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He won't.
"This is Alpharius. I gave you money for stuff back when you were X business..."
"This is Resin Forge. Not X business. Go away."

Has anyone contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Daniel Mandelbaum before? Perhaps in reference to his past history? If it has not been done before it might be worth considering now; especially if this is indeed a made up company and the owner's name has been misrepresented (as that could possibly be considered identity theft).

It's a wonder that disgruntled customers haven't tried to have charges pressed for various fraudulent actions. Wire and mail fraud carry pretty heavy penalties, I believe, if such allegations were proven.

The problem with these case is that individually, most(if not all) of the victims aren't out enough to make it worth the time for law enforcement agencies to pursue.

That's why people keep mentioning to contact X if you feel you have been wronged. It really takes a group effort for these types of cases to move forward.

rigeld2 wrote:
He won't.
"This is Alpharius. I gave you money for stuff back when you were X business..."
"This is Resin Forge. Not X business. Go away."

If Daniel Mandelbaum was not operating as a limited liability company, he is still personally liable for the debts incurred when he was running X business., unless he entered into personal bankruptcy.

shade1313 wrote:
It's a wonder that disgruntled customers haven't tried to have charges pressed for various fraudulent actions. Wire and mail fraud carry pretty heavy penalties, I believe, if such allegations were proven.

Mods please delete this if it is off topic, but I do believe it's pertinent to the reason why some form of action hasn't been taken.

Up until the last time Mandelbaum had issues with his business was with Three Stage Studios. During that time it was revealed that the man we thought was Matthew Bonder was named Daniel Mandelbaum. Until then he was still able to operate under an alias.

This would make it very difficult to try and find someone if they are using an assumed alias/using someone else's name. I think for some people like Alpharius, it may be too late to get their product and/or their money back through legal means.

Exactly what Platuan4th said;
Say hypothetically I ordered from RF, or TSS or RSO or whatever, and on the high side say I ordered in excess of 300 bucks. Hypothetically I never recieved the product or reimbursement.
1.) Hiring a lawyer and paying the ensuing court fee's to bring this to small claims court would FAR outweigh the 300 dollar loss I took from the hypothetical transaction.
2.) Even if the court were to grant monetary restitution for court fees and lawyer expenses as part of the settlement, these types of disputes can be drawn out for months, if not years. Most people have jobs, lives, families, and simply can not be bothered to deal with this kind of gak for protracted periods of time.
3.) Should I be approached by a lawyer pro bono to help me with my hypothetical purchase, number 2 still applies. As a military officer it is EXTREMELY difficult to get ANY kind of time off from work just for ONE event, getting home for the birth of my first daughter was retardedly hard, I couldn't even imagine trying to take off multiple days over multiple weeks over multiple months, and I'm sure many civilian sector jobs are roughly the same.
4.) The emotional investment required to get caught up in protracted litigation (which could potential run in terms of years, but not likely) is WAY too high for a couple hundred of dollars that I hypothetically lost, and in the end it is simply not worth it.

Do all of these assertions only contribute to the success of less than honorable business practices in this hypothetical situation? Absolutely. Does this allow a hypothetical "con man" to continue to divulge people of their money? Absolutely. So what is the best way to combat this you might ask? By doing exactly what MajorTom and Yak have done in this, and the last thread. Warn the community, confirm facts, let individuals make up their minds for themselves and avoid the potential legal gakstorm themselves while providing a much needed service to the community.

While IMHO that cease and desist letter is utter $#!%, Yak is definitely making the right move in exposing the individual while protecting himself legally, no matter how "bogus" the threat may be. I applaud Yak, MajorTom, and all the extremely resourceful community members for their work and their genuine concern for the community, you have my thanks!

-Guids

 Kilkrazy wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:
He won't.
"This is Alpharius. I gave you money for stuff back when you were X business..."
"This is Resin Forge. Not X business. Go away."

If Daniel Mandelbaum was not operating as a limited liability company, he is still personally liable for the debts incurred when he was running X business., unless he entered into personal bankruptcy.

He may be.
Resin Forge is not.

rigeld2 wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:
He won't.
"This is Alpharius. I gave you money for stuff back when you were X business..."
"This is Resin Forge. Not X business. Go away."

If Daniel Mandelbaum was not operating as a limited liability company, he is still personally liable for the debts incurred when he was running X business., unless he entered into personal bankruptcy.

He may be.
Resin Forge is not.

Actually, if he's the owner and it's not one of the business types that explicitly disconnects the assets of the two beings, Resin Forge IS liable as legally(in that case), Resin Forge IS Mandelbaum.

At least according to my textbooks.

 Platuan4th wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:
He won't.
"This is Alpharius. I gave you money for stuff back when you were X business..."
"This is Resin Forge. Not X business. Go away."

If Daniel Mandelbaum was not operating as a limited liability company, he is still personally liable for the debts incurred when he was running X business., unless he entered into personal bankruptcy.

He may be.
Resin Forge is not.

Actually, if he's the owner and it's not one of the business types that explicitly disconnects the assets of the two beings, Resin Forge IS liable as legally(in that case), Resin Forge IS Mandelbaum.

At least according to my textbooks.

This is correct. Unless the company(which we still have no public address for, or any legitimate DBA registration or FID, is an LLC, or some form of legal corporation, the default is Sole Proprietorship, in which said proprietor is 100% legally and financially responsible and accountable for the company and any lawsuits, settlements, fines etc.

czakk wrote:

I have contacted this person, and he knows nothing about this, can the above details be removed? he claims to have recieved quite a few phone calls

Yakface, he has sent you a email and would like to have a skype chat

I'll edit them out.

Edit - Done.

MarkyMark wrote:

czakk wrote:
The other website associated with britcons according to godaddy was shore-less.com

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=shore-less.com

It has a M Deurkop as the registrant and looks to be associated with a freelance photographer in Nuremberg, Germany who specializes in 'tactical/military' photography.

Perhaps he doesn't know his name is being used in this manner?

I have contacted this person, and he knows nothing about this, can the above details be removed? he claims to have recieved quite a few phone calls

Well there is that. The person who made the C&D impersonated someone and the site associated with that document is now gone.

What now Daniel(since I know you read this)?

All of your "proof" seems to be evaporating faster than you can make excuses for it.

From the Resin Forge FB Page:

[Name Removed]

Just a general question, but it seems the legal firm in the C&D that was sent to Dakka's Admin/Owner has gone down. Do you know why this is? I would assume any decent law firm can handle a modicum of site traffic. Are your lawyers actively working to resolve this issue?
Like · Reply · 35 minutes ago via mobile



Resin Forge Store

Lex reported them for using legal templates which is not even illegal. That's my understanding based on what his own hate page on us has said. its also worth noting no one has shared out customer service number on his page, and if they have he just removes them. If people are owed anything by one of our owners, they have a customer service number they can use. No one has yet at all. 800 views in over 4 hours and people just ignore it. (and yes like him we have screen shots of his admission to getting it taken down because of templates. legal ones that are used all the time.)

Apparently Lex has the power to make 'law firm' websites disappear.



[Sidenote] Using templates (we call them precedents up here) is common practice for actual law firms. However, there are some copyright issues with regards to using someone else's precedent. Usually you pay for access to the really good / specialized ones (for example the top flight Wills and Estates precedents up here cost about $300.

Holding yourself out as a lawyer or pretending to practice law when you aren't a lawyer is illegal though.

Down to 2232 likes, so more and more people are actually going to that page, and seeing this all, and removing their affiliation with it.

Excellent.

Do we have any sort of confirmation on the legality of sending out a false C&D? Ive seen a few people weigh in with there thoughts but can anyone confirm whether or not an actual law was broken with this action?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I too would be interested in seeing what would happen if Alph gave them a call, seems they are basically inviting anyone that believes they had a problem in the past to give them a call. I'd have my doubts on the outcome but even if there is the off chance of getting some restitution might be worth a go

What is "Lex"? I've heard of Lexis.

Boilerplates are a standard way of doing basic legal work like C&Ds. You can often get them free or for a small fee.

The one from Britcons seemed to be based on the C&D template offered free by a US based law firm. They did advice people to use a lawyer to draw it up in full.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
What is "Lex"? I've heard of Lexis.

Boilerplates are a standard way of doing basic legal work like C&Ds. You can often get them free or for a small fee.

The one from Britcons seemed to be based on the C&D template offered free by a US based law firm. They did advice people to use a lawyer to draw it up in full.

I think he means Lexicanum: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LEXICANUM/125326137488784

 Kilkrazy wrote:
What is "Lex"?

I believe he means Lexicanum, since they took it upon themselves to verify our info.

Not only that, Lexicanum is but one page who is trying to unearth what seems to be a conspiracy of sorts it's certainly one of the ones with the most weight.

Resin Forge Store

And since its clear dakka itself reads this, why has no one called? Its been 2 hours and not one call. Seems odd to say the least. Make claims on a site we can not defend ourselves but then not even bother to call the number we put up that you all claimed we never would.

I'm not the best at doing corporation searches, but the number listed is a texas number and I can't find a taxable entity named "Resin Forge LTD" on the texas look up site. Perhaps it is a numbered company or registered out of state.

Are people actually not calling the number? Seems to me I'd personally be wary about it in case it's some sort of...trap to record some of these alleged death threats. Then again, I'm a cautious fellow

Interesting facebook thread from Mandelbaum.... Your being called out....Dakkanauts Activate!
(btw Mods/Yak, not sure if reposting this is against your rules but it doesn't seem like it, since they wont post here its nice to see their "side" but if it is just edit it out guys :] )

"Resin Forge Store
5 hours ago
---- News Update ----
Due to the high volume of business, and requests by customers for a Resin Forge Service Number, we can now be reached at 1-214-632-6446, 9am-9pm, US, Central Time, Monday - Saturday. Please have any and all pertinent information and/or documents you may feel will help, when calling so that we can help you in a prompt and professional manner.
1Like · · Share
3 people like this.

Resin Forge Store Several sites also wanted this. Here it is.
Like · Reply · 3 hours ago

Resin Forge Store I want this to be very clear. Its 9. Anyone that has a complaint against any of our owners , call. To claim our 3 owners are a single person is once again 100% incorrect. Frankly the fact this has been read over 700 times and hasnt been shared to say lex or any other sites that bashes us daily, shows they are not "scams" . Dakka posted this, which we 100% allow as its a public update. They are correct they can post that. It was also polite and them to remove it if we did remove this but, we have no plans to.

This gives anywhere there a chance to make whatever claim they have as well which is why we thank them for posting it.

Anyone that has bought from us clearly sees one of the owners names on the account.
Like · Reply · about an hour ago · Edited

PERSONS NAME REMOVED I think the issue is not with RF 'per se' but with the involvement of Mr Mandelbraum, from what I gather. Several other 'enterprises' of his seem to have, allegedly, left not a small number of persons unhappy and out of pocket in regards to unfulfilled orders / lack of communication etc....
The issue appear to be compounded that the legal firm that you have allegedly retained appear to not ave verifiable bone fides - again, maybe unfairly, leading to a suspicion that all is not what it appears to be with RF.
I personally have not been affected by Mr Mandelbraun in the past, but do have several friends who have - all of which would love the opportunity to discuss these issues with him.
As you state, RF has several owners - the only advice I would give is disassociate yourselves from Mr Mandelbraum as it seems to be he who is the root cause of the bad feeling in certain parts of the community towards your otherwise fine company.
Like · Reply · about an hour ago via mobile

Resin Forge Store I will say that was worded very well and not trollish at all. If you know people that are owed something or have a claim, they have a way to reach our customer service line. Please share it as no sites appear to share it and if the claims against one of our owners is true, then it will obviously be corrected. Our reputation here at RF is perfect and it will stay that way. I will simply say again, there is a number that RF can be reached at above. Please do share it to those friends that feel they are "owed something"

Nothing wrote above was ment in disrespect or trollish. Its just been a long night.

As for the legal firm. We have documents and payments as records. Claims against us over that are easily refuted to any law enforcement agency who can see the evidence for themselves. I cant speak more on that but in general that's not the point of the customer service line. Make use of it, that's why its there.
Like · Reply · about an hour ago

PERSONS NAME REMOVED Just a general question, but it seems the legal firm in the C&D that was sent to Dakka's Admin/Owner has gone down. Do you know why this is? I would assume any decent law firm can handle a modicum of site traffic. Are your lawyers actively working to resolve this issue?
Like · Reply · 48 minutes ago via mobile

Resin Forge Store Lex reported them for using legal templates which is not even illegal. That's my understanding based on what his own hate page on us has said. its also worth noting no one has shared out customer service number on his page, and if they have he just removes them. If people are owed anything by one of our owners, they have a customer service number they can use. No one has yet at all. 800 views in over 4 hours and people just ignore it. (and yes like him we have screen shots of his admission to getting it taken down because of templates. legal ones that are used all the time.)
Like · 39 minutes ago · Edited

Resin Forge Store And since its clear dakka itself reads this, why has no one called? Its been 2 hours and not one call. Seems odd to say the least. Make claims on a site we can not defend ourselves but then not even bother to call the number we put up that you all claimed we never would."

Given the history of harassment from this individual, I would imagine most would not want to give their personal phone numbers to them; for fear of further harassment.

 Titan Atlas wrote:
Are people actually not calling the number? Seems to me I'd personally be wary about it in case it's some sort of...trap to record some of these alleged death threats. Then again, I'm a cautious fellow

just guessing here but given the fact that RSO has a track record of being in contact to resolve issues then having a wide assortment of excuses for refunds / product not making it back it could just be an issue of people view it as more trouble then its worth and dont want to go through the marry go round of reasons again. But as I posted above, if you've been wronged I think its at least worth a shot

 ironicsilence wrote:
Do we have any sort of confirmation on the legality of sending out a false C&D? Ive seen a few people weigh in with there thoughts but can anyone confirm whether or not an actual law was broken with this action?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I too would be interested in seeing what would happen if Alph gave them a call, seems they are basically inviting anyone that believes they had a problem in the past to give them a call. I'd have my doubts on the outcome but even if there is the off chance of getting some restitution might be worth a go

In the UK this is covered under Communications Offences( Improper use of public electronic communications network - Communications Act 2003, section 127 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications act 1988) and and can carry a sentence of up to 6 months or a fine , I dont know what that translates to in the US .

 Cyporiean wrote:
Given the history of harassment from this individual, I would imagine most would not want to give their personal phone numbers to them; for fear of further harassment.

That is what Caller ID block is for.

Side note, the person who answers is the same person who tried to get me fired. Don't think I'll forget that voice anytime soon.

Or they are relying on the line of thinking i expressed earlier in the page, most people aren't going to go through all the trouble to recoop an (in the grand scheme of things) insignificant amount of money.It's a shame really, because it plays into RF's hands to project an image of innocence (if their post about "no calls" is to be believed).
At the end of the day though it is "mission accomplished", the community has been warned and individuals are armed with the necessary data to make informed decisions on their own.

As we in the military community might say, good work S2 (Military Intelligence).

@Yakface : There is no lawyer with the surname Duerkop listed with the German law society. That makes this fraudulent (Impersonating a lawyer and giving legal advice/sending legal notice) and 100% illegal no matter what country(s) are involved, ASSUMING the person who sent the C&D is purporting to be legal counsel. If so, report it to police and let them handle it.

Just FYI, here is a listing of ALL lawyers listed in the city and postal code listed in the C&D (This information is entirely public and all lawyers are required to be registered with their countries law society, currently practicing, retired and disbarred). None of them are the one listed in the C&D;

I make this post only with the warning that the lawyer and the accountant I share an office with handle claims that mostly deal with the medical field. I also had to out myself as a gamer to do this. I talked to the lawyer about the C&D and he says it is probably one of the worst fakes he has seen. He said “I could do better during my lunch.” I talked to the accountant and the owner of Resin Forge would be liable for any passed business dealings if he didn’t separate himself from the company. Using a supplier database I use for my job as an inventory specialist at a large surgical hospital I am able to search for legitimate businesses. I do this due to the fact that companies some not legit at all send large hospital bills all the time. I can’t find any company registered for a tax ID in the United States called Resin Forge. No tax ID normally means no legit business. If that’s the case its fraud, plain and simple.