Beckett Grading Services (BGS) has confirmed the existence of counterfeit graded card holders.
A social media post on November 12, 2020 terrified sports card collectors and sent them scrambling to check their slabs.
So far, it's believed the cards inside the holders are real, but the BGS cases are fake.
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On November 12, 2020 BGS confirmed that one of the holders was fake, but oddly left their public comment vague.
A card collector on Instagram posted another fake BGS slab. This time with a 2018-19 Panini Prizm Silver Luka Doncic Rookie card.
The collector detailed how to tell a real BGS slab from a fake one.
Another 18-19 Prizm Silver Luka Doncic in a fake slab surfaced in late November 2020 from eBay consignment seller DCSports87.
And another fake slab involving Luka. This one from eBay seller MVP_529.
Four more fake BGS slabs were discovered on January 2, 2020. The cards were for sale by eBay consignment seller Probstein123.
January 9, 2021 - a fake BGS 9.5 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie card is discovered.
What if I told you, a fake slab and a real slab with the same BGS serial number sold on the same day.
One of the dealers, Superior Sports Investments, is a known sports card trimmer and scammer.
Beckett is a company used to controversy.
Greg Lindberg, the founder and chairman of the investment company that owns Beckett, was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison in 2020 for his scheme to bribe an elected official in North Carolina.
In 2019, Beckett's Vice President Jeromy Murray and Regional Sales Manager Derek Ficken were forced to testify in a case between Upper Deck v Leaf Trading Cards. A former BGS & current Leaf employee was found to receive an unusual amount of "Black Label 10" grades.
Company President, Sandeep Dua, was accused in a 2015 lawsuit to have severely mistreated employees.
The lawsuit alleged Dua's non-stop bullying and unethical conduct caused an employee to suffer a mental breakdown in August 2014.
Stay tuned for more updates.
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I reported clfu_46 for having a fake slabbed Luka Doncic 2 weeks ago from Beckett. eBay said it was appropriate, and found nothing wrong. clfu_46 was/is/did sell a doncic auto authentic, but it had no info just auto authentication and a square 10 on the far right side. I wrote down 3 of his Beckett numbers, went to Beckett card identification site, put in numbers, and 2 out of 3 had 0 grade, autograph not authenticated, but Beckett had the card info. It said something like “ 46 cards were graded, and 46 cards graded better than this “. eBay protects their golden accounts. I got in trouble in may, because this guy said 34 rookie Juan Sotos were not worth anything, and one was numbered. I never got them back, eBay did a partial return on me for never getting my 34 Rookie Juan Sotos. eBay blocks sellers, and allows only certain powersellers to see certain accounts. 14.99 starting bid on 2 Juan Soto 17 card lots? Nobody even looked at them in 30 days, and this guy bought both auctions for 30$…..if you go to clfu_46 you’ll see him selling expensive in person autos, Lyndon B Johnson letters, Mario the pitcher with the saves for Yankees, rookie 1980 Hendersons, he sells the same items….since i started checking his account, or I’m guessing one of many. eBay penalized me over that BS…..all they had to do was put that Beckett number in the site, and within 2 minutes they knew he was selling fake items, he knows it. Go to clfu_46 on eBay, and write down 5 Beckett certification numbers, then go to Beckett. I can guarantee most will be fake, but he’s making lots of money for himself, and eBay…..
Good Info…so, just gonna state the obvious here…looks like a LOT of these photos are coming from the same seller
Better attached along certificate signed by beckett or PSA Grader who ever inspected for grading the card and electronic chips inside the slab only special device can monitor the number.
Great article. I am glad I stumbled on it. I think I have found another Luka on Ebay this morning. I reached out to the seller to point them to this article.
I think another key difference on the fake labels is the measurement between the final value of the Surface or Corners to the start of the serial number. It seems to stay > 40% the width from the end of the surface value (9.5) or corners value (9.5) and the start of serial number for real slabs. This value drops below 40% on the fake slabs. This obviously only holds on cards with the values printed on the label. Since I do not have enough cards to make more measurements and I am basing it on slabs I can get images of on ebay, it is obviously difficult to get a good sample of known fakes.
Here is the item:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-19-Prizm-125-Luka-Doncic-Fast-Break-Red-Bgs-9-5-Rookie/164193385329
Thanks again for the article,
Marshall