Caught! Crook who sold Ruth fakes to FL pawn shops

[travrosty]

This whole thing stinks. everytime a psa or jsa cert gets copied, someone loses a lot of money. the only way some companies can combat it is to invest in a technology so expensive that individuals wont employ the same technology to copy it, due to its prohibited cost.

the company eventually recoups the technology investment over many years, but the individual doesnt have that luxury. they are just taking a regular piece of paper and printing the info and cert number on it. that's not security.

[RichardSimon]

They counterfeit money,,, counterfeiting a COA is a piece of cake for these crooks.

[drc]

The real LOAs have the PSA/DNA or JSA watermarks in the paper.

I suppose the forgers could forge the watermarks, but I'm not aware that's been done.

[Big Dave]

If you look at the PSA/DNA letter shown, you can see the watermark.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

If you look at the PSA/DNA letter shown, you can see the watermark.

You're right.

Looks like they are going to have to start putting a numbered hologram sticker on the LOA as well. They could be faked, but at least it makes it that much harder.

[David Atkatz]

PSA could issue a certificate for the certificate. There's a whole new revenue stream! Send in your CoAs to be authenticated.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

PSA could issue a certificate for the certificate. There's a whole new revenue stream! Send in your CoAs to be authenticated.

+1 (1/2) a grading bump for PSA

Hope they are not reading this thread David, you just gave them a gold mine of an idea.
If there is a buck out there, they will scramble for it.

[glchen]

Out of curiosity, just looking at the sig in picture in the OP's post, does the Ruth look bad? Is there any other way that newbie collectors can protect themselves for this kind of scam other than getting the sig re-certified which can be a pain and expensive to boot?

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by glchen

Out of curiosity, just looking at the sig in picture in the OP's post, does the Ruth look bad? Is there any other way that newbie collectors can protect themselves for this kind of scam other than getting the sig re-certified which can be a pain and expensive to boot?

It looks like he did a better job forging the Ruth signature than the Steve Grad signature in the LOA.

[packs]

The LOA is a fake. When authenticating vintage items, PSA places the sticker normally reserved for the items they authenticate on the LOA instead of the item. If you look closely you will notice that the LOA in the scan does not contain the PSA sticker anywhere on it. A clear indication of a forgery. The sticker should actually be on the bottom right hand corner which has been conveniently cropped out in the photo.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by packs

The LOA is a fake. When authenticating vintage items, PSA places the sticker normally reserved for the items they authenticate on the LOA instead of the item. If you look closely you will notice that the LOA in the scan does not contain the PSA sticker anywhere on it. A clear indication of a forgery. The sticker should actually be on the bottom right hand corner which has been conveniently cropped out in the photo.

I thought they placed the sticker on the LOA ONLY if they do not place it on the item.

I suspect that most pawn shop employees are not aware of this nuance.

[olsport]

PSA should use technology like todays currency in there certificates like watermarks, threads, special paper. Even then, the crooks could buy a real ball, make a fake ball, and use the real certificate with the fake ball, fake sticker. Too many ways to be a crook in sports memorabilia (or any other hobby)these days. Also, how can the authenticators be 100% certain something is real. We all know, they can't, especially if the dishonest crook is an expert at fakery.
That's the problem with anything that becomes valuable. Look at all the paintings that have been faked throughout history. A jeweler in my area got busted for replacing people's real diamonds with CZ's, when they brought them in for cleaning, ect.

[drc]

If the PSA/DNA sticker isn't put on the autographed item (often due to submitter or due to group lot), it is put on the LOA.