Other known aliases:
American Autograph Authentication Services, Inc., original_autographs_4u, losangelesrocks92684, great_american_autographs, backstagefun, collectors_network, collectorsuniverseltd, qualityonlineautographs, and possibly many many more!
Autographs America is a company website ran by a married couple named Brian & Wu Xin Burkel. They have been scamming consumers, and companies, for years stating that they are selling authentic autographed memorabilia. Their company has been banned from Ebay and now they're trying to advertise on Craigslist.in their ad's and on their website, they consistantly state that none of their items are fake and they are backed by their COA. Their COA company does not exist! Mr. Burkel is a conartist and ex-convict who enjoys ripping people off for thousands of dollars everyday. Please google his name and/or company and you will find a lot of information about him. All of his "authentic signature items" are extremely underpriced for their actual values, and this should be your first warning sign: If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Here is my situation, with this bogus company, in a nutshell. I'm an avid collector of a highly famous rock band who very rarely ever signed autographs, let alone LP's. There are just a few handfull of LP's that exist with all four band members autographs on them. There are absolutely no known musical instruments that are signed by all four members. The singer has long passed away and just his individual autograph alone is worth $2000. He, himself, rarely signed anything.
Recently, a family member decided to purchase an item from autographsamerica.com as a birthday gift for me. When she told me she had purchased a signed LP of all four band members, I was immediately concerned and asked her where she had found this rare item. She went to their website and showed me the LP and I immediately knew it was a fake for several reasons: the amount she paid was $350 (this particular LP would value around $8,000), the signatures were definite forgeries, the website seemed to have an autographed LP of EVERY record this band made (including a record produced AFTER the singer's death), and they had several guitars and a drum head with all four signatures.
I explained the situation to her and asked her to please email this company to stop the order immediately. There is not a phone number listed on the website, otherwise I would have called them myself. She emailed them twice and never got a response at all. A week later the record showed up on her doorstep. We looked at the actual LP and the signatures were in different places than the one showing on the website. We did further research online and found many sites listing their bogus schemes and how they have been ripping off consumers for years. I decided to send an email myself to this company stating that she wanted to return the LP for a full refund and the reasons why. This company sent me an email back with the following statement: "Perhaps if you got your head out of your ass you could see clearer". This is an outrage! I am furious and this company needs to be investigated immediately!
This jerk has ripped off way too many people. And I find that, although it can be hard to prove if an actual autograph is truely authentic (Most COA's are not gaurantees either), how long will Mr. Burkel keep getting away with this? I have just proven his scheme wrong! Isn't forgery a crime? This jerk needs to be stopped and legal action needs to be done. Otherwise he's going to keep living his highlife, taking in thousands of dollars a day from hard working people that think they're getting a great price on an authentic item.
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