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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: Cyberus on August 16, 2005, 06:27:17 PM

Title: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Cyberus on August 16, 2005, 06:27:17 PM: Did the guy get arrested in the end?

I didn't want to bump the original thread....
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: x56h34 on August 16, 2005, 06:30:39 PM: Jax received a letter from the German police stating that Binder could not be prosecuted for the Amiga scam as he was currently in trouble with the law about another, totally different issue. That was basically the end of it.

:-(
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Coolit on August 16, 2005, 06:43:44 PM: I’m scared to ask what the burnt bender scam was, but I’m going to anyway, what is it? :-?
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: X-ray on August 16, 2005, 06:50:27 PM: @ Coolit

The guy's name is actually Bernd Binder IIRC. He advertised a whole lot of PPC cards and several users here paid for them but the cards never arrived. He ducked and dived and then stopped communicating. Of course he kept the money and it seems that he never had PPC cards to sell in the first place. There is a long thread on it somewhere...
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Coolit on August 16, 2005, 06:59:05 PM: Damn :pissed: how much did the guys lose?
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: X-ray on August 16, 2005, 07:04:26 PM: I think it was in the region of £200 each, but I don't remember the exact values. Also some were different prices due to lower specs.
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Coolit on August 16, 2005, 07:12:37 PM: Thats a lot of money to lose, ul guys :-(
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: guest1955 on August 16, 2005, 07:35:27 PM: Heres the link:

Several PPC Cards on Amibench... (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7198)

Incidently, I registered on A.org solely to participate in that thread cos I was interested in buying one.
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: x56h34 on August 16, 2005, 07:42:27 PM: What a piece of s**t Binder was. This was in my opinion the beginning of the new wave of Amiga scammers. IIRC, he was a decent Amiga trader until this. Several people (if you read the long thread) even confirmed successfull dealings with him, however it seems that he just decided to turn sour, all of a sudden.
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: guest1955 on August 16, 2005, 07:46:57 PM: Yeah, I never understood why someone that had previously dealt in selling Amiga gear suddenly turned rogue.
Well, hopefully he is getting bummed in prison now as we read this thread...
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: X-ray on August 16, 2005, 07:56:35 PM: "...Well, hopefully he is getting bummed in prison now as we read this thread..."
---------------------------------------------------------

Ja, his anus should be used as a PPC heatsink. That'll make him ponder his actions!

Edit: then we can legitimately call him Burnt Binder :-)
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Cyberus on August 16, 2005, 09:51:50 PM: I don't know, but there was always some confusion about whether there was a multitude of unrelated Bernd Binders, or whether some guy was using some other honest bloke's name as cover...
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: Coolit on August 16, 2005, 10:04:36 PM: Well as always my curiosity got the better of me and I read the full thread (yes all posts/30pages/2hrs), god he really was a piece of work, Jax did a great job in making some sense of the situation, even though the outcome wasn’t as wanted. It only highlights how easy it is to con people over the internet, worries me tbh.

Anyway off to rest my square eyes 8-)
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: mikey2001 on August 16, 2005, 10:27:26 PM: Quote

tangletown wrote:
Yeah, I never understood why someone that had previously dealt in selling Amiga gear suddenly turned rogue.
Well, hopefully he is getting bummed in prison now as we read this thread...

Probably the pound signs in his eyes... :-(
Title: Re: What was the outcome of the Burnt Bender scam?
Post by: JaXanim on August 17, 2005, 12:03:50 AM: Binder took at least 2,500 Euros from members of AOrg alone. This may have only been the tip of the iceburg, cos he advertised his wares on AmiBench and maybe elsewhere. Goodness knows how many others he screwed, not everyone using AmiBench visits AOrg (though that may change I see).

Anyway, after the final letter from the Albstadt authorities I kept tabs on local news in Germany for a few weeks, but I never saw Binder mentioned. Hopefully, he's now doing time.

The possibility of several 'Bernd Binders' scamming Amigans was raised at the time. However, my investigations (including phone calls to all the 'Bernd Binders' in Albstadt) indicated 'our' Binder was the same guy who ran an Amiga club in the town and regularly sold stuff through its newsletter. People who bought stuff from him seemed to regard him as an OK person. He also sold Amiga ware, mobile phones and car parts through eBay. I tried to contact him via the Albstadt club, but the secretary was very suspicious and uncooperative.

Of course there's a lesson to be learned, but we never do it seems. If something's too good to be true, it almost certainly is!

I think the 'Several PPC cards on AmiBench' thread must be a classic and should be read by everyone joining AOrg. It's a salutory reminder that the Amiga scene still contains pitfalls and criminality goes way beyond copying a few old games.

Cheers,

JaX