ExtremaRatio
Basic Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2024
- Messages
- 2
Hi from germany.
Yes, I'm new to this forum and I signed up primarily to warn against Mauro, because I read during my research that there was a warning about him here already in 2006:
Bad Seller in Italy - Mauroy 72 | BladeForums.com
MAURO ABBONDANDOLO is is a well-known Italian collector of Rambo knives. He has his own YouTube channel and also sells many of his knives to other collectors. That's why he has a lot of friends on Facebook - even among the admins of the corresponding groups. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that negative reports about him have been deleted again and again for years, so that there are only positive things to read. Thats why I trusted him too – and was scammed.
I am sure that Mauro sold a lot of original Liles and Hibbens in the last years. But if someone makes 100 good deals and then pulls off a fraudulent deal with the positive review, it's still a scammer, right? So please save yourself the hints that your deal with Mauro was trouble-free, that doesn't help with this matter.
To my deal with Mauro:
In December 2020 I bought an (alleged) original Jimmy Lile unnumbered Mission knife from Mauro. For two and a half years, I was in the firm belief that I had fulfilled my dream and completed my Rambo knife collection. Then I posted photos of the knife in some Facebook groups.
Before my post in the Facebook group "Official Jimmy Lile knives fan page" was unlocked, Vaughn Neeley wrote to me and asked for more photos, because he had doubts about the authenticity of the knife. I was very shocked to hear that.
Shortly after the article was published, David Love wrote that you can see from the pictures that it is not the original black coating, but that it was obviously applied afterwards the knife had been sandblasted. At that time, David didn't know that I bought the knife from Mauro. Therefore, his comment cannot be related to the dispute between Mauro and David. It was all about the knife.
I was very unsettled by this (and Vaughns doubt) and wrote to Raffa Vincenzo, who wrote that he had restored some Lile knives for Mauro – especially some that were in very bad condition. The modified knives were only intended for Mauro's private collection and were NOT intended for sale. But Mauro sold them later as originals – contrary to the agreement with Raffa. Also Raffa confirmed to me that you can clearly see in the photos that my mission knife was sandblasted before the new black coating was applied.
I then wrote to Mauro and confronted him with the allegations. He has denied everything, claiming that he bought the knife in New York from Todd Begg. So I also wrote to Todd Begg and asked him about the knife. Todd replied that he didn't sell my knife to Mauro, but a gray Mission knife. Also for Todd, my knife looks modified. Again, Mauro obviously lied to me! When I confronted Mauro with Todds statement and demanded my money back, Mauro claimed again that he sold me an genuine Lile and then blocked me on Facebook. Doesn't exactly sound like a serious businessman.
I then sent him a letter to his c/o-address in October and set a deadline of the end of 2023 to contact me for a non-public solution. This did not happen, although he certainly received the letter, as this is his mother's address. So I've been writing about my deal with Mauro in some Facebook groups and now in the bladeforums. Next, I'm going to call in the police and a lawyer.
So there are now at least four experts who say that I didn't buy an original Lile Mission knife from Mauro, but an modified one. And when I look at the whole story again with this knowledge, I realize that Mauro planned the scam well from the beginning:
- Before he sold me the knife, he asked how old I was and what other original Lile knives I owned. So he wanted to gauge the risk of me discovering his scam.
- Mauro mentioned right away that the coating on an 80s Lile can't be as good as today's knives – so he wanted to explain the unclean modification.
- He was even clever enough not to send the package from his real address, but from a c/o address. In the meantime, I have found out that this is his mother's address.
To all those who don't want to believe me: Is Mauro still a good guy and not a scammer? Is everyone else lying and only Mauro telling the truth? Why, for example, would Todd Begg lie to me? Why would Raffa Vincenco lie to me? Why would he admit that he modified Lile knives for Mauro? Why should I lie? How do I benefit from this? The opposite is the case: By making public here that my Lile is a modified knife, the value decreases. The only person who has a reason to lie is Mauro! And he is still selling a lot of Lile and Hibben knives.
For his fans I now have an unbeatable offer: If you believe that Mauro is not a cheater and always tells the truth, then my Lile is an original 1/100 unnumbered Mission knife, right? You can have this knife from me for the same price at which Mauro sold it to me! Isn't that a great deal? Or do you have any doubt about a knife from the great Mauro?
To all other members: Please write to me if you are also a victim of Mauros scam or do anything know about him. Feel free to send me more evidence, send me Mauro's current address and anything else that can help with my criminal complaint to the police. I will not mention your names if you wish to remain anonymous.
Thank you very much!
Michael
Yes, I'm new to this forum and I signed up primarily to warn against Mauro, because I read during my research that there was a warning about him here already in 2006:
Bad Seller in Italy - Mauroy 72 | BladeForums.com
MAURO ABBONDANDOLO is is a well-known Italian collector of Rambo knives. He has his own YouTube channel and also sells many of his knives to other collectors. That's why he has a lot of friends on Facebook - even among the admins of the corresponding groups. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that negative reports about him have been deleted again and again for years, so that there are only positive things to read. Thats why I trusted him too – and was scammed.
I am sure that Mauro sold a lot of original Liles and Hibbens in the last years. But if someone makes 100 good deals and then pulls off a fraudulent deal with the positive review, it's still a scammer, right? So please save yourself the hints that your deal with Mauro was trouble-free, that doesn't help with this matter.
To my deal with Mauro:
In December 2020 I bought an (alleged) original Jimmy Lile unnumbered Mission knife from Mauro. For two and a half years, I was in the firm belief that I had fulfilled my dream and completed my Rambo knife collection. Then I posted photos of the knife in some Facebook groups.
Before my post in the Facebook group "Official Jimmy Lile knives fan page" was unlocked, Vaughn Neeley wrote to me and asked for more photos, because he had doubts about the authenticity of the knife. I was very shocked to hear that.
Shortly after the article was published, David Love wrote that you can see from the pictures that it is not the original black coating, but that it was obviously applied afterwards the knife had been sandblasted. At that time, David didn't know that I bought the knife from Mauro. Therefore, his comment cannot be related to the dispute between Mauro and David. It was all about the knife.
I was very unsettled by this (and Vaughns doubt) and wrote to Raffa Vincenzo, who wrote that he had restored some Lile knives for Mauro – especially some that were in very bad condition. The modified knives were only intended for Mauro's private collection and were NOT intended for sale. But Mauro sold them later as originals – contrary to the agreement with Raffa. Also Raffa confirmed to me that you can clearly see in the photos that my mission knife was sandblasted before the new black coating was applied.
I then wrote to Mauro and confronted him with the allegations. He has denied everything, claiming that he bought the knife in New York from Todd Begg. So I also wrote to Todd Begg and asked him about the knife. Todd replied that he didn't sell my knife to Mauro, but a gray Mission knife. Also for Todd, my knife looks modified. Again, Mauro obviously lied to me! When I confronted Mauro with Todds statement and demanded my money back, Mauro claimed again that he sold me an genuine Lile and then blocked me on Facebook. Doesn't exactly sound like a serious businessman.
I then sent him a letter to his c/o-address in October and set a deadline of the end of 2023 to contact me for a non-public solution. This did not happen, although he certainly received the letter, as this is his mother's address. So I've been writing about my deal with Mauro in some Facebook groups and now in the bladeforums. Next, I'm going to call in the police and a lawyer.
So there are now at least four experts who say that I didn't buy an original Lile Mission knife from Mauro, but an modified one. And when I look at the whole story again with this knowledge, I realize that Mauro planned the scam well from the beginning:
- Before he sold me the knife, he asked how old I was and what other original Lile knives I owned. So he wanted to gauge the risk of me discovering his scam.
- Mauro mentioned right away that the coating on an 80s Lile can't be as good as today's knives – so he wanted to explain the unclean modification.
- He was even clever enough not to send the package from his real address, but from a c/o address. In the meantime, I have found out that this is his mother's address.
To all those who don't want to believe me: Is Mauro still a good guy and not a scammer? Is everyone else lying and only Mauro telling the truth? Why, for example, would Todd Begg lie to me? Why would Raffa Vincenco lie to me? Why would he admit that he modified Lile knives for Mauro? Why should I lie? How do I benefit from this? The opposite is the case: By making public here that my Lile is a modified knife, the value decreases. The only person who has a reason to lie is Mauro! And he is still selling a lot of Lile and Hibben knives.
For his fans I now have an unbeatable offer: If you believe that Mauro is not a cheater and always tells the truth, then my Lile is an original 1/100 unnumbered Mission knife, right? You can have this knife from me for the same price at which Mauro sold it to me! Isn't that a great deal? Or do you have any doubt about a knife from the great Mauro?
To all other members: Please write to me if you are also a victim of Mauros scam or do anything know about him. Feel free to send me more evidence, send me Mauro's current address and anything else that can help with my criminal complaint to the police. I will not mention your names if you wish to remain anonymous.
Thank you very much!
Michael
Last edited:
