(Topic ID: 320147)

KLOV Community Sham

By AstonEnthusiast

1 year ago


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    #151 1 year ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    Well, I guess everybody can't be as smart as you. It's a burden you'll just have to live with.

    No sides taken here but I did a spit take reading this, made my day (it was a pretty crappy day to boot).

    #154 1 year ago

    I've only had one pin shipped to me and got burned. Still received it, but it was junk and the pics were misleading. Never again.

    Learn from others on here: cash on glass or nothing. You'll never have to worry about getting scammed, aside from the cost of a trip if you were mislead.

    I feel for these guys though. Sucks that almost all these scams go unpunished.

    #157 1 year ago
    Quoted from Luke_Nukem:

    Andddd nobody gives a shit. Bragging that you got a Big Buck Hunter is like bragging you got 5 pairs of pants at WalMart for $29.99

    I can’t stop laughing about this. That is pure gold

    #160 1 year ago

    Joke was so funny he had to say it twice
    Screenshot_20220809-184706_DuckDuckGo.jpgScreenshot_20220809-184706_DuckDuckGo.jpg

    14
    #161 1 year ago

    I don't have a dog in this fight but man, I really fuckin hate thieves.

    #163 1 year ago

    Somebody knows this guy…no way he has rare games and and he is an invisible man. There are more silent people involved in this scam unfortunately…..And as much as I want to agree that with Gryszzz that this guy needs a tuneup that will solve nothing….you have to prove theft and let the law handle it. Unfortunately the legal cost per person to get any justice could cost more…..it’s a non violent crime and just small enough per victim that unless people pay ALOT to bring a civil suit or find enough evidence for criminal charges nothing will happen. Hopefully enough people come forward and nail him.

    #165 1 year ago
    Quoted from Knxwledge:

    Joke was so funny he had to say it twice
    [quoted image]

    That’s technically not the correct definition of a pig out. It has to be a very ugly woman (and not necessarily a prostitute), hence the term pig (just meaning she’s ugly).
    My father would call this sweat hogging.
    We know a guy who’s motto was “go ugly, go early” in regards to picking up chicks at a bar.
    He got laid a lot because he wasn’t very picky.

    #167 1 year ago
    Quoted from Coindork:

    That’s technically not the correct definition of a pig out. It has to be a very ugly woman (and not necessarily a prostitute), hence the term pig (just meaning she’s ugly).
    My father would call this sweat hogging.
    We know a guy who’s motto was “go ugly, go early” in regards to picking up chicks at a bar.
    He got laid a lot because he wasn’t very picky.

    Thank you for your expertise in the matter. A legit question for you, you said someone is going to lose their livelihood over being scammed by this guy. It's not the amount they spent, but the fact that they didn't get the games that's the problem?

    #168 1 year ago
    Quoted from Knxwledge:

    Thank you for your expertise in the matter. A legit question for you, you said someone is going to lose their livelihood over being scammed by this guy. It's not the amount they spent, but the fact that they didn't get the games that's the problem?

    I’ll PM you.

    -8
    #169 1 year ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    I strongly disagree that victims should be shamed, ridiculed, and/or mocked. That's the wrong attitude.
    Educating people is a better approach.

    Sorry, but some folks are just flat stupid. Trying to educate them is a huge waste of your time and energy. They were put here for our amusement.
    CrazyLevi has made too many points to list. Another said "Cash On Glass" is how you buy machines. A no brainer if I ever hear one.
    There are always two ways to do things. My way, and the wrong way. You are free to choose. (Indiana Jones -You have chosen poorly- face melt)
    So sorry if that gets your nickers in a twist when we chuckle a bit at your expense.

    So many red flags seasoned collectors could see, others choose to ignore. Your stupid tax, is paid this quarter.
    To be clear, I have paid my taxes too. Bought parts I didn't need and couldn't return. Paid for a pins with massive rodent damage, flood damage, etc.
    Some lesson are best learned the hard way.

    -PC

    Karen is offended by a photo of the name of our local tavern.

    #170 1 year ago

    Reading that KLOV thread is just level 10 of Wow !

    If someone scammed you, you would expect ghosting. Not this guy. He is Mano a Mano, insults and all with those requesting their money back. Unapologetic to the nth degree, where the problem is not his taking money and not refunding, but all these unreasonable people coming after him.

    He spent the money. Now telling his purchasers they have to wait for the insurance claim. What ????

    It is people like this that justifies the need for laws and prison. Can only view the situation from his own perspective, no ability to put himself in the place of others. In other words a sociopath.

    Good luck to those who purchased. Better chance of a refund that the Deeproot investors but not much.

    15
    #171 1 year ago

    THIS is the best summary post in that thread:

    You strung me, and many others, along for WEEKS, blaming STI for shipping delays, and when I (and others) called STI they told us that was a lie, and that they could never get the games picked up because of your delays and stalling.

    You told CA people their games had already left on a trailer, but they never did.

    You said games were being loaded onto a trailer for several days, but they never were (unless you took them and stashed them and aren't telling anyone).

    You told me on the phone first that you didn't have insurance.

    You told the fire marshal that you weren't filing an insurance claim.

    You later told me on the phone that you haven't been able to talk to your insurance agent because "the bitch won't call me back".

    You are telling people who paid you for games that they can deal with your insurance company, but that is literally not possible. An insurance company cannot discuss a claim with a person who is not an insured party, unless the insurance company is being sued by the person, but nobody who paid you for games has standing to sue your insurance company because nobody that paid you for games ever got a game, so they don't own any property in your warehouse.

    You said at one point the fire was minor and NO games were damaged.

    You later said that the games were all a loss.

    After that you said some games were OK and some games were a loss.

    You told people that you spent their money on "a tractor", "property", "an investment", and "a purchase" but nobody knows for sure what you spent the money on, or if you even spent it. And it IS our business what you spent our money on, because that is OUR MONEY. So whatever you bought belongs to US. Hence, the civil asset forfeiture lawsuit you will be dealing with. Whatever you bought, I hope we like it lol.

    You sold people PCB's that weren't in the fire and didn't need STI and could have been shipped many weeks ago, but they were never shipped. Why not ship those?

    You sent multiple people the same pics of the same games, meaning you sold the same game more than once.

    And through all of this you have refused to post, email, or text one single good, clear photograph of ANYTHING that people have asked for. Taking a few photographs would take less time that all the pot smoking and whore diddling that you profess to be doing, on our money I might add.

    YOU TOOK OUR MONEY AND GAVE US NOTHING.

    And when people speculate, due to the total lack of honest and transparent communication from you, you come on here and curse people, tell people that they will have to fight your insurance company for their money, and tell people that you will make sure they get paid back last. You say this to people who you STOLE FROM and REFUSE to give them their money back.

    Steve, this is all YOUR problem, not our problem. Go get a loan against whatever you bought, or sell it, or borrow from someone else, or liquidate some other assets, whatever. Pay people the money you took from them. Nobody wants damaged games, and nobody wants more lies and half truths and delay tactics and incomplete information.

    You should STOP posting words and START posting photographic evidence to support your words.

    #172 1 year ago

    Maybe this has already been mentioned (I haven't read every single thread post) but wouldn't a class action lawsuit make sense here? I get that for just $30k you'd have a hard time finding a lawyer to take the case, but at the $500k range I'd expect it to be fairly easy to secure legal council to represent everyone.

    #173 1 year ago

    So sorry to hear of this, I actually live in Gresham, Oregon. Very curious as to who this scammer is, hope everyone gets made whole!

    Quoted from AstonEnthusiast:

    Hey all,
    Like many of you, I collect arcade games as well as pins. An Oregon collector lured about 80 of us out of approx $450-500K in several weeks, states he used the funds on another investment and now all the games were lost in a "fire" on Thursday evening. This is after pushing off STI for 3 weeks as they attempted to pick up the games many times. If you remain nice to him, you may have a remote chance to get your money back is the official position offered, though only to select individuals. I was blinded by the ability to pick up some rare titles and never wired anyone funds before, so please let this be a wake up call for others. I'm out over $7k. Hoping my loss can be a reminder for others:
    https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/new-games-and-prices-updated-list-again.508562/
    https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/sold.508049/page-18#post-4540795
    Sadly, if others on PS have experience dealing with similar situations and actionable next steps, please PM me.

    #174 1 year ago
    Quoted from KHL:

    So sorry to hear of this, I actually live in Gresham, Oregon. Very curious as to who this scammer is, hope everyone gets made whole!

    Someone did a skip trace on him and posted in that thread

    #175 1 year ago
    Quoted from DreamTR:

    Already tried to say this but no one read it.
    Many people vouched for the guy, he has spent a lot of money and had sold transactions with people picking up games.
    Literally same shit as here when you vet someone.
    Are you telling me pictures make the case? Really? I have seen people with crazy amazing pictures scamming for days.
    People stood up for this dude and he had no prior issues.
    Like I said before, if you have not dealt with someone on pinside before and they want xxx payment either you pass or find out if he was reputable.
    Well, this guy was reputable, until he wasn't.
    See it is easy to say this was easy to avoid but in reality if people didn't back the dude and the guy didn't name drop people who I even CALLED AND SPOKE TO VOUCHING FOR THE GUY I would not have bought anything.
    Still ridiculous people blaming victims here on this shit. You literally all will want a payment method the same way to avoid chargebacks or cash only in person. Not one person here does that for everything.

    The simple fact is most of us rely on a circle of trust. If every damn thing we did in life required individual vetting nothing would get done.

    This is every aspect of life not just collecting. Is that a good company to work for, ask your colleagues in the industry. Is that a good company to invest in, who do I know who has invested in it already.

    Theranos was able to do what it did because each person adding in the circle assumed 1) every other person has done vetting because they are smart 2) friends and colleagues who had invested were rich 3) it was a pretty damn big circle here, how could so many possibly get it wrong.

    There is no need to trash or dump on anyone affected by this. It is human nature to trust, it is human nature to accept secondary vetting by others without deep exploration of context, and scammers take advantage of this ALL THE TIME.

    I strongly suspect most affected here can financially recover from this. That’s not some excuse, it’s just recognizing that the person who can pay $30K on video games can very likely afford to lose $30K without financial ruin.To those that took more financial risk than they could afford, yes individual vetting may have been more called for here. But really in this situation, it’s easy even under those circumstances to have false levels of assurance allowing bigger risk taking.

    The scammer is clearly a scammer from reading the threads. But he got away with it not because people are idiots, but because the entire scheme was almost perfectly primed here. We are social creatures. He took advantage of that.

    #176 1 year ago

    Not me y’all. I too am a Portland person that had a fire. Sorry someone stole from you.

    #177 1 year ago

    THIS is how this happened at the beginning of his for sale thread. If you want education this is the education that can be learned from. It takes more than one person to place legitimacy around a seller. Nobody did anything wrong or nefarious. When a new seller shows up on Pinside we all get suspicious. This guy wasn’t new, and he wasn’t suspicious.

    “Steven is legit and real as they come. I've seen all the games and played most.
    Crazy high end collection of games.”

    “Michelle confirmed they are very familiar with Steven and have multiple orders to pick up next week (including a Burgertime and Zookeeper for me).

    My experience with Steven has been top notch. No BS, succinct and a cool guy. I feel very comfortable with everything about this sale and hope others find comfort based on my experience.”

    “ He has been very communicative with me as well and I will be purchasing 3 games from him.”

    “ I've dealt with the OP before on a few purchases -- he was reliable. Good luck on the sale of these great games!”

    “ I agree Steven is a solid dude.
    Buy with confidence!”

    Add a little FOMO around grail games as they dropped by the wayside and a disaster was born. This is kinda Banning if it ended up a scam.

    BTW the most recent post from this “solid dude” redacted goes something like: “Another person who didnt buy a game and wants to say something go suck a d**k b**ch f**k you and your dead momma”

    #178 1 year ago
    Quoted from pookycade:

    THIS is how this happened at the beginning of his for sale thread. If you want education this is the education that can be learned from. It takes more than one person to place legitimacy around a seller. Nobody did anything wrong or nefarious. When a new seller shows up on Pinside we all get suspicious. This guy wasn’t new, and he wasn’t suspicious.
    “Steven is legit and real as they come. I've seen all the games and played most.
    Crazy high end collection of games.”
    “Michelle confirmed they are very familiar with Steven and have multiple orders to pick up next week (including a Burgertime and Zookeeper for me).
    My experience with Steven has been top notch. No BS, succinct and a cool guy. I feel very comfortable with everything about this sale and hope others find comfort based on my experience.”
    “ He has been very communicative with me as well and I will be purchasing 3 games from him.”
    “ I've dealt with the OP before on a few purchases -- he was reliable. Good luck on the sale of these great games!”
    “ I agree Steven is a solid dude.
    Buy with confidence!”

    I was close to being scammed from him also but he couldn't take the time to at least plug one of the games in that I was interested in. Dodged a bullet for sure, just glad I decided the pics he provided didn't justify $5K and didn't get caught up in the recommendations.

    #179 1 year ago
    Quoted from LORDDREK:

    And grows dope apparently… REEFER MADNESS!

    Lots of marijuana smoke, no doubt inhaled by the games in the fire. I hear that a Donkey Kong turned into a Chiller. ;>

    #180 1 year ago

    I can’t believe that thread hasn’t resulted in multiple police reports of theft/wire fraud. And yet not one person seems to have done that. This is straight up theft. Seller took money, seller did not deliver, seller will not return money. Who gives a rat’s ass what happened to the games? It’s completely irrelevant.

    #181 1 year ago

    How is it after all of the pinball & arcade scams that no one has had the living shit kicked out of them yet? Unlike most scammers these guys are identifiable. I know they are few and far between these days, but there are still some OG types out there who you do not want to cross.

    #182 1 year ago
    Quoted from Esoteric_rt:

    No-one likes being ripped off. Its pretty stressful, that sinking feeling.
    Never understood how people can sleep at night when they have done this to someone.

    Same here, but we are normal. I have read roughly 1 in every 30 is a sociopath.

    #183 1 year ago

    Somewhat off topic, but I have a gauntlet that I bought from him over a year ago and it still smells of weed on warm days :/.

    If the deal would’ve actually happened for everyone instead of getting screwed, I imagine everyone would’ve been upset about that the smell.

    #184 1 year ago
    Quoted from Wharhed:

    Somewhat off topic, but I have a gauntlet that I bought from him over a year ago and it still smells of weed on warm days :/.
    If the deal would’ve actually happened for everyone instead of getting screwed, I imagine everyone would’ve been upset about that the smell.

    I'm sure those effected would rather a bit of a snunky smell than being out 10-20K.

    29
    #185 1 year ago
    Quoted from Reality_Studio:

    Maybe this has already been mentioned (I haven't read every single thread post) but wouldn't a class action lawsuit make sense here? I get that for just $30k you'd have a hard time finding a lawyer to take the case, but at the $500k range I'd expect it to be fairly easy to secure legal council to represent everyone.

    Many nonlawyers don't understand that a "class action" is a very special legal avenue, which typically applies to claims with thousands, tens of thousands or even millions of victims, often with relatively small individual monetary losses. A judge has to approve the class. This matter does not have the common elements nor size of a class action.

    What you're imagining is a "group action," in which a group of victims pool funds to hire one attorney to seek legal redress. A long time ago, I used my skills as a NJ litigator to draft a suit against Jpop and Zidware for the return of my RAZA deposit. I retained a Chicago lawyer who was local to the defendants to file the suit.

    After I recouped my deposit, a group of about a dozen similar Jpop/Zidware victims joined my suit (I dismissed my claim) and were able to successfully obtain a favorable judgment. They were able to share the otherwise prohibitive counsel fee cost, thereby reducing their legal fee investment. The Chicago attorney took on the group case on a hybrid contingency fee/retainer basis.

    If any victims here desire more information, PM me your cell number and I will be glad to answer your questions privately. A public forum is not the appropriate place to do so in any finer detail. Indeed, the group of 12 set up a private Facebook group and email chain to formulate strategy. I will help in any way I can.

    #186 1 year ago
    Quoted from ZNET:

    Many nonlawyers don't understand that a "class action" is a very special legal avenue, which typically applies to claims with thousands, tens of thousands or even millions of victims, often with relatively small individual monetary losses. A judge has to approve the class. This matter does not have the common elements nor size of a class action.
    What you're imagining is a "group action," in which a group of victims pool funds to hire one attorney to seek legal redress. A long time ago, I used my skills as a NJ litigator to draft a suit against Jpop and Zidware for the return of my RAZA deposit. I retained a Chicago lawyer who was local to the defendants to file the suit.

    Thanks for the clarification, yeah I guess "group action" is what I meant. I did that once with three other parties exactly as you mentioned, basically we shared the costs of one lawyer who handled the case against the same entity we were all after for compensation. I just read the Klov thread and noticed how incredibly hostile the accused is towards everyone so seems like this may be the preferred course of action.

    #187 1 year ago

    I always get a kick outta these scam threads when the mob is “call the police and file a report! They’ll take action on this thief!”

    No. No they won’t at all. This isn’t a TV show where there is a whole detective unit at the police station ready to solve your petty crime. The police chief isn’t assigning his best detective To crack your case.

    No one is getting any money back unless it’s voluntarily refunded. There’s not gonna be a massive police manhunt and Dragnet out for the guy, no CSI wizardry to track down the money etc.

    #188 1 year ago
    Quoted from PoMC:

    I always get a kick outta these scam threads when the mob is “call the police and file a report! They’ll take action on this thief!”
    No. No they won’t at all. This isn’t a TV show where there is a whole detective unit at the police station ready to solve your petty crime. The police chief isn’t assigning his best detective To crack your case.
    No one is getting any money back unless it’s voluntarily refunded. There’s not gonna be a massive police manhunt and Dragnet out for the guy, no CSI wizardry to track down the money etc.

    Police aren't going to do anything but a lawyer will. This is a textbook civil case. I just don't understand what the scammer was thinking. There's information out there on this guy. Even if the guy took the money and run there's still a paper trail, I'm sure one of the people who sold a game to him took down the serial number. That serial number is proof that it didn't "burn in a fire" if it resurfaces. The guy has now screwed over a community of rich OCD niche collectors from around the globe. That's a bold strategy Cotton...

    #189 1 year ago
    Quoted from PoMC:

    I always get a kick outta these scam threads when the mob is “call the police and file a report! They’ll take action on this thief!”
    No. No they won’t at all. This isn’t a TV show where there is a whole detective unit at the police station ready to solve your petty crime. The police chief isn’t assigning his best detective To crack your case.
    No one is getting any money back unless it’s voluntarily refunded. There’s not gonna be a massive police manhunt and Dragnet out for the guy, no CSI wizardry to track down the money etc.

    Depends on the town. A friend located my stolen kayak once. The way the police reacted, you would think somebody was in the process of robbing a bank.

    Filing police reports is also a good idea since they potentially come in handy during the civil stuff. Leaned that when dealing with a tenant stealing some stuff in VT.

    15
    #190 1 year ago

    I am enthralled in this thread. Steven's unhinged and barely readable rants toward people he clearly owes machines or money to are both hilarious (because I wasn't a victim) and enraging (because I hate that this happened to good people). Its a train wreck of epic proportions.

    #193 1 year ago

    Is there a separate topic on KLOV for people who aren't necessarily involved to talk about the whole ordeal? The admin keeps making the main 2 threads only people who are involved to be able to reply. As of right now this seems like the only open discussion thread

    #194 1 year ago
    Quoted from PoMC:

    I always get a kick outta these scam threads when the mob is “call the police and file a report! They’ll take action on this thief!”
    No. No they won’t at all. This isn’t a TV show where there is a whole detective unit at the police station ready to solve your petty crime. The police chief isn’t assigning his best detective To crack your case.
    No one is getting any money back unless it’s voluntarily refunded. There’s not gonna be a massive police manhunt and Dragnet out for the guy, no CSI wizardry to track down the money etc.

    I don't know about local police -- but if you have reciepts and know where the guy lives it's certainly possibly they could escort you on property to attempt to pick up your games -- as it sounds like they *may?* still exist.. at least some of them. But beyond that -- is this not wire fraud across state lines? That is a bigger deal, as I understand it...

    #195 1 year ago
    Quoted from Bud:

    I am sick and tired of thieves. They are everywhere and not a single jurisdiction/community in America does much about it. I would like it if thieves got one hand cut off for the first offense. One would have to be truly desperate to gamble a limb.
    Not to derail this thread, but in my life I’ve had 2 vehicles stolen, a new enclosed trailer full of construction material, an outside air conditioning unit, copper gutters, firearms, computers, tools and bikes. None of this even counts the money from deals being made that never made me whole.
    Just the other day, someone crawled under my truck in my driveway and cut off the catalytic converter. Just got my truck out of the shop and it was $900. I’m sure the thief got $50-100 for the stolen part.

    Rant over, I’m just absolutely fed up with thieves.

    When I was 19 in Detroit Michigan there was a brand new family owned mechanic shop down river. It was owned by an older guy and his younger son. (might be two sons)

    In the first week they opened, thieves hit their business and stole tools.

    They came back the next night, but the younger son was waiting. He said he pointed the rifle directly at the thieves face while the police came.

    But he did not shoot.

    I hope letting him live was not something he regretted…

    I always thought he showed great restraint there.

    #196 1 year ago

    In Oregon, most of us have a combo grow op/arcade.

    Quoted from ZNET:

    Lots of marijuana smoke, no doubt inhaled by the games in the fire. I hear that a Donkey Kong turned into a Chiller. ;>

    #197 1 year ago

    Seems as if this is the new Defacto discussion thread on Klov: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/steven501-aka-steve-salmon-from-oregon-do-not-buy-scammer.509653/

    Most recent update is that Steve has some games ready to ship (supposedly) and STI is on their way to pick them up.

    #198 1 year ago
    Quoted from Haymaker:

    Seems as if this is the new Defacto discussion thread on Klov: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/steven501-aka-steve-salmon-from-oregon-do-not-buy-scammer.509653/
    Most recent update is that Steve has some games ready to ship (supposedly) and STI is on their way to pick them up.

    Thanks for the update link. Not sure why klov closed the original thread….

    #199 1 year ago

    I wouldn’t believe anything coming from that guy until games are delivered or proof of refunds issued.

    #200 1 year ago
    Quoted from Palmer:

    Steven's ban was lifted

    Dear god; why did they lift his band at all?!

    There are 588 posts in this topic. You are on page 4 of 12.

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