BUDDENBERGRA@usc-isi.arpa (Rex Buddenberg) (11/07/85)
If you guys can't remember back 2 years to the JRT business, it must be time for Col Winthrop to reappear. -------
rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU (11/11/85)
/* Written 6:49 pm Nov 6, 1985 by BUDDENBERGRA@usc-isi.arpa in uiucuxa:net.micro */
/* ---------- "Industry scams" ---------- */
If you guys can't remember back 2 years to the JRT business, it must
be time for Col Winthrop to reappear.
-------
/* End of text from uiucuxa:net.micro */
Who/what is Col Winthrop?
Russell J. Price
University of Illinois
{ ihnp4, pur-ee, convex }!uiucdcs!uiucuxa!rp321
rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDUcurt@l5.uucp (Curt Mayer) (11/11/85)
In article <2939@brl-tgr.ARPA> BUDDENBERGRA@usc-isi.arpa (Rex Buddenberg) writes: >If you guys can't remember back 2 years to the JRT business, it must >be time for Col Winthrop to reappear. >------- can you say 'World Power Systems', boys and girls? but seriously, in the olden days, this practice of getting N orders and cashing the checks and THEN starting the development was common. and sometimes even condoned. let the buyer beware
jbn@wdl1.UUCP (11/12/85)
Is Col. Winthrop (of World Power Systems fame) out of the slammer already? The FBI caught him in Hawaii after he escaped from the minimum-security prison at Chico, California. After he gets through with his original sentence, plus extra time for escaping, plus any charges relating to his Texas-based scam while he was out, it's liable to be the next century. And he's probably in a maximum security pen now, like San Quentin. John Nagle
dennisg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) (11/14/85)
In article <9400006@uiucuxa> rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU writes: > >>If you guys can't remember back 2 years to the JRT business, it must >>be time for Col Winthrop to reappear. > >Who/what is Col Winthrop? I guess that it really IS time. Winthrop was the brains behind "World Power Systems", a company that offered sophisticated hardware at excellent prices through mail order. He also had a long record of similar scams. The company specialized in S-100 stuff: I/O boards, clocks, EPROM blasters, etc. While these items sound quite mundane nowadays, they were fancy and difficult to find at the time. Very few of the products actually existed. To my knowledge, nothing was ever shipped. Many ads (full page spreads) appeared, complete with pictures. The ads looked authentic enough, but some of the pictures were obviously mock-ups on closer examination. One such product was a PC board with no traces on it. Some of the items were designed and/or prototyped by a hobbiest/engineer sucked into Winthrop's scheme. Winthrop disappeared with the money, leaving the engineer in the lurch. He also left a trail of unpaid bills for, among other things, all of those ads! Winthrop was captured, escaped, re-captured, and now resides in jail. -- [Standard disclaimers apply.]
bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran) (11/18/85)
In article <2457@sdcrdcf.UUCP> dennisg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) writes: >In article <9400006@uiucuxa> rp321@uiucuxa.CSO.UIUC.EDU writes: >> >>>If you guys can't remember back 2 years to the JRT business, it must >>>be time for Col Winthrop to reappear. >> >>Who/what is Col Winthrop? > >I guess that it really IS time. > >Winthrop was the brains behind "World Power Systems", a company that offered >sophisticated hardware at excellent prices through mail order. He also had >a long record of similar scams. WPS was Winthrop's second national mail-order computer scam ; he bankrolled THAT one with the proceeds of a scam outfit called 'DataSync'. Same idea; S-100 boards (in this case REEEALY small pictures in the ads) for just a little less than most of the competition. The unfortunates who fell into it thought he was just undercutting the 'big guys'. Look at real old BYTEs et al. Bob Halloran Sr MTS, CONCURRENT Computer Corp (Formerly Perkin-Elmer DSG) ============================================================================= UUCP: {decvax, ucbvax, most Action Central}!vax135\ {pesnta, topaz, princeton}!petsd!pedsgd!bobh USPS: 106 Apple St M/S 305, Tinton Falls NJ 07724 DDD: (201) 758-7000 Disclaimer: I doubt that my employer wants anything to do with my opinions. Quote: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro..." -- Hunter Thompson