Offers of blades via e-mail

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Hi all.

 

I think I should share this with others.

 

I've today got this e-mail :

 

Quote...

 

Dear sir,

 

I read that you are looking for a nihonto?

Would you be interested in buying in my nihonto?

 

A late Koto period ( ca. 1550 ) Katana with NBTHK Hozon papers

atributed to KANENORI , MINO province in shirasaya and nice Koshirae,

good polish , Hamon Suguha Midare with Nie en Nioi, 2 Mekugi ana,

Sureage. both shirasaya and modern koshirae

A good nice elegant shaped Katana with 2 Mekugi-ana in good polish and

no flaws.

 

 

bladeshape ; shinogi-zukuri Katana

length 68 cm

wide 3.2 cm

thick 0.6 cm

Sori 2.2 cm

Hamon : Suguha Midare with Nie & Nioi

Jihada ; Itame-Gunome.

 

Because of the economics I am looking to sell it for 2400 USD.

 

Let me know,

 

B. Meyer

 

...unquote

 

Pictures of blade and papers (?) have also been included and I don't post them to save bandwidth, but I'll do under request, as well as the mail address of the sender (this one

possibly via PM) that is visualized on my Outlook with the nickname of a well known

and appreciated member of several nihonto fora but that DON'T match with his real name.

 

As I've NOT asked for a sword in any fora I'm in, nor I like such a way of dealing, hereby

I'm asking if anybody esle have received the same offer in order to understand what's behind

the scenes. Apologizes in advance to "B.Meyer" if he's in good faith.

 

Thanks for your attention.

[kusunokimasahige]

Just be on your guard.......! the same MO was used by Pawel Nowak.......

 

KM

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Yes, thanks.

It was a "diplomatic" way to let know others that have not experienced him yet to be careful in such matters.

[Brian]

Thanks for the heads-up Carlo. As stated, just be cautious about any unsolicited offers like this, unless it can be 100% verified with references etc.

 

Brian

[Ffffrosty]

I received the exact same email so I asked for detailed pictures of the sword and it was completely different than the one in the original email.

 

Also the sword that was initially referenced is shown here http://www.japanszwaard.nl/zc6.html and is on consignment for considerably more $$$.

 

Seems like a scam to me... sorry Benjamin Meyer

[loiner1965]

looks like they using this forum and our email addresses as a scam

[Brian]

That doesn't come as a huge surprise. Scammers have been harvesting emails for years now from every possible source. Robots scan forums for emails, and fraudsters join lists primarily for them too. Pawel Nowak has taken emails from at least 12 different forums too.

Just use the usual caution and know that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

 

Brian