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My question is what ghetto place does RSO live in that the local PD are too busy to enforce mail fraud violations? At $1300 I'd almost be tempted to find a lawyer friend and have at him.

I agree, if you get enough people behind you and you constantly talk to his local police that should get the ball rolling at least a little. Felonies are felonies regardless of degree.

In that case then, I would take it to Small Claims court.

OK, really, here's the bottom line.

I want Matt to ship my stuff to me OR to tell me what is really going on.

My goal in posting my story where he posts was to hopefully get a little "positive peer pressure" and motivate him to do just that.

I realize I made a lot of mistakes in my dealings with Matt - clearly!

But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

I just want my models, or the truth - that's it.

It is that simple.

Think you have called it correctly Major Tom and others.

Not sure if it is applicable, but is there a trading standards agency in the USA?

This is not just a series of unfortunate events that has befallen an unlucky customer, but something that seems to have happened to too many to be a coincidence.

Just for the record, this is not a thread to discuss the case of Alpharius vs RSO, but rather, a warning/caution to the gamer community that the person behind the Pay It Forward movement has an interesting past they may want to read up on prior to deciding to participate. Buyer beware and all that.

And also, why not pay it forward in your own gaming circles and communities first, before finding a "mysterious benefactor" to do it for you?

aerethan wrote:My question is what ghetto place does RSO live in that the local PD are too busy to enforce mail fraud violations? At $1300 I'd almost be tempted to find a lawyer friend and have at him.

I agree, if you get enough people behind you and you constantly talk to his local police that should get the ball rolling at least a little. Felonies are felonies regardless of degree.

It has nothing to do with the local PD are "too busy" to enforce the mail fraud violations.

It comes down to it's too expensive and ends up becoming one great big daggone "He Said, She Said" styled instance that it's better for them to just try to pass the buck on to whoever else will take it.

Mind you this is coming from someone who has had Law Enforcement training. From a Local Law Enforcement perspective, it isn't going to be something they can handle directly. They will refer you to your local Magistrate in which you can fill a claim against him, at which point you will be brought before a Judge and be allow to provide your claims and evidence and yes, these can be filed as a group if desire. But I am going to tell you this very clearly, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR INFORMATION IN ORDER AND CLEAR! if you do not, the judge will dismiss this case faster then you can blink.

Architechnic wrote:...especially Ma55ter, thank you for welcoming me to the site.

You are quite welcome

However I don't consider us to be on first name terms just yet, so I would appreciate it if you used my full internet name in future.

Thanks

Kanluwen wrote:

MajorTom11 wrote:I would also encourage those who know people or are people who got scammed by RSO to all get in touch via a group email. Act together, easy for police to say oh 1300 hundred bucks isnt worth the trouble, harder to ignore 'hey now this guy owes 23 people 21000 bucks!!!'

Hey look. Tom gives good advice.

This is absurdly rare. And newsworthy. Someone fire off fireworks!

I kid Tom, I kid

However: this is the best advice.

Police in RSO's area won't look twice at a single instance of a guy who was scammed or says he was.

But if it's 5+ people, all with complete timelines and lists of what they were scammed out of? Suddenly, a case begins forming...

Sonnovabitch a drive by sacking!? WHY??? Lol it's all good Kan I can take as well as dish out it's only fair!

And thanks for the back-up, seriously, I really feel that so long as you (the victims) are all acting independently of each other, you are only encouraging him to tell the next person to eff themselves too since he got away with it for all of you. Get together. Write group emails. Contact the authorities together. The guy is at best running an illegal business (he didn't charge tax to any of you right??) and at worst an outright thief and con-artist.

Help each other, get a full grip on how many people are in the same boat, get a firm idea of exactly how much money he owes, and take it to every authority you can find, FBI, USPS, local police, the works. If that doesn't work, pool your resources, hire a laywer and hopefully you can get a class action suit going. This will sound corny, but he is still out there, and could well be pulling the same gak on new people even as we speak.

after reading Alpharius response, I believe we should honor and respect his choices and allow him to take the actions he desire. I was simple giving information in case a path was chosen.

Alpharius wrote:OK, really, here's the bottom line.

I want Matt to ship my stuff to me OR to tell me what is really going on.

Get your head out. Obviously neither of these is going to happen

But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

I've officially lost all sympathy and respect for you. He has stolen over a thousand dollars worth of merchandise from you, not to mention all your time tracking him down, chasing him for answers, and posting all over the place.



Bottom line is this - you aren't getting your miniatures or an explanation. Stop being a schmuck and take him to court already.

I can't believe this bs is still continuing.

After looking at his blog, somebody should contact whoever is supplying him with his various prizes. Just to inform them what kind of asshat this guy really is.

I also can't believe he has the audacity to post under the same name

Kanluwen wrote:

aerethan wrote:My question is what ghetto place does RSO live in that the local PD are too busy to enforce mail fraud violations? At $1300 I'd almost be tempted to find a lawyer friend and have at him.

I agree, if you get enough people behind you and you constantly talk to his local police that should get the ball rolling at least a little. Felonies are felonies regardless of degree.

It has nothing to do with the local PD are "too busy" to enforce the mail fraud violations.

It comes down to it's too expensive and ends up becoming one great big daggone "He Said, She Said" styled instance that it's better for them to just try to pass the buck on to whoever else will take it.

I imagine it would be like in a cop movie with various departments arguing over who has jurisdiction, only in this case instead of each party claiming jurisdiction they would each be arguing that the other has it so they don't have to get involved.

Ma55ter_fett wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

aerethan wrote:My question is what ghetto place does RSO live in that the local PD are too busy to enforce mail fraud violations? At $1300 I'd almost be tempted to find a lawyer friend and have at him.

I agree, if you get enough people behind you and you constantly talk to his local police that should get the ball rolling at least a little. Felonies are felonies regardless of degree.

It has nothing to do with the local PD are "too busy" to enforce the mail fraud violations.

It comes down to it's too expensive and ends up becoming one great big daggone "He Said, She Said" styled instance that it's better for them to just try to pass the buck on to whoever else will take it.

I imagine it would be like in a cop movie with various departments arguing over who has jurisdiction, only in this case instead of each party claiming jurisdiction they would each be arguing that the other has it so they don't have to get involved.

Pretty much, yeah. The wonders of bureaucracy in action!

Wow, I read that 11 page epic thread about these shady dealings. I am shocked at the level of sheer dumbassitude displayed by this guy. 2 years?!?!?!?!?!? God forbid anyone be struck by cancer, but please don't go promising things that are unattainable. Just say everything is on a temporary hiatus instead of trying to fix something completely FUBAR'd.

Alpharius wrote:OK, really, here's the bottom line.

I want Matt to ship my stuff to me OR to tell me what is really going on.

My goal in posting my story where he posts was to hopefully get a little "positive peer pressure" and motivate him to do just that.

I realize I made a lot of mistakes in my dealings with Matt - clearly!

But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

I just want my models, or the truth - that's it.

It is that simple.

While it's good to see your being very civil about this, I'm not entirely sure that it'll pan out the way you want..
I'd be giving him a week tops to send you a tracking number then after that I'd follow other users advice into grouping together with other people having issues to take the fight to him legally
Things like this aren't cool and don't do any favours to the honest, hard working commission artists.
Good luck.

Alpharius, I would suggest getting together with other people who have been scammed by him, and showing him that you mean business. That alone should be encouragment for him to start talking at least.

You don't have to start throwing out the lawsuits, but you should make him aware of the fact that he can't act with impunity.

Stormrider wrote:Is it ironic that his "Pay it forward" symbol is pyramid shaped?

No. The first thing I thought when I saw it was called the "Pay It Forward campaign" was that it was a pyramid scheme. Actually having a pyramid scheme-shaped logo isn't really ironic.

Also, +1 for the people saying Alpharius should do something about it. If he's scamming people, the only reason he's ever going to stop is if he starts suffering the consequences of his actions. Protecting him only hurts his future victims.

RSO is still around? Sad. Strange how he uses the same name and is still around sniping people. I had my own running stint with him several months ago, but it was over some ebay models and I was able to file a claim on the 40th day after payment and get my money back. Over that period he told me twice that he had shipped the models. Somehow I doubt that.
He was constantly sending me message responses about how ill his wife was, often in length, as if he wanted me to donate or something. At this point I'm doubting his wife is ill at all, or if he even has a wife for that matter.
The models in question were 7 converted space marine obliterators that he had pictures of.

I don't see how you could let somebody steal over $1000 from you and still be concerned for him. The dude is using his "Sick wife" as a shield to commit robery. He's blatantly telling you to feth off.

Hire a lawyer and go after his ass. Who cares about whether or not he "gets in trouble". Take him to court, get the models back or whatever amount they are worth, and then make him pay your legal fees. He has no leg to stand on, the evidence is overwhelming.

Alpharius wrote:But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. I'd desire to see a thieving bastard clapped in irons for a tenth of that sum.

Alpharius wrote:But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

The thing is, it seems from what has been said that RSO is not really motivated by your pressure. There's no consequences for him unless you contact the authorities.

Alpharius wrote:OK, really, here's the bottom line.

I want Matt to ship my stuff to me OR to tell me what is really going on.

My goal in posting my story where he posts was to hopefully get a little "positive peer pressure" and motivate him to do just that.

I realize I made a lot of mistakes in my dealings with Matt - clearly!

But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

I just want my models, or the truth - that's it.

It is that simple.

Why?

Alpharius wrote:OK, really, here's the bottom line.

I want Matt to ship my stuff to me OR to tell me what is really going on.

My goal in posting my story where he posts was to hopefully get a little "positive peer pressure" and motivate him to do just that.

I realize I made a lot of mistakes in my dealings with Matt - clearly!

But I have ZERO desire to see him in trouble with the police - no thanks!

I just want my models, or the truth - that's it.

It is that simple.

Quite frankly, you are an idiot! 2 years and $1300 worth of models, you will not see them. RSO has no reason to do anything. Press charges or shut up about it!

Reading this whole blog has been nauseating.

And on that jolly note, I think we shall close the thread.

If Architechnic has an issue with KP13 on 40K Forums, that is the place to discuss it. [Corrected web site name]