Beware Current Scams

UPDATE !!!  NEW SCAM FOR THIS BUM!  Many more new attempts by this scammer!     Here are some emails that arrived recently:

This guy is still out there. We hoped he had been arrested, but new reports are coming in!

  • This thief uses several names.  The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says the person's real name Richard Iden. Please report all incidents to Detective Garrett with the LVMPD. Connect it to all cases with Richard Iden.

Another Attempt By AKA “Richard Iden”, “Timothy Flemmons”, “Richard Ivan” “John Ward” “Johntrail Ward” “Ameer Carpenter” “James Salmeron”

(702)-502-4466,  (702)-955-0363, (702)-986-3164,  4455 East Twain Ave,  #B218 Las Vegas NV 89121

It looks like this Scum-Bum is living pretty well on other peoples money.  HERE IS A LINK TO HIS APARTMENT COMPLEX

Someone living in Las Vegas should do the world a favor and help us get this dog arrested!

These posts are mostly from coin dealers that have been contacted by the scammer. “The Coin Op Colletors Association” is a club for those that collect coin operated machines. If you are a coin dealer or collector and are reading this we would like you to forward this information to any local, state, national, or international coin collectors clubs so that it can be passed on to their members.

 

  • (2/22/17) Scammed by him today. Same M.O. HOWEVER!, HE BOUGHT MY DOGS SOME TREATS AT THE SMITH'S ON ANN RD SO I HAVE HIS FINGER PRINTS AND RECEIPT SHOWING EXACT MOMENT OF PURCHASE. Should be on video. I'm living in my car, so as soon as I can get gas money, I'll go to LVPD. I'm in Henderson. WE NEED TO NAIL THIS JERK!
  • (2/20/17)

    I want to thank this site for saving me from being scammed by this guy.
    It seems this guy has a new scam. I put an ad up on Craigslist looking for work with a picture of myself. I'm 35 and female. He contacted me with this:
    “I have an immediate opening for a asst In my gold and silver rare coin business Full time Starts at 15.00 per hour if your interested call me rick 702-502-6770”

    I spoke to him and he gave a plausible story about being a 62 yr old retired school teacher with this coin business and told me what I would be doing and says because of the high value of the goods I would be handling that I would need to be bonded. I could either go get bonded myself or I could go through the company he uses and pay $50 less, total of $70. Well of course I would rather save $50 considering I'm having to borrow the money in the first place because I'm the Application Trail still and have no income.

    Everything he said sounded good, but not too good to be true. It was just enough money offered to not raise alarms (I did wonder at the amount since this is Vegas and he could have gotten away with saying 10 bucks an hour easily) but not low enough that I could ignore the chance at making it. Before I left to meet him at a Starbucks, I went hunting around the internet for any info I could find on his number, him, etc. I found absolutely nothing BUT I had read this very forum page before I left.

    When I show up, this 5'8, pudgy, pasty white guy in glasses with brown hair and light blue eyes greets me. He looked completely nondescript and average. He began by showing me where I would work by googling the address on his phone. The address he gave was something like 4100 Bracken Ave, Las Vegas or something close to that number. I asked him if he had a company name and he told me it was Prestige Coinage. I then asked him what his name was again and he said his first name was Richard. I then said I don't think you gave me your last name and he said Ivan. Richard Ivan. It took me about a nano second to make the connection.

    He continues rambling and showing me coins on his phone and I guess the look on my face alarmed him and he said “you look troubled about something.” I said his name sounded familiar. Would he mind showing me some kind of identification so that I knew he was who he said he was, I would gladly show him mine and would that be a problem. At this point he looked kind of suprised like he wasn't expecting me to ask but he remained cool and said no that wouldnt be a problem but he wasnt sure he wanted someone working for him that was “so skeptical”. I knew right then and there it was him. I said “I dont think your being 100% honest with me here” and instead of getting angry or indignant like you expect an honest person to do, he just kind of stared back me hesistating and then said, Are you accusing me of something?  but the way he said it, the indignation did not ring true, it was manufactured. I said no I'm not but I need to be careful and he blurted out “well I don't want your bonding money” I never mentioned the bond money once, didn't make any mention of it whatsoever. I said I was going to cut this short, shook his hand and left.

    The scam he is running is good. Very good. I know that he was talking to other people besides me because initially he thought I was someone else he had talked to earlier. I am the type of person that listens to my gut and runs mainly on intuition which is why I searched so hard before I left for anything I could find before meeting him. Everytime I thought about handing over the money my gut gave me The Signal. I'm almost positive that someone else got scammed tonight by him, but specifically because of this page, it wasn't me. $70 may not be much to most people but to me its more money then I have. This guy is a Grade A piece of crap preying on desperate for work Las Vegans and there are many of us. Thank you for this post. Someday karma will catch up with him and he will pay his dues.

  • (11/22/16) I just got scammed from a person name Richard iden

 

  • (10/3/16) Same thing here. He said his name was James and his mom is deceased but she did business with us before. He had 159 pieces of ss flatware and hundreds of silver coins he was going to sell for $10 each. We are in Columbia, SC.

 

  • (9/29/16) Tim Flemmons contacted me this morning from a blocked number but did send text from 702-955-0363 claiming to have 143 pieces of Kirk repousse Sterling flatware. A set that he said his mom did business with me in the past and said he should be able to get $800 which is $5 a piece. He also said he had one gold coin and 31 Morgan silver dollars. He said he needed money fast but could not afford shipping. Tried to get me to wire $241.00 I played along and after he said it was all packed up, I said send a pic… He said “I don't have time for this” I'll sell it to a pawn shop locally. So I sent him a pic of this post in you web site and said your probably being hunted right now… He said he would take the coins to a pawn show to gather the money for shipping. He did that because the total value is over $8000; and he wanted $2000. Most dealers want to stop you from getting another offer but that was a flag.  Beware - if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

 

  • (9/23/16) Was just contacted by “Tim” (702-955-0363) with 160 Morgan Dollars and 159 Pc set of Repousse. Same story. Mother kept my number from years ago and wanted 25/pc for the dollars and 5/pc for the silverware. I am still waiting for a list of the pieces in the sterling set. Thought I had made my day until my friend at the local Coin Store ruined my day by telling me of this scam. Actually, he made my day too. Be careful.

 

  • ( 9/12/16) James Salmeron just tried the same scam on me, called antiques shop w/same stories. Luckily my friend checked out his name on online and saved me. Thanks for posting the info I will pass this along. My antiques shope is in Inverness, FL.

 

  • 9/6/2016) Just wanted to thank you for your site and info about James, aka, Richard Iben… I didn't wire any money for the sterling, toys and Eisenburg, but I was certainly considering it before I found your site… Thank you

    By the way… I'm in Mt Vernon, Iowa

 

  • (8/22, 2016) James Robert Salmeron using only James, called me at 1:00 am monday 8/22/16 and left voice mail on phone , same story as your 8/19/16 report from Ron, Mountain View , Calf 94041. He called back today 8/23/16 needs $196.40 to ship the so called coins to me for an offer. He just does not have the money to ship them. I told him to only ship a small amount what ever he could afford and I would make him an offer then he could use that money to ship me the rest. He said he would get back to me. Ha ! Ha ! Hope he gets caught soon.

 

  • (8/19, 2016) Just Scammed by James Robert Salmeron He called this morning said his mom died at 90 and she had sold coins to me in the past. He gave his address of 4455 E Twain Ave #B210 Las Vegas, NV 89121 His phone number is 702 955-0363 he answers it, so it is a real phone. someone should track the owner of the phone number and arrest him for interstate fraud! He said he was 70 on social security and needed $290. to ship 4 boxes to me of coins and carson city records for appraisal? He wanted money sent by WESTERN UNION & Tracking Number? Stupid me should of called the Mail Boxes Etc store he said he was using to ship from, He is very good as he has scammed hundreds of dealers, collectors and how many have not said they were fooled and have kept quiet? Ron, Mountain View, Calif 94041
  • (8/13, 2016) Hi All, James Salmeron (coins, sterling repousse & Eisenberg scammer) nearly got me yesterday 8/13/16 using a phone number (702) 955-0363.

    The red flags I had were
    1) His original rambling voicemail seemed almost as if he was reading off a script.
    2) When speaking with him he uncannily knew which pieces of Eisenberg to casually 'name drop'that would really create excitement.
    3) His original quote for shipping (prior to “with discount”) was insane, which made the reduced shipping seam reasonable considering the incredible value you'd receive in just a few days time.

    I actually made it down to the Walmart and while standing in line I decided I'd be an idiot to at least not look up his name and address now that I had it. It just felt too good to be true, despite still being a lot of money. I'm as skeptical as they come, and his story was very plausible, I can totally understand folks falling for this, with the depth and seeming genuineness of the tale.

    Besides the seemingly rehearsed sound, be ware of the “details” he drops that really should raise the “too good to be true” hairs, additionally, I did become more suspicious the further he went into detail on his various sad story “issues”. In one breath he was decrying his $500 car payment, and in the next saying he'd load everything in the car, which he doesn't drive because of the Chemo (never had mentioned that prior). etc.

    Does anyone have any follow up from any reporting agency?

 

  • (8/12, 2016) Regarding the ridiculous scammer using the # 702 955 0363 and many aliases. If anyone has contact with LVPD, please send them my way. I am a coin autograph and stamp dealer he called. He left a long rambling phony message I saved, happy to give it to the police in LV. I can be reached at 310 903 6662. Gregg S.

 

  • (8/11/2016) Richard Iden called my antique store again this morning. His new phone number is 702-955-0363 on caller ID. He did not leave a message. Apparently he had forgotten that he had already scammed me. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Fraud Department is currently working on this case. I fell for his scam. He used the name John Ward. I sent $1,000.00 money gram to Johntrial Ward.

    I join the group of other trusting naive dealers, that fell for this con. He talks about his mother and her sister that sold me things in the past in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is selling his mother's Eisenberg costume jewelry and S Kirk & Sons sterling silver flatware set, service for 12.

    He is making a living scamming us. Hope it ends soon.

 

  • (8/11, 2016) This scam artist called from 702-95- 0363 & tried his carson city silver dollar and $20 gold piece scam on me. I texted him back this after I found this site: “http://coinopclub.org/entry/beware-current-internet-scams”. This entire website is about YOU and your scamming/criminal behavior even upto/including yesterday. I will add my name on there later and give the Las Vegas Police Dept a call. I have good connections in LV.     You might want to stop the B.S. and lies and phonecalls before the police show up at your door. Sociopaths and pathological liars like you belong in prison, what a sick story to make up to scam people out of a pittance of $. I should have suspected it as the prices were too good. Bye.

 

  • (8/10, 2016)  We are a coin dealer in Colorado, and got hit with the CC coins scam on 8/10/16. Most everything was the same, his address on 4455 Twain Av,the story, the Richard Iden on caller ID, the coins, etc, except the name used was James Salmeron. No prices were mentioned for any coins, only “fair offer”. He said he had sold some dollars at a local pawn shop for $17, living on a fixed income and needed money to finish paying for his mother's funeral. He wanted us to wire him $388.14 for shipping. He said he got our name from mother's estate, supposedly had sold us coins some time back.

 

  • (8/9, 2016  I fell for this guy.  Does anybody have his REAL name? He got me good. I have never fallen for a scam but this guy finally got me. I sent him cash and then Googled his number. So stupid of me.

 

  • (8/5, 2016) We are a coin shop located in Northern California and we got a call from this scammer today.  Another attempt by “Ameer Carpenter” (phone caller ID “Richard Iden”) requesting money ($200+) to have a large collection of CC mint coins shipped from Las Vegas with the help of his friend who is a manager at Mailboxes Etc. Claimed he was the son of a former customer and she had told him to sell her coins to us if she passed away. Claimed to be 70, gave tremendous detail.  Found your website, so when he called back we said we should probably just fly there to check the coins out. We asked him for his address and he began, “4455 East Twain Avenue…” then *click* and the call dropped. Very smooth operator.

 

  • (8/5, 2016)  PHONE SCAM - Just called our shop…tried to get us to wire him funds to ship us a large coin collection that he has for sale. Said his mother and Aunt had sold us coins in the past. Made it sound like he had records from the Carson City Mint and a large amount of Carson City Dollars and Gold.

 

  • (8/1, 2016) This person used the name of Ameer Carpenter and said his address was 4455 east Twain Abe,#b 218. This guy scammed me for $200 for what was supposed to be for shipping of Coins. Boy do I feel stupid for falling for this guys scam.

 

  • (8/1, 2016) John Ward, Johntrail Ward must be the same person as Timothy Flemmons, Richard Iden, Richard Ivan, and Richard Otten. I fell for the story about his mother working for Marshall Fields, dying and the aunt selling me something years ago. He said his mother asked him to sell her items to me. He was going to send 96 pieces of his mother's Eisenberg jewelry, and sterling flatware set of S Kirk & Sons Repose service for 12. He said he has cancer, is on chemo, sleeps much so missed some of my calls. He lives in Las Vegas, 4455 E Twain Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89121. His phone number is (702) 502-4466. I sent him a $1,000.00 money gram and then never heard from him again. I have reported it to the Las Vegas Fraud Division

 

  • (7/26, 2016) He called and claimed he had 135 Carson City Morgan Dollars from his Mother and Aunt, that were received from his Great Grandfather who worked at the Carson City Mint for 40 Years. He claimed to have the “Leather Bound Production Logs” for 40 years. He said the the mother and sister had passed away and that he only wanted $30.00 a piece for the Dollars.He said that he also had a $20.00 Double Eagle that he wanted 750.00. He said that he was selling them cheap because he needed the money for rent and that he was unable to come up with the shipping cost to mail the coins and the books with insurance. He would need $250.00 to cover the cost of insured shipping. This guy had a believable back story however we didn't fall for it.   Beware and Use common sense. He is Calling Coin Shops/Dealers all over the country! We are located in Michigan.

 

  • (7/19, 2016) We are a coin dealer in Arizona,  we just received a call from Richard with pretty much the same story he gave you and is asking us to Money Gram him $238 for shipping his items to our store. Thank you for posting this information.

 

  • (7/18, 2016) Received call from someone named Timothy Flemmons of 4455 EastTwain Ave. , Las Vegas,NV 89121, phone number 702-955-0363 on 7/18/2016. This person wanted me to send him a money gram for $343.83 to pay for shipment of numerous CC mint coins. This sounded like a scam to me so I checked your website. Thanks for the info.hopefully, this scammer gets stopped.

 

  • (7/2, 2016) I received a message and called him back. I spoke to the man who said his name was “Timothy Flemmons”. He claimed that I had purchased antiques from his aunt who lived with her twin sister (his mother). When the aunt died, his mother moved to be with him in Las Vegas. He claimed she recently died and needed money to cover the funeral. He offered a 12 piece Kirk repousse sterling silver service with serving pieces for $750. He also said his mother worked for Marshall Fields and bought costume jewelry by Eisenberg. He wanted to sell 80 pieces of that at $5 each. He claimed to have 5 1930's Marx metal wind up toys in the boxes that belonged to his uncle. He wanted $200 for those.  Lastly, he said he had a bag of silver dollar coins he wanted $10 each for. The dreamer in me wanted to believe this, but I'd never send money to a stranger even if he claims his family knew me. I asked if he could send things to me but he didn't have money for shipping. I suggested COD but said a moneygram of $94.10 would cover the shipping. I called his local UPS office and arranged for me to pay the office directly. When he called back to get his reference number for the moneygram, I informed him that I could directly pay or he could ship on my fedex account. He got furious and hung up saying that I wasted his time.

 

  • (6/26) Hello,I am glad I searched this bums phone number on Google and found this site. Same guy, same story. Had all these uncirculated Carson City coins he wanted to sell at a cheap price to which I told him they were worth much more. Also had a bunch of Roseville pottery he wanted to sell me. I wish people would get a job and stop scamming. Ridiculous! Now to call the authorities.

 

  • (6/25/ 2016) Hello, I am reporting another attempted scam by Richard Iden, he called me from 702-502-4466 and stated that he had 135 Carson City Morgans, a 1877-CC $20 Gold Liberty, and two 1875-CC Twenty Cent Pieces and that he wanted $30 a piece for the Morgans, $700 for the $20, and $100 for the Twenty Cent Pieces. Told me his mother gave him my name and number and told him to contact us here at Goldmine when she passed away.

 

  • (6/23/2016) Hello- thanks for sharing your fraud info about Richard Iden at the address and phone number you reported. He contacted us today and had a convincing story that sounded like one of our customers we had dealt with last year. I have reported him to the Vegas Fraud Dept. We just wanted to let you know he was still out there. We just wanted to say thank you and let you know our experience. Cheers! Robert

 

  • (6/22/2016) I own a coin shop in CA. and I was contacted by Richard Iven and he stated he had a coin collection from his mother who passed away with many CC dollars and Gold from the CC Mint. He said he was 70 years old. He wanted to ship them to me, but could not afford to he stated. I told him I was close enough to come and see him and he made many excuses even up to having chemotherapy treatments as to reasons he would be unable to meet me. I was never going to send money, but I could see where someone might at the thought of getting a great collection at a discount price.

 

  • “Thank you for posting the information about Richard Iden.” “Richard Iden contacted us today, wanted to sell us Morgan Silver Dollars, flatware and toys. He wanted us to send a moneygram for $363.85 to pay to have silver coins, tin toys and flatware shipped to us. He called from 702-502-4466. Said his address was 4455 East Twain Ave., Las Vegas NV 89121.”

 

At least two other COCA members have experienced attempted scams in the last few weeks. The latest one was an attempt to trick collector/dealer Larry DeBaugh. The scammer tried to get Larry to send him funds for Rol-A-Top slot machines at below market prices and also tried to get him to send funds for Carson City silver dollars. 

Larry was not fooled by the bum. You can see the alert posted on the front page of the DeBaugh WEBSITE. This snake goes by the name Richard Iden and has arrests in Kentucky and Texas and who knows where else. His cell phone number is 702-986-3164.{image_1}

Another recent scam attempt was made on COCA member Jack Freund. A potential buyer overnighted to Jack a very good forgery of a postal money order. It was made out for more than the amount quoted to purchase a gum ball machine.  He asked Jack to deposit the money order and refund the difference to him. Jack was quick to recognize this old scam and toyed with the crook for a while before informing him that he “did not make change”.

Folks, it’s still a jungle out there and the internet makes it easier for these con artists.  Let’s all beware and work together to stop these shenanigans!  Please let us know if you have experienced any attempts lately.

COCA Member Charles Kemp offers this advice:   This is the FBI website to file a claim for internet fraud:  CLICK HERE
It may be helpful when dealing with the scam artist. I used it to collect on a bad check that I received several years ago.

HERE IS SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SCAMMERS FROM COCA MEMBER MIKE MONTOYA:
After 40 years of Federal Law Enforcement I recently retired and advise numerous companies about safety and security.

Report any and all Internet scams to the FBI, getting involved by yourself could be dangerous.

Never ever send funds or invite a total stranger into your home to make a sale of your coin operated items, a public place like a Police Department parking lot is ideal, if they are legit, they will show up.

Have a friend or relative contact you by cell phone 4 minutes after you have met the party you are selling to or buying antiques from, if you don't respond have them call 911, always give your location, take someone with you.

If you become a victim, write down as much information that you can remember, get a license plate number and call 911.

Please report any attempted scams HERE