SCADS (Stamp Collectors Against Dodgy Sellers)
Philatelic fraud watch group

SCADS is an international association of philatelists whose goals are to combat fraudulent and dishonest tactics by sellers of stamps, and to protect and educate the philatelic community at large from fraud, particularly the newer and less experienced stamp collectors who represent the future of the hobby. The SCADS website www.scads.org:

• exposes the latest scams, online auction fraud and dodgy sellers
• offers a range of resources to help and educate collectors
• provides visitors with the opportunity to report possible instances of online stamp auction fraud

• The Cat Bytes: Scam Auctions article gives a more detailed look at the various types of scam auctions. Read about bid shielding, feedback padding, or switch and return (by ugly buyers!) to see the downright ugly side of online auctions, and to pick up some tips to prevent your getting "burned" on a lot.
• Ashleigh's eBay buying tips - I'm not getting burned again! article discusses eBay's stamp policy on "as is" and warns buyers what to be on the lookout for.
• The SCADS Guidelines for buying stamps on eBay article lists even more things for stamp buyers to watch out for!
• The comprehensive Fraud Resources for Online Auctions website, which contains articles and many useful links on fraud, has been set up by eBay member "basestealer", a dedicated Trust and Safety board regular.

• The Altered U.S. stamps on eBay - exposed! article gives an overview of the purchase, alteration and sale on eBay of early U.S. stamps by buyers "chickfrdstk", "stazy4" (now "booksnbooks4u") and "tremor111" and sellers "schuylerac" (now "wackeywood" after a brief change to "crustaceans"), "pcheltenham" and new seller "32gyt78".
• The U.S. Classics on eBay - as is article gives detailed information on the early activities of the buyer "chickfrdstk" and seller "schuylerac" (now "wackeywood" after a brief change to "crustaceans"), and includes a brief overview of the alteration group's expansion to include buyers "stazy4" (now "booksnbooks4u") and "tremor111" and sellers "pcheltenham" and "32gyt78".
• Richard Doporto has prepared several detailed analyses of "schuylerac"'s fake grills and other altered stamps on his Alterations, Fakes and Forgeries website.
• The MSNBC article EBay’s tough talk on fraud doesn’t withstand scrutiny (9 October 2002) discusses eBay's "laissez-faire" attitude toward illegal activity by power sellers, and gives an overview of some of the reports of fraud cases which have been ignored by SafeHarbor.
• The MSNBC article Cautionary tales of two auctions: Phantom bids draw a warning; alleged stamp ring unchecked (10 October 2002) details the work of the SCADS team in exposing this US classic stamps alteration scam, and the unresponsiveness of eBay in the face of the evidence of fraud.

U.S. Classics on eBay - as is
Advice for collectors on the pitfalls of buying U.S. classics on eBay.

General Reference

• The 1847 USA website contains detailed information on identifying 1847-1925 U.S. stamps by design. It has separate sections on identifying Washington Franklins, details of grill measurements, examples of the secret marks, and links to many other classic U.S. websites.
• "theswedishtiger"'s US Stamps - A pictorial guide website identifies U.S. stamps by Scott catalogue number
• Richard Doporto's 1¢ Franklin Plating Archive gives an overview of the issue, illustrating it with high-resolution scans of over 80 plated stamps from plates 1 to 3.
• The U.S. 1851 - 1857 3-Cent Imperforate Stamp website contains much information on plates, printings, colour and other details of this complicated issue.
• Steven Ruecker's Plated 3¢ 1851-57 ~ Enlarged Photos webpages contain large scans of plated stamps, and covers nearly every position in the #10 and #11 plates.

Fakes, Forgeries, Alterations and Expertising

• The Croton Stamp Co. website contains information on trimmed "coils", including a reference table, as well as ways to detect regummed and reperforated stamps.
• The Philatelic Hall of Shame contains detailed information on the reperfing, trimming and regumming of stamps.
• The Counterfeits and Fakes of Confederate Stamps website features counterfeits and fakes of Confederate stamps.
• The Phillips Stamp Site provides examples of 19 "Obvious Fakes" of common stamps which have been reperfed, trimmed to make "coils" and "imperfs", or with added grills, accompanied by tips on how to detect the tampering.
• Geoff Dutton's The Five Cent Imperforate Stamp and Fakes page on his comprehensive Second Bureau Issue website, discusses the problematical #315's on eBay. A digitally faked #315 is provided for comparison with possible canditates.


• Richard Doporto has prepared an educational Alterations, Fakes and Forgeries website for collectors. It shows detailed magnified images of fake and altered stamps, including:
  • The Most Impressive Fake Scott 62B
  • The Secret Life of an Altered Scott 72
  • The Secret Life of a Chemically Altered Scott 78
  • Fake Scott 137 w / Same Bogus Grill as Fake 143 - bought from "schuylerac"
  • Fake Scott 139 w / Same Bogus Grill as Fake 137 and 143 - bought from "schuylerac"
  • Fake Scott 143 w / Bogus Grill - bought from "schuylerac"
  • Fake Scott 315
  • Fake Scott #320 with Schermack Type III Perforations
  • Fake Scott 346 Private Perforation
  • Detecting a Fake Flat Plate Press Vertical Coil, Fake Scott 441
  • Fake Reperfed 508c - fake perf 10 from the "Buonocore Reperforations", Part 2 - bought from "stamps55"
  • Fake Reperfed 514a
  • Fake Reperfed Scott 519
  • Another Fake Scott 519
  • Fake Reperfed 546 - fake "coil waste" reperf from the "Buonocore Reperforations", Part 3 - bought from "stamps55"
  • Fake Scott #743a
  • The Secret Life of an Altered RW5 Duck Stamp - the famous "Buonocore Reperforations", Part 1 - bought from "stamps55"
• The SCADS "Expertization" article details the reasons for and the steps required for using expertizing services
• G. Kock has prepared a comprehensive page of over 140 forgery and expertizing links, grouped by country, general resources and philatelic experts.

• The Cat Bytes: Buying Tips article presents some general tips for buyers.
• Ashleigh's eBay buying tips - I'm not getting burned again! article discusses eBay's stamp policy on "as is" and warns buyers what to be on the lookout for.
• The SCADS Guidelines for buying stamps on eBay article lists even more things for stamp buyers to watch out for!

• The Cat Bytes: Selling Tips article presents some general tips for sellers.

• Bill Claghorn's Comparative Philatelic Forgery Identification Site shows many modern German forgeries together with genuine examples, listing the differences in detail.
• Bill Claghorn has made available an online copy of the 1985/1988 House of Stamps catalogue. It shows many (but by no means all) of the stamps and covers which were reproduced and sold as replicas.
• The Marken-Meyer website contains comparisons of the most common modern Swiss forgeries with their genuine counterparts (see under Fälschungen), including detailed descriptions of the differences between them.
• G. Kock has prepared a comprehensive page of over 140 forgery and expertizing links, grouped by country, general resources and philatelic experts.

• Richard Warren's May 2004 article Some notes on the "reproductions" of "atdinvest" (Juan Canoura Sr.) describes the extent of the forgery business, and gives a detailed explanation of how the forgeries were produced.
• Dirk Spennemann's Hialeah Forgeries webpages of his Marshalls digital micronesia website give the background of the Hialeah forgeries, a guide to identifying the types of overprints, and scans of most of the Hialeah forgeries of the Marshall Islands and other German Pacific colonies.
• Richard Warren's Burma & Myanmar philately website discusses several Burma Hialeah forgeries.
• Evert Klaseboer's Hialeah Forgeries webpage presents a short history of the Hialeah forgery operation on eBay up to October 2003, and shows a range of later forgeries on and off cover (you need to purchase the CD to see all the images).
• Wirat Limpaiboon's August 2003 Modern Thai Forgeries article discusses the Thai Hialeah forgeries, and includes illustrations of perforated corner blocks.
• The Virtual Stamp Album New Hebrides website shows scans of all known Hialeah fake overprints of the New Hebrides in its "Forgeries / Later Forgeries" section.
• Joe Cartafalsa's French Indo-china Fakes and Fantasies website shows Hialeah fantasy cancels on French Indochina covers.
• Cheng Jiun Yuan's Stamps of Malaya website shows the Hialeah "Specimen" overprints found on Malaya, Brunei, and Labuan stamps
• Richard Frajola has made a detailed anaysis of the inks used and method of production of the Hialeah fake overprints.
• G. Kock has prepared a comprehensive page of over 140 forgery and expertizing links, grouped by country, general resources and philatelic experts.