Running list of 2022 Hobby Scams

[mjohnatgt]

Jan:
1) BBCE Authenticated Case of 1st Edition Pokemon sold for $3.5M revealed full of G.I.Joe packs.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1500649

2) Group Breaker backyardbreaks gives away free box to customer, pulls $20K Trevor Lawrence card, doesn't deliver.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1502441

3) Marx cards stiffs PSA on ~$1M bulk submission, files bankruptcy, strands customers. Card Collector 2 implicated for sending through 2nd bulk submitter without disclosure. PSA looks to be returning cards ungraded. Gems Only also seems to be another middleman who can't pay.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1503473

4) Merchantman cards still selling vintage fakes through various online auction houses.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=295520
5) Steve Grad says that many Panini Messi autos are counterfeit, but his employer BGS still grades them.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1502876

6) Carryover from 2021, hacked eBay accounts are posting hundreds of cards for sale at auction requesting you message them to BIN, but it's a scam. Whack-a-mole with these guys, since eBay deletes one account and another pops up in days.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1502167

7) Counterfeit slabs being passed at card shows in FL, NV, PA, TX. Suspects arrested in Dallas; one tased for trying to escape. Las Vegas Card Show, Industry Summit, Dallas, Bay Area Card Show Clearwater FL, Philly. Note: Latest news is that the Mike Baker sleeved Jordans are real and were graded by Baker in Dallas.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1502835
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsYXDVQA2eA

8) PWCC had a Premier auction end 1/22 and seconds before it closed, couldn't handle the traffic. Rather than extending the closing time an hour or so for people to get their last bids in, they extended for an entire day. This has been happening to a lot of online auction houses the past couple of years, getting hit by DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) hacks or just unable to even handle the traffic at the end of an auction. Goldin got hit by so many the last two years under their previous auction software subcontractor that they created their own new site, going through growing pains.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1503966

9) Goldin Auctions selling a 2001 PSA 10 Albert Pujols chrome rookie auto. Very likely to be wiped off and re-signed. Should be graded as a PSA AUTH card with PSA 10 auto, IMO. Currently at $97K with two weeks to go.
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1502551
Update: PSA reviewed the card and gave it a PSA 10 with 10 auto.

[Orangejello727]

where can I read more on Marx and cardcollector2??

[caster513]

Originally Posted by Orangejello727

where can I read more on Marx and cardcollector2??

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showth...highlight=marx

[Siberian13]

6). Selling boxes of cards at super inflated prices

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by Siberian13

6). Selling boxes of cards at super inflated prices

Not really a scam. Just part of the market during a bubble. You can only sell to a willing buyer.

[mc1]

In regards to the Messi fiasco, do you expect PSA and Beckett to reject Panini pack-issued autos as fakes or questionable authenticity? Doesnt Panini guarantee that the the autos are authentic?

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by mc1

In regards to the Messi fiasco, do you expect PSA and Beckett to reject Panini pack-issued autos as fakes or questionable authenticity? Doesnt Panini guarantee that the the autos are authentic?

Do I? Yes. But I hold authenticators to a higher standard than they hold themselves. I am of the opinion that all autographed cards should be dual authenticated, and all patch cards should be validated in some way to confirm that patches were not swapped after factory release.
That is not what their policies are currently, but that is what they should strive to move towards. Between autopens, family members signing, wiped off autos then resigned by the player or a forger, and swapped/fake patches, I would not recommend grading companies take any autograph or patch for granted and slab them without doing any effort to confirm them.
Authenticators (which they claim to be) should be in the business of getting things right, not doing things fast and cheap with the minimum level of effort. Just like they're doing with automatically scanning cards as they come through the door, they could start this at higher service levels and then over time make it a standard. Prices will go up, but prices are already going way up.

And just because Panini claims they are real, doesn't make them so. And there is already a guy taking base cards, adding sticker autos, then printing "Panini Certified Auto" on the back. I should add that ongoing scam to this list as well... ;-)
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1487548
Panini also certified the Dak Prescott and Florida Georgia Line autos were authentic, and we know how they turned out.

Remember when Topps printed base cards of Ted Williams and Roberto Clemente a few years ago with "TOPPS CERTIFIED AUTO" on them and inserted them accidentally in packs. If someone autographed them and sent them to PSA, should PSA just pass them since they were manufacturer certified from 1998 or later? So much fraud in this segment.

[superdan49]

Fake slabs and arrests at card shows throughout the country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCIIsbYpGU

[mjohnatgt]

Good add; so many things going on, can't believe I forgot that one.

[mjohnatgt]

Rolling tally so far: $5 million + who knows how much the eBay scam has been accruing.

[boxbuster7]

Crazy, I talked to Marx Cards recently about submitting through him. Seemed like a nice guy who was totally on the level. Disappointing.

[mjohnatgt]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

Seemed like a nice guy who was totally on the level. Disappointing.

Con men gonna con man.