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Balls_tothe_Walls (Heath Helton) is a scammer

(I don't have a dog in the fight, so this is just for the sake of argument)

I should probably buy 10 high-end knives each month from individuals, sell them immediately, delay or dispute the payment to the original sellers, make promises and excuses, send money only to the nicest seller each month, praise these "friends", curse the others, and repeat.

I can probably make a lot of money and some friendly supporters this way without being caught, as I would be willing to pay EVENTUALLY and with my "friends" having my back.
 
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miso2 said:
I understand what redditguy was trying to say.
And I also now understand what kind of people keep praising Paulo Balzano and why.
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EVERY thief has their apologist.

By the way, that "doxxing" you keep reading about, took me 2 Facebook direct messages and an email to learn the truth about his working at his local Sonic Drive-In location. It was done because people were using his lies to prove that he was an upstanding guy. He's not...

Said it before, anyone who thinks these types are honest, hard working people who made some mistakes or are simply victims of circumstance trying to do the right thing by their victims, needs to do some very basic reading on how confidence games work and on sociopathy and how prevalent sociopaths are in today's society and how to deal with them.
 
Tovarish said:
@Jsega51

- I didn't sign up here to write in this thread, just an fyi. Nor did Heath "hide" on Reddit, he's been our friend and community member for years. We are working on compiling hard evidence with personal info redacted so we can bring that to you all instead of he-said she-said. Heath must work with his legal council to find out what we can and can't share. Time to make this happen is appreciated.

I would like to offer some clarity to the story as well, though I understand you all don't exactly trust me and I can't yet physically prove the following:

Heath contested something on his Paypal which triggered an account-wide reaction. Because of one transaction issue, Paypal flagged every transaction he's had for a year. Considering he participates in raffles and such, you can only imagine that this added up to hundreds of small charges (among full charges for whole knife purchases, etc). That's the first part of the problem. Heath had to manually go through and approve each and every transaction. Once this was completed, Paypal returned the locked funds to Heath's bank account. HERE'S where the real problem started, and where people started getting upset. When the success against Paypal occurred, all those effected got a letter stating the money had been returned to Heath's account. This would have been the fine-and-dandy end to the chaos, save for a new problem. Heath had moved and switched banks (unrelated) around a similar time. And real quick, to anyone saying he moved *because* of this event, that's just silly. A move across half the country with your whole family into a home is not something you do over the weekend haha. Anyway, so the issue is that Paypal deposited the funds into an account that Heath no longer has. IE: there's a bank account with all y'alls money in it that Heath can't access. At this current stage, Heath is working with legal council to take action against the bank to obtain access to the account.

In the meantime, Heath has been doing his best to restore funds to those effected out of his own pocket. We've let him in to run raffles to help generate those funds. I have also considered a gofundme to help, but that has not yet occurred.

In regards to those who say they've reached out to Heath to no avail. In a few instances, I reached out directly, and was informed that certain people have been aggressive, threatening, or rude, and he has pushed those people to the bottom of his priority list. He has restored funds to multiple people. If you're not one of them then A: He is trying but just can't afford your lump sum at this time, B: He's overwhelmed right now as he works 90+ hours a week to provide for his family in their new home while also coping with this situation and simply hasn't gotten around to replying to you yet, or C: You were one of the people leaving death threats on his voicemail and as far as he's concerned, you can go to hell.

I think all of the above is fairly reasonable. I understand that if you were affected and you came here and read all of this thread, you'd be quick to pick up the next pitchfork. I get that. Let us have some more time to provide proof. Thank you.
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LOL...
 
Boru13 said:
Here's a copy of an email that Heath sent to a forum member a little over a month ago... anyone that deals with him or has any sympathy for him deserves what they get.


“Hello ****,

I'm sure you're still wondering where the funds are. And indeed, they'll be in route soon enough. Yet not until the 90 days have made its rounds. See, most people have received their refunds (because they weren't little assholes, nor cried about it). And many more are receiving daily now. But since there was just so much slander onto my name on your end, you will most certainly also be getting served some paperwork, by my lawyers as well. Since I'm such an "inferior", oh and also an "asshole.". Hope this doesn't rain too much on your parade, as in the end, you'll still receive your money! You see, id have loved to handle this 1:1, however, due to the bladeforums thread, along with the threats to myself and my job (funnily enough, as I own majority of my business, so that all did absolutely nothing), my lawyers advised me against responding to you lot. Also, feel free to let them know as well. Because now, a couple of the BF moderators will be tied up in my court case also. Win-win as I see it. Anyhow, "doc", I'll be seeing you soon, I'm certain. Have a blessed day,

- Heath.”
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This letter from Heath, has reinforced my original theory that he is just one lying, persnickety little piece of White Trash! He is also just about the biggest Drama Queen, that I’ve ever seen around these parts.
I’m guessing that Heath has a team of young pro bono lawyers, who want to help him, while making a name for themselves. They will probably take this all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. The ruling that would come down, could give new rights to the internet scammers. It would prevent us from making harsh comments about them, no sharing of information to prevent other forum members from being scammed, and it will force all victims to wait the 90 days for their money, that Heath is asking for, (and to paraphrase Heath, “not cry like little assholes”.)
Perhaps this may very well be the basis for yet another John Grisham novel.
 
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Ajack60 said:
You know, I have no dog in this fight either, however, I am a member of this community so this situation does affect me indirectly as well as anyone else that has commented here. This situation has an impact on the BF community as a whole. The comments made here are out of concern and have value. The harshness of some of the comments are no more than written frustrations so everyone reading can surmise how this community feels about getting scammed.
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Absolutely right. I have no leprechaun in this brothel either, but this affects us all. More and more these scammers come around and it gets harder and harder to trust anybody without getting 3 forms of photo ID, 50 trustworthy references, their grandmother's maiden name, and a DNA sample. And I'll tell you this much - it'll be a cold goddamned day in hell before I consider feedback or references from Reddit as being trustworthy. People losing knives and money sucks, but making it hard to trust anybody is something that affects us all, not just the unfortunate ones that get screwed.

AND NEVER PAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!!!
 
JohnWE:
Do some very basic reading on how confidence games work and on sociopathy and how prevalent sociopaths are in today's society and how to deal with them.
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Especially on the internet where they can control the discussion.

Very astute observation. Thank You.
 
Here is another fun thought I just had as an entertained observer. If this man has a legal team wouldn't all communication to any of his accusers be from them particularly if they are harassing or threating a client. I know many people in the legal field and typically if they are working on a case with you if an outside influence that relates to but not part of the case you are working comes up they would take care of it. They also stress that their client avoid direct communication with anyone regarding any details of a case. But for all involved here and else where no one has seen one letter, and it would most likely be a letter and not electronic communication, from any legal council.
 
bhyde said:
View attachment 859429

The legal "team" helping out on the case..
Balls was last seen driving a white ford bronco down the freeway
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I had assumed that he hired this guy:

o-SEINFELD-JACKIE-CHILES-facebook.jpg
 
Tovarish said:
@Jsega51... Heath must work with his legal council to find out what we can and can't share.
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BS. He can share the truth. The only reason his "legal council" would discourage that is if the truth incriminates him. As it stands the truth is liable to be made public via criminal proceedings in court.

I truly enjoy the TV show, "American Greed", but only a few episodes I've seen have anything on this Heath Helton saga.
 
Planterz said:
Absolutely right. I have no leprechaun in this brothel either, but this affects us all. More and more these scammers come around and it gets harder and harder to trust anybody without getting 3 forms of photo ID, 50 trustworthy references, their grandmother's maiden name, and a DNA sample. And I'll tell you this much - it'll be a cold goddamned day in hell before I consider feedback or references from Reddit as being trustworthy. People losing knives and money sucks, but making it hard to trust anybody is something that affects us all, not just the unfortunate ones that get screwed.

AND NEVER PAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!!!
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Already has affected 2 of my sales, which is real shame since one of the things I most admired about the knife forums was the honesty of the members. I still think that is basically true, but we have been identified as easy marks with expensive items that are no problem to turn. I have never had a problem dealing with new members on my sales, but recently they are showing up with today as their join dates( my sale as their only post) and wanting to buy $500 + knives. I just can't do it. Even though PP G&S covered those in this situation it was a real hassle and there are other ways to scam it. As I said it's a real shame. I do this for fun and it isn't something I want to spend time worrying about.
This thread has had a negative affect on me that I haven't yet been able to brush off.
 
Is there someone that lost money or a knife in a knife transaction with Helton after his funds were “frozen”? If someone has and they were to come forward it should go a long way in discrediting his story, even in the eyes of his staunchest supporters.
 
Postlapsaria said:
y9ZehRW.png


Was this posted here yet? It's infuriating that he thinks he is the victim and that the bank is hiding money. Especially while he continues to trade knives and post photos of his knives.
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What's particularly infuriating is his contention that he is repaying people "Out of his own pocket". When he is selling other people's property to obtain his funding, he's actually repaying people "Out of the other victim's pockets". It's merely a variation on the Ponzi scheme.
 
Etablinsky said:
Is there someone that lost money or a knife in a knife transaction with Helton after his funds were “frozen”? If someone has and they were to come forward it should go a long way in discrediting his story, even in the eyes of his staunchest supporters.
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I think this is a good point. It would make a difference as to if everything stems from one event (whatever happened with the bank and PayPal), or if there is a pattern of behavior beyond the event. This is particularly relevant to evaluating questions about the knives that are currently being put to auction.

There seems to be some talking past each other. Whereas some are talking about moral culpability and intent ex ante, others are talking about pragmatic courses of action ex post (more latin).
 
I understand all the people missing PP funds. Why are people claiming knives are "stolen"? Is it because you sold him a knife and he got it but then the funds got pulled back out of your account? If so, how long ago was the sale to Heath? Does anyone actually have a serious example of them selling a knife to Heath in a recent timeframe and then also seeing that knife be raffled? It seems like a lot of people are claiming they had their stuff stolen but I've seen no examples given (I haven't read every single comment in 38 pages, so don't bite my head off if someone somewhere showed this)
 
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