frustrating part of the reality of a collector. I have seen a large amount of fakes in the WWII German arena as well. And these fakes are dangerous because they are often real items doctored to make them appear to be rare items. Fake decals, fake buckles, fake flags and armbands, post-war breadbags passed off as WWII, fake insignia...the list goes on and on and on. The internet has had a negative impact on these Titans of Trash. There is more educational information available to novice collectors (like this very website) that can help them avoid being burned in a wide variety of categories. But nothing is better than handling real and fake items, talking to experts, and finding the fakes with experience. And that takes time. The fear is that many would-be collectors will stop collecting because of being burned and the numbers of collectors will diminish as time goes on. I see less of the young people at shows and that makes me sad.

Trying to expose fakers is admirable, but they just pop up later with a new online ID and a new scam. I have seen crooked ebay sellers booted a dozen times...with a dozen different IDs...only to appear later under yet another new ID selling the same old stuff. All we can do is make resources available to collectors and try to keep a light shining on the crooks to limit their ability to sell. You can't stop them...but you can sure put a dent in their profit margin.

[KRISSE]

OMG guys, I'm Pawel Nowaked!!!
When I've putted these pics on the forum, I suddenly saw the warnings about the guy!!!
To late for me. He's got me for 320€, the bastard!!!
I've read all the story's and warnings about him on the forum, but it's to late. I registered to late on this forum.
I'm gonna contact my bank to get my money back.
In Belgium it's possible within 10 days after the payment.
I shall never have this dagger in my hands!!!
I hope he will get cought soon!!!

Grts. K.

[Panther1]

Well I was ripped off to the tune of $3500 AUD by Mr Nowak, and I can understand how people get sucked in to his web of lies and deceit. Perhaps it is our failing of always hoping for that deal of a lifetime, that great find that you have always dreamt about. I have had my time of ranting and raving about this piece of crap from the bottom of my shoe, and believe me I would love to do some bodily harm to him, but I can't and I just have to move on. All my stuff now comes through a good friend, who is an expert in the field I collect. If he has even one small doubt I don't buy, simple as that. This gives me a great collection that I know is 100% authentic. One last point, if ever they call for volunteers for a firing squad for Mr Nowak, "Get in line" behind me. LOL

Cheers
Iain

[collectorofsa]

I never post anything on the militarily forums but I do enjoy reading them from time to time. After I read this post I am compelled for the first time in my life to open up and speak out. How to state this without getting into too much detail is a challenge. As gasmasksuk stated personal family matters should not be involved here. I have been buying from Greg since 2005. All the daggers that I have bought from him I have personally driven to his house to see them and pick them up in hand, not because I did not trust him, but because he was only a two hour drive from my house. All his items including his daggers have been real. I have meet and talked to his ex every time I drove there and even went out to lunch with both of them a few times. So trying to tread lightly here will be a challenge. What needs to be stated is that they were boyfriend / girlfriend and they never had any children together. She only collects Gov't money on the first of the month and a rental unit she owns. So when they broke up her family lost income. I also know that Greg was still sending her money for over one and a half years after the break up. Two months ago Greg told her he would no longer be sending any funds to her. Then she posts this shortly after that. I guess it was spite ? Revenge ? Call it what you will, but what she has posted here is out right slander, none of it being true, including the part where he works with Pawel Nowak. As a matter of fact Greg was the one that warned me about this man the first time we meet, lucky for me I already knew about Pawel. I have read on other forums where people think Greg and Pawel are one of the same person, they are not. People may get confused because Greg's surname is Polish and Mr. Nowak is from Poland. Mr. Nowak goes to these forums and registers. Once registered he has access to all your information, including your email address, this is the way he does it. I hope I have shed some eye opening light into both Greg and Pawel. Cheers !