Peter of England: He's going to be in REal trouble

[PeanutGallery]

Given that the current Peter of England thread viewtopic.php?f=52&t=10218&start=2960 has . gotten rather large and ungainly - and especially difficult for newcomers to follow (moreso now it seems to be self referencing) I thought that perhaps a new thread might be of a benefit. I also understand that long threads while great for reading, aren't so good for the poor servers that run Quatloos.

So to recap.

Who is Peter of England?
Peter of England is either a con man or a crazy man known to society as Alan Peter Michael Smith. He was a minor figure who tried to establish himself as a guru through his two scams, known as Freeman Legal Services and WeRe Bank. Freeman Legal Services is where you can get Peter to help you with any legal service, he'll always win mostly because he doesn't understand that being escorted from the court by security is a loss. WeRe Bank however eventually came to become one of Peter's most infamous scams.

What is WeRe Bank?
WeRe Bank is Peter's idea of how to make a utopian society free from the curse of debt and capitalism. How this would work in practice is not really a concern of Peter's because he's more a big picture nutjob. But for the low low initial price of £35 and £10 a month thereafter Peter will send you a magic chequebook, that lets you write cheques in his wondermoney called the Re. Which is a currency Peter's totally invented and not subject to any of the controls or regulation that comes with regular fiat currency. According to Peter everyone has to accept the Re and he thinks they can force acceptance on third parties simply by sending them a cheque. Well that's not strictly true, Peter has been very clear that WeRe bank won't accept the Re as a form of payment for it's banking service. But don't worry he will accept those worthless notes with pictures of the Queen on them.

How did this work?
In the short term it took advantage of the fact that many financial and other institutions will apply a credit to an account before a Cheque has finished clearing. This is pretty much the same as advanced fee fraud, which is pretty well known, and so initially it appeared that the scam was 'legit'. Of course in the long term the banks soon figured out that WeRe Bank was being run out of a mail drop in Manchester and not an actual real bank. They began rejecting the cheques as fraudulent and reversing the credits made. This just served to confuse the situation, many of the adherents of WeRe Bank aren't the most financially savvy and they genuinely may believe that the debt has been legitimately paid. Because of this many of them are now in a long running argument where they are firm in their conviction that sending a duff cheque should clear a debt. The banks are equally firm in their conviction that this is attempted fraud.

It was also helped by WeRe Bank being promoted by deep thinkers of the Sovrun scene, Jim Wyld, Ceylon, BertieBert, RobSwift and Chong over on GOODF. They were keen to talk about how well it worked and Ceylon was equally keen to ban anyone who pointed out that it didn't, wouldn't or couldn't. The threads on WeRe Bank finally got moved and locked because of 'trolls' or as we call them people who explained why it was a scam and why the cheques were worthless.

So whats being done about this?
At the moment, not that much (that we know of). Peter has been reported and is likely to be in very hot water. Right now the scam is unravelling. WeRe cheques are being rejected and various councils and financial bodies have issued warnings against accepting these cheques. Peter's been lying low for a while, it was thought that he'd done a runner with the cash to warmer climes. However a recent posting by him seems to indicate that he is still in the country and still trying to drum up some suckers for his scam.

Hopefully the authorities will catch up with Peter soon, while some may think that these idiots are only getting what they deserve for wanting to exploit the system, others take the view that many of Peter's victims are vulnerable, easily led and unable to discern when something really is to good to be true. However both camps are agreed that the best place for Peter is custody.

[Losleones]

Well summarised Peanut & good idea given the large increase in new members over here.

[YiamCross]

Got all excited there for a moment. I thought you were going to tell us PoE has been arrested. Of perhaps lynched at one of his meetings.

Oh well, it can't be long now. Though I have my doubts whether anything will come of it since there seem to be virtually no resources available to combat fraud and theres' a lot worse going on out there than Weary bank. I doubt there are many real victims out there, it seems to be mostly greedy idiots like Jimmyw who have taken the bait and I'm afraid I shan't shed many tears if they get taken away in handcuffs.

[Losleones]

Here's a sample of our lad Jimmy. It's a hilarious insight into the warped mind of a desperate sov/cit freeloader trying to clear a utility bill with a bouncy cheque. The operator was having none of Jimmys woo & calmly despatched his garbage. Strangely, Jimmy hasn't updated us with any of his successes given his enthusiasm to post the most tedious off topic garbage he puts out there.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3JToFBSLBN8

[Bungle]

Big thank you to Peanut for putting this shortened summary together and helping newcomers like me to understand how this scam is sold.

[Hercule Parrot]

Peter's been lying low for a while, it was thought that he'd done a runner with the cash to warmer climes. However a recent posnting by him seems to indicate that he is still in the country and still trying to drum up some suckers for his scam.

Excellent summary, but I question the above. There are rumours that the internet can now be accessed from warmer climes.

[hanlons razor]

Got all excited there for a moment. I thought you were going to tell us PoE has been arrested. Of perhaps lynched at one of his meetings.

Oh well, it can't be long now. Though I have my doubts whether anything will come of it since there seem to be virtually no resources available to combat fraud and theres' a lot worse going on out there than Weary bank. I doubt there are many real victims out there, it seems to be mostly greedy idiots like Jimmyw who have taken the bait and I'm afraid I shan't shed many tears if they get taken away in handcuffs.

You're not the only one! Slight disappointment tempered by the hope that the inevitable chat down his local station isn't a million miles off....

[Judge Roy Bean]

I haven't followed this in any detail but there are rather drastic remedies for this kind of thing here in the states - immediate ones that, in my state at least, involve the local county sheriff and prosecutor and a visit to the jail for just attempting to pass a bad check. Perhaps the rules are different with those pesky things y'all call "cheques."

[YiamCross]

In the UK as a general rule only ordinary people have to worry about the police. Criminals tend to know how the system works and it's too much like hard work to do anything against them. Your average middle class middle management guy who maybe speeds or parks badly is, however, easy meat and a quick & easy way to make the statistics look good. It's sad but true.

[Skeleton]

Given that the current Peter of England thread viewtopic.php?f=52&t=10218&start=2960 has . gotten rather large and ungainly - and especially difficult for newcomers to follow (moreso now it seems to be self referencing) I thought that perhaps a new thread might be of a benefit. I also understand that long threads while great for reading, aren't so good for the poor servers that run Quatloos.

I fully understand why you have done it but could I respectfully suggest you edit the title name.

You really had me hopes my hopes up there.........

[PeanutGallery]

Admittedly the name was a bit of click bait, but I felt that the current thread, which is at 150 pages was getting a tad too long. Given the name, I'd be happy to keep this thread in the background until Peter gets what we all hope should be coming to him.

Apologies to those who thought I had news that Peter had actually been arrested (I do think that when this happens we will be the last to know).

Maybe I should have made the title He's going to be in REal trouble?

[Skeleton]

Admittedly the name was a bit of click bait, but I felt that the current thread, which is at 150 pages was getting a tad too long. Given the name, I'd be happy to keep this thread in the background until Peter gets what we all hope should be coming to him.

Apologies to those who thought I had news that Peter had actually been arrested (I do think that when this happens we will be the last to know).

Maybe I should have made the title He's going to be in REal trouble?

Thanks mate no apology needed, and one continues to hope he will have his collar felt soon.

[wanglepin]

Bertiebert(deceased) seems to have deceased himself on or about the same time Peter Smith of England stopped posting.

[timcurgenven1]

Bertiebert(deceased) seems to have deceased himself on or about the same time Peter Smith of England stopped posting.

It's a coincidence.

Did Bertie bert have a real name......

[timcurgenven1]

Just in case anyone wants to join the forum you dont actually have to pay anything.

Just become a member of WeRe, wait for it to be activated, when it is you join up using your WeRe user name

[rumpelstilzchen]

Bertiebert(deceased) seems to have deceased himself on or about the same time Peter Smith of England stopped posting.

Indeed. There has been no evidence that proves the individual who used the moniker "bertiebert" has actually died. The only information we have is there was thread announcing his death on GOOFs started by Salie Nae of all people who said she had "received a message". Salie Nae said he had died and it was immediately believed by the GOOFs. Which is kind of funny in a way. When there is a major incident involving the deaths of dozens of people the footles cry "Staged!. Crisis actors! Didn't happen!" Even though the evidence is plain to see. But in this case there has been absolutely no evidence provided and they believe it without question.

[timcurgenven1]

Yes i am wondering about this.

If someone died, why would an online contact be suddenly informed.... If anyone has any information on this guy, is Bertram Bert his real name?, where he is likely to have been from, i can most likely trace him........

Happy to do a visit to

[ArthurWankspittle]

Bertiebert(deceased) seems to have deceased himself on or about the same time Peter Smith of England stopped posting.

It's a coincidence.

Did Bertie bert have a real name......

Wow, we are getting very conspiratorial here. From what I remember Bertie died before Peter went quiet. He also was a poster on other sites unconnected with FMOTL and dodgy cheques and his passing was acknowledged there and or in other places on the net.I do not think BertieBert was a Peter sockpuppet.

[wanglepin]

Wow, we are getting very conspiratorial here.I do not think BertieBert was a Peter sockpuppet.

Not intentional. I was thinking they decided simply to bail then one died.

[timcurgenven1]

Bertiebert(deceased) seems to have deceased himself on or about the same time Peter Smith of England stopped posting.

It's a coincidence.

Did Bertie bert have a real name......

Wow, we are getting very conspiratorial here. From what I remember Bertie died before Peter went quiet. He also was a poster on other sites unconnected with FMOTL and dodgy cheques and his passing was acknowledged there and or in other places on the net.I do not think BertieBert was a Peter sockpuppet.

No your probably right,BUT i would like to check out if he has really died, which is quite easy to do....