Andrew,
    Was talking to Jeff from Advance Guard and said you would be interested in hearing about this guy. He is pushing bad engraved Purple Hearts and forging documents to go with them! Please see the form letter below and pass it on if you like.
              Joe

   Hello,   I am writing you regards to a very dishonest and crafty ebay seller. He goes by many user IDs ( see attached email below from Frank Beasley).   I purchased a grouping from him on 4/5/04 for the amount of $1700.00 and as of 6/8/04 still have not received all of the items. The items that I did receive are all made up. These include two US navy jumpers that have had the original names removed and new ones added, a forged "NOTICE OF SEPARATION FROM THE US NAVAL SERVICE" in which a photocopy of the original document was made then the typed lettering was blocked out with white out, copied again and then retyped. This was done on a period sheet of paper. The new typing states that the veteran was wounded a Normandy!   There is a D-Day medic's helmet that was made up on a 1950's M1 shell, a set of coveralls with painting added to the back, an engraved Purple Heart with new engraving. Other items include a pair of leggings, two sailors caps and a knife, all of which have had the name added to them.   This person is very sharp! He knows what the real things should look like. > In addition to forging WWII documents he has also forged US Postal receipts and forwarded these to people who he has not sent items to as proof of shipping. He likes to state that he is sick, his wife is sick, his father is sick, he is moving his store or a friend was to mail the items and did not. He has a long history of doing this, as you will see from the attached emails. He was kicked of the Police Force in Oliver Springs, TN and likes to offer the Chief of Police as a reference, but the Police Chief cannot be trusted either, as he is a friend of Gary's! He has lost his gun license and has judgments against him for defrauding other people.   When I asked for a refund less shipping and Pay Pal fees, he responded by stating I had faked the items and was planning on keeping the originals and returning fakes to him for a refund.   A quick search of his past auction on all of his Ebay user DIs show him having sold over twenty named medals! I was informed by an Ebay user from Gary town that he owns a engraving machine. The engraving on his medals is very fussy on the edges of the letters.   What ever you do do not buy from this person and forward this email to any one that might!   Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you find it useful.   Sincerely, joe Tonelli PO Box 18777 Minneapolis, MN 55418-0777 Ebay user ID joescollectibles 612-865-3743     The email below is from another Ebay user that was also defrauded by Gary Branham. Unfortunately he did not wish to have his name and contact information forwarded because of a on going case against Gary at this time.  

 

Sent: Monday, May 31, 2004 9:30 PM
Subject: eBay's Top Defrauder-Gary D. Branham-Square Trade Case Number: 470887163

Gary D. Branham (antiqueheaven@comcast.net) is the most flagrant defrauder on eBay that I have ever encountered on enet auction sales. Branham uses several other names such as: Debby Branham, I. Branham and Lou Moore. One of his many IDs that I have identified on eBay: lists 865-435-2897 as a contact telephone number; however, running a reverse directory search on it, the listed owner is: John Moore, 502 Hen Vallety Road, Oliver Springs, TN 37840-1413. I filed a Fraud Alert (Compliant Number: 2000605471) and a Square Trade (Case Number 470887163) on eBay, but eBay has been very reluctant to take any corrective action.
 
Branham also trades Postive Feedback with his many multiple IDs; which is strictly against eBay, AuctionArms and GunBroker policies; wherein he has undeservedly inflated his Postive Feedback scores by buying and selling low priced items, with insignificant selling fees, to himself by using his multiple IDs. For example; one of his currently used IDs on eBay: vandygal0, has a Postive Feedback score of 50; however, at least 24 of the 50 are from some of his many other eBay IDs: ww2guns-22 and remingtonutt-2. In addition, he currently has at least 100 undeserved Postive Feedbacks that he posted to three of his other many eBay IDs: ww2guns (vandygal0-22, remingtonutt-18 and ww2dogs-13); ww2dogs (ww2guns-14, remingtonutt-2 and vandygal0-2).
 
On 5/24/04, I reported Branham's use of multiple IDs to AuctionArms (dan@auctionarms.com); where after their independent verifying Branham's modus of operation, found that he had indeed been posting Postive Feedback on himself and immediately disabled his accounts. On 5/25/04, I filed a Report with the U.S.P.S. Postal Inspection Service for their criminal prosecution of Branham, after I further found that Branham is falsefying U.S.P.S. Official Documents in defrauding eBay buyers. In addition; on 5/28/04, I reported Branham to GunBroker (billing@gunbroker.com) for posting Postive Feedback to himself using his multiple GunBroker IDs.
 
Sincerely,
/////////////////////////////

Joe further sent this info...
    I have further identified the following addresses, telephone numbers, etc., that Gary D. Branham uses in his modus of operations:
GUNS PLUS 857 East Tri County Blvd. Oliver Springs, TN 37840 (865-435-0343)
GUNS PLUS RR2 Box 349; Foust Carney Rd. Powell, TN 37849 Tax ID (FEIN): 408173416
Gary D. Branham RR2 Box 240; Foust Carney Rd. Powell, TN 37849
Gary D. Branham 857 Tri County Blvd. Oliver Springs, TN 37840
Gary D. Branham 542 Foust Carney Rd. Powell, TN 37849
Debby L. Branham 857 East Tri County Blvd. Oliver Springs, TN 37840
     One of the several Lawsuits filed against Gary D. Branham is:   Defendent: Gary D. Branham Plaintiff: William Dagner Court: Knox County General Sessions Court Court Address: 400 Main Ave. Knoxville, TN 37902 Case Number: 81906E
    The Federal Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobbacco and Firearms, apparently rescinded Gary D. Branham's Federal Firearms License for his fraudlent modus of operation.   On 6/8/04 I filed a Consumer Fraud Complaint with the Tennessee Attorney General because of eBay's reluctance to take any corrective action re: Gary D. Branham.

Other names this guy has used are...
vandygal0 (suspended)
ww2knives (suspended)
ww2guns
ww2dogs
remingtonutt
antiqueheaven