Pawel Nowak.

[nomis]

COMMON SENSE ??

It has little or nothing to do with common sense. Like i said............when you deal with convincing professional crooks and thieves your ONLY SAFE OPTION is to treat everyone as a crook first, honest upright citizan second.

Is that really what we want .............when with a little effort we can see these people off !!

SF.

[Adrian]

It has a lot to do with common sense. There is a huge amount of information about Pawel Nowak on this and every other forum to give anybody who cares to look the information they need. If sending money to complete strangers in foreign countries of the back of a few emails without bothering to even find out a little about who you're sending your money too first is a common sense move, then I would disagree.

And please curb your language in your posts. There are several younger members who read this forum.

[Paul D]

Ok guys, please please please exercise caution when buying and selling online. The internet can be your best friend but it can also be your worst enemy.

I have collected militaria since I was given my grandfathers helmet to play with as a child, I bought my first EK over twenty years ago, I have been a member of internet forums for ten years, a quarter of my lifetime. Pawel Nowak is very well known and has been for as long as I can remember. I have seen countless threads, posts and complaints about him and still his name keeps coming back as someone new gets shafted. I guarantee you that if you type his name into the search function on any militaria internet forum his name will come up. Google his name, read the web links, you can even see what the bloke looks like.
iOffer is not the place for serious militaria collectors, it is used by scammers, conmen and those who peddle fakes, look at the stuff there, can you honestly tell me or anyone it is a premier source of genuine collectables?
You have to use common sense. If a stranger offers you a 10,000 dollar item for 500 bucks, are you seriously going to send your money without using a little common sense first and researching who you're about to give your money to? The information is out there to arm yourselves against getting ripped off, why, time after time do we see the same thing happening?
Pawel Nowak does not enter your house when you're out and take the money from under your mattress, steal your wallet or your wife's handbag. YOU have to give YOUR money to him. If your happy to send hundreds or thousands of YOUR money to a stranger in a foreign country then fine, carry on, but if you don't get anything in return, don't turn up bemoaning your misfortune, who do you have to blame? I bet a few minutes on Google or on the forums would seem like time well spent after all.
Keep yourselves safe by asking fellow members, use the forum for what it's here for, to give information, contact other members who you can see have been around a long time, speak to those who are respected and gather their thoughts. Many of us here are extremely fortunate and have built friendships with fellow collectors and can establish mutual trust. I've sent items out without receiving payment and received items without paying for them. Why? Because the people I deal with are valued friends and trustworthy, I've known them for years. I will not send money to an unknown person in a far off land after exchanging a few emails, it goes against all common sense to do so.
Why does the thought of obtaining a few new baubles send so many collectors into a blind paroxysm of irrational behaviour again and again?

Think about this, you're walking down the road, a man is standing by a sports car, you stop and admire it with him. You have a good chat about the vehicle and it turns out he's the owner and the car is for sale, he offers it to you for a tenth of the market value. You think 'this is too good to be true', you have the money and you pay for it. He says 'I'll just go and get the keys from home for you' and disappears around the corner.

Two hours later you're still stood there by the car. At what point do you realise you've been had? Exactly - when it's too late.

The above is not aimed directly at anyone but to everybody who reads this thread. You have the choice. You have the information. Just exercise common sense with your money.

Great post Adrian it totally nails this issue and Nowak is only one of many .Even if someone is new to this hobby it diesn't take much time or research to establish that everything is faked and fraudsters abound so before handing over money know what you are buying and who you are dealing with , this doesn't just apply to Militaria the internet is full of scammers of all products and services.

I've recently had a conversation with a good freind of mine , one which we have had frequently , on his return from Military Odyssey , he is one of the largest collectors of German Militaria in the country. Our discussion revolved around the amount of fake items at high prices available from certain so called "dealers" at the show some of whom are well known scammers . Many collectors and dealers knew items for sale at the show were fake but what was done about it .......... NOTHING !!! Plenty of people stand around at Militaria shows and complain about fakes and people selling fakes . me included, but do absolutely nothing about it , which means that eventually someone will come along and spend some hard earned money on some garbage.

This allows Nowak and his ilk to carry on regardless

[nomis]

Dear sir[s]
It is with the greatest respect that i post replies on this, or any other forum.
Refering you back to my previous emails, there may be a 'system' in place, but it is'nt and has'nt been working. It obviously needs to be much more widely and prominently advertised and accesible. Otherwise the likes of NOWAK would not exist.
With regard to only listening to people you have in your existing closed circle of 'friends'. Some of your best 'friends' will rip you off soon as look at you. There are no guarentees in life............especially these days. If we are never to make new 'friends' and aquantances in life,with a common interest,or goal, then society will die and we will end up sad individuals, alone.
There has to be TRUST in this world, and scumbag crooks, in whatever aspect of life they exist, should be dealt with appropriately. But as i have said previously, there does seem to be a reluctance to chase these people off,punish them and to properly organise a system between websites, forums, companies and individuals in order to minimise the impact they have on society.
Not everyone who has an interest/hobby is or wants to belong to a website forum. However good it may,or may not be. The point being, to have a widespread ,coordinated approach to action.
As far as larger organisations stopping them ............... what happens when you put a committee in charge of organising anything.
With reference to language. English is my chosen preference. Never any offence meant ,except to those who are referred to in the discussions and i suspect the younger members have heard and use language which would irritate even myself. My own on the forum has and will be, moderate and calls ' a spade ,a spade '.

The reason for replying to the posts has been to see if there is any similar opinion to mine in wanting to minimise thieving fraudsters impact on the enjoyment we collectively have from the interest that we have.
As i previously said, there are a LOT of ' fakes ' that pass through this forum by way of questions regarding authenticity, questions and answers from people i,for one, do not know and have not met. I, for one, am new to making purchases of this kind and so do not know anyone , wether dealer or private individual and so am left trusting no-one, everyone,or something of indeterminate number and nature in between.
For those who have done this for years, whoever they may be, they will have picked up a knowledge of good and bad. Yet still, they are prey to the fraudster who is good.
It does seem as though you need to be a seasoned master at everything, just to try not to get ripped off. This is an enjoyable ' hobby ' for me and i hate to think of those in a similar position.
Its rarely as 'obvious' as 'using common sense'. The world would stop turning if that were true. I agree, fraudsters are not accessing our mattress. However, they are accessing our environment via more subtle methods and appealing to our vulnerable human nature. Its how crooks of this type operate. Once bitten, twice shy.
But why should we have to treat all people as crooks............or be 'once bitten'.
For me, there seems a lack of acceptance that human nature, not greed, but human nature, will always mean these crooks thrive unless we do something about it. Authorities will not succeed.
As i'm sure PN is reading with interest, i have been given my answers, so as this is a 'dead-duck' , will not continue replying to this thread. I enjoy my ' hobby ' and will continue to do so regardless of scum like NOWAK and his fellow fraudsters. I am sure others will do likewise and PN and Co will continue with thiers.

SF out.

[ToxicGas]

If his address is known, and there are photos of him... can't police be involved?

Mat

[big ned]

Dear sir[s]
It is with the greatest respect that i post replies on this, or any other forum.
Refering you back to my previous emails, there may be a 'system' in place, but it is'nt and has'nt been working. It obviously needs to be much more widely and prominently advertised and accesible. Otherwise the likes of NOWAK would not exist.
With regard to only listening to people you have in your existing closed circle of 'friends'. Some of your best 'friends' will rip you off soon as look at you. There are no guarentees in life............especially these days. If we are never to make new 'friends' and aquantances in life,with a common interest,or goal, then society will die and we will end up sad individuals, alone.
There has to be TRUST in this world, and scumbag crooks, in whatever aspect of life they exist, should be dealt with appropriately. But as i have said previously, there does seem to be a reluctance to chase these people off,punish them and to properly organise a system between websites, forums, companies and individuals in order to minimise the impact they have on society.
Not everyone who has an interest/hobby is or wants to belong to a website forum. However good it may,or may not be. The point being, to have a widespread ,coordinated approach to action.
As far as larger organisations stopping them ............... what happens when you put a committee in charge of organising anything.
With reference to language. English is my chosen preference. Never any offence meant ,except to those who are referred to in the discussions and i suspect the younger members have heard and use language which would irritate even myself. My own on the forum has and will be, moderate and calls ' a spade ,a spade '.

The reason for replying to the posts has been to see if there is any similar opinion to mine in wanting to minimise thieving fraudsters impact on the enjoyment we collectively have from the interest that we have.
As i previously said, there are a LOT of ' fakes ' that pass through this forum by way of questions regarding authenticity, questions and answers from people i,for one, do not know and have not met. I, for one, am new to making purchases of this kind and so do not know anyone , wether dealer or private individual and so am left trusting no-one, everyone,or something of indeterminate number and nature in between.
For those who have done this for years, whoever they may be, they will have picked up a knowledge of good and bad. Yet still, they are prey to the fraudster who is good.
It does seem as though you need to be a seasoned master at everything, just to try not to get ripped off. This is an enjoyable ' hobby ' for me and i hate to think of those in a similar position.
Its rarely as 'obvious' as 'using common sense'. The world would stop turning if that were true. I agree, fraudsters are not accessing our mattress. However, they are accessing our environment via more subtle methods and appealing to our vulnerable human nature. Its how crooks of this type operate. Once bitten, twice shy.
But why should we have to treat all people as crooks............or be 'once bitten'.
For me, there seems a lack of acceptance that human nature, not greed, but human nature, will always mean these crooks thrive unless we do something about it. Authorities will not succeed.
As i'm sure PN is reading with interest, i have been given my answers, so as this is a 'dead-duck' , will not continue replying to this thread. I enjoy my ' hobby ' and will continue to do so regardless of scum like NOWAK and his fellow fraudsters. I am sure others will do likewise and PN and Co will continue with thiers.

SF out.

And.....rest.

[Adrian]

There is always an interest in stopping these people and if you have any suggestions then we would like to hear them. As far as this forum goes, no-one here who is a crook will be tolerated, not so long ago a member was banned for posting items which he was then told were fake and yet he still went on to sell them for vast sums of money as originals on iOffer. Thanks to a sharp eyed member of the forum, Brett, this member was called out and subsequently banned. This will happen to anyone who is found to be passing off fakes as originals.
I would suggest that if you have best friends who rip you off as soon as look at you, you keep the wrong company. Of course there has to be trust. Members post items here everyday for opinions, they trust the opinions given to them, if they don't it's their prerogative, no-one is making anyone trust anyone else. I have said many times to people here, I can give my opinion and tell you the item is a fake, if you then choose to go and buy it because you don't trust my opinion, it's not my problem, I and no-one else here can tell another where or how to spend their money. If you make a mistake - don't come back whining about it.
There is no (and it shouldn't be implied) alterior motive behind people's opinions on this forum. You ask a question, you will get an answer. Again, if you choose to accept it is your decision alone. Yes, you're asking the opinions of strangers, but you can use your instinct to decipher whose opinions are good or not. A member with three posts saying 'It's a fake' won't get so much creedance as a member with three hundred saying 'It's a fake because.......'
We have to police this hobby ourselves. If everyone here is alert to the possibility of fraudsters then we can go a long way to helping ensure nobody gets stung. That said, we all have to take responsibility where we send or who we give our hard earned money to. A sticky thread in each forum dedicated to Pawel Nowak might seem like a good idea but look again at how much bandwidth has been given over to this individual already, not only here but as I previously said, on any given militaria forum.
The only way to hinder these types is to stop sending them your money. I use the words 'common sense' alot and they're underlined for a reason - because they're important words. As I have already said, if everyone was to employ common sense before sending their money to a complete stranger, to stop and think about it before pressing that 'send' button, to ask questions, use the internet and forums for the purpose they're here for, to inform and keep people up to date with what's good and what's not, only then are you, we, taking steps to go towards making these people fail. They won't be stopped of course, there is money involved, as long as they make money they will continue and all we can do at present is cut off the supply of money going to them.
I have no idea of how International Law can be used to stop people like Nowak. He has been around for so long and ripped so many people of for vast sums of money and he is still going. He has been reported to authorities, many time over the years. Perhaps there is a loophole he escapes through every time. If any members here who read this and have an understanding of law in this area can give more insight it would be very much appreciated.

I can only stress again, please be careful who you give your money to. Once it's gone, it's gone and can be very difficult to retrieve. Better not to send it in the first place if you have any thought a deal is too good to be true, it's going to a stranger in another country, your gut feeling is telling you it's wrong.
If in doubt - ASK. Ask here, ask Google. Just help yourself and ask others to help you.

[MySonsDad]

I think it is very helpful that these form post names of these crooked dealers on occasion, maybe even post a “sticky” however, I believe the responsibility falls onto our own laps to do our own due diligence. As the very new collectors that my son and I are, we scrutinize EVERYTHING we pick up, and we’re not dealing with the high dollar items that so many of you other collectors are. I can’t imagine how much time and effort we will spend when we step things up a few notches and start throwing bigger bills at collectables.

These forums are a great source of education and information for identifying both good and fake items and passing the word on crooked dealers, but at the end of the day it still comes down to the gut feeling you get when you’ve done your due diligence and are 99.9% sure you’re making the correct decision. This Nowak guy is not going to get run off of the internet, if he could be, he would have been now, one of the pitfalls of the weld wide web. It’s just a matter of staying informed, taking a minute to do your own investigation and taking every measure to minimizing your exposure to fraudulent sellers.

Russ

[DougB]

As with any criminal enterprise, it is impossible to stop it all. There is no system, no forum, nothing, that will prevent someone like that "person" from ripping people off no more than you can stop people from traffic violations and we all know the rules. Its due diligence and common sense. If I buy a CEF badge (my new love haha) on eBay I research the seller before I buy, as much as I can. If you go in on a deal with simple blind trust you stand to get scammed. (Heck for proof of Pawel Nowak's reputation simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and see the threads that pop up under "similar threads".

Paul you make a good point. Walking the SOS aisles you are literally swimming in a sea of fakes. Perhaps it is time to start calling them out as what they are.

Doug

[Paul D]

As with any criminal enterprise, it is impossible to stop it all. There is no system, no forum, nothing, that will prevent someone like that "person" from ripping people off no more than you can stop people from traffic violations and we all know the rules. Its due diligence and common sense. If I buy a CEF badge (my new love haha) on eBay I research the seller before I buy, as much as I can. If you go in on a deal with simple blind trust you stand to get scammed. (Heck for proof of Pawel Nowak's reputation simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and see the threads that pop up under "similar threads".

Paul you make a good point. Walking the SOS aisles you are literally swimming in a sea of fakes. Perhaps it is time to start calling them out as what they are.

Doug

Apart from the fakers there are also lot of knowledgable , intelligent people in our hobby , many of whom are ex or current law enforcement , i agree with Doug maybe it;s time to stop talking and actually start to call these people out by whatever means possible !!