We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks.

BEWARE... FAKE JSA COA'S ARE IN THE MARKET PLACE... HERE IS THE PROOF.....

After many years of speculation the proof is finally here.

I recently purchased a Matt Barkley signed USC jersey with JSA coa off of ebay. There was no clear photo of the coa, hologram or any mention of the coa number. I did however buy the jersey based on the fact that it was "authenticated" by JSA.

Please allow me to back up just a little bit. I have been collecting, selling and doing autograph signings for almost 20 years so i am in no means new to the whole autograph and "authentication" process.

At any rate I received the jersey in the mail within 4 days, once I opened the jersey I immediately realized that the signature was indeed a counterfeit. I am not by any means claiming to be an autograph expert or a Matt Barkley expert for that matter however without even comparing the signature to an "authentic" one I can tell that it was slowly signed with many stops and skips. I then was examining the coa card and being around the hobby for almost 20 years and seeing coas from JSA since they opened their business I realized that the feel of the paper that this coa was printed on was not the typical paper normally used for the JSA coa, I then decided to grab one of my own JSA coa's to compare to and this is where it all started to come together. (you will see from the photo's I post below)

I then decided to look on ebay and compare the signatures to others certed by JSA (because I am not an expert on Matt Barkley signatures). I came across a listing from another member selling a Barkley jersey so i pulled up the listing. I was surprised when I noticed that the coa number was in fact the same coa number I had on my jersey. After comparing the coa's I noticed the big mistakes made by the printers of these fake coa's. You will see this in my photo's that I post below.

ABOVE IS THE ORIGINAL EBAY LISTING FOR THE FAKE JERSEY WITH FAKE COA...

HERE IS THE REAL JERSEY WITH REAL JSA COA. NOTE THE COA NUMBER..

HERE IS THE FAKE JSA COA AND FAKE SIGNATURE (THIS IS NOW IN MY POSSESION)

HERE IS A CLOSE UP OF THE ORIGINAL JSA COA AND HOLOGRAM, PLEASE NOTICE THE (F42843) NUMBER ON THE COA AND COMPARE THIS COA TO THE ONE POSTED JUST ABOVE (THE FAKE ONE)..

HERE'S A CLOSE UP OF THE FAKE COA

HERE IS A CLOSE UP OF THE REAL JSA COA AND HOLOGRAM. NOTICE HOW PERFECTLY THE LETTER "F" LINES UP WITH THE NUMBERS..

HERE IS THE FAKE JSA COA, NOTICE 1) THE FONT IN THE NUMBERS AND HOW THEY ARE PRINTED ON TOP OF THE CARD AND NOT STAMPED INTO THE CARD LIKE THE JSA CARDS. 2) NOTICE HOW THE "F" AND THE NUMBERS ARE NOT LINED UP AS IT IS WITH THE REAL COA.

(apparently I cannot upload any other photo's for some reason because I have many more but I must have uploaded too many already on the site???)

I would like to clear up that this is in no way a shot on JSA, the purpose for me posting this is to inform other buyers that there are fake coa's out there in the hobby and what to look for when buying an item already authenticated. I can assure everyone that this is most likely not the only fake coa on the market, I am sure that there was not only 1 coa and sticker made only for a Matt Barkley jersey. I have heard that PSA/DNA has had the same issue which is why they now have a hologram burned into the coa's however no one has ever pointed out what to look for with the fake PSA/DNA coa's, hopefully it's as easy as this was to figure out.

I would also like to add that I did speak to a field agent from the FBI both yesterday and today and in fact have a meeting in Manhattan on Friday with a field agent from FBI.

0 members like this

Next Post >

Comment by DB on September 30, 2012 at 1:57pm: the Feds don't act that fast when it comes to this stuff... "unfortunately".

you can edit your original post by using the edit function which is in the options box which is on the top right hand side next to the Add which is right about the Title of your Post.

here is the McKnight thread; http://live.autographmagazine.com/profiles/blogs/counterfeit-psa-dn...

Incidently, this seller also has one other that recently sold - an Archie Manning throwback. There wasn't an exact match to the cert number as was in your case but there was a same jersey with a JSA cert only 4 numbers away. Unfortunately, this seller's coas (lhs) are very difficult to magnify as they come up blurry but at times I see an offset (rhs) to the very clear one in the middle but it could be a result of the pixel expansion.

;

Comment by Scott Paul on October 1, 2012 at 6:29am: I agree with you Peter on the plain stamp being problematic. I realize that the company has to make a profit and I suppose having a numbered stamp to low value items would cut into those profits some. I think the whole industry of PSA and others do need to address fake coa's otherwise they risk becoming obsolete. We all know of certain prominent individuals in the field that if we see a stamp by them it has almost the opposite effect. Suddenly we are suspect of the item. I do feel that reputable companies in the field need to really wake up and smell the coffee of this increasing problem.

Comment by Dale Nehring on October 2, 2012 at 6:21pm: My biggest question is why would you even consider buying a premium piece on Ebay from someone with feedback lower then 10..... I wouldn't have even looked with less then at least 50. You set yourself up since you had no way to back check this persons credibility.

Comment by Peter leone on October 5, 2012 at 1:02pm: Dale,

With all due respect does it really matter how many feedback a seller on any site has? Not everyone with low feedback is a scumbag. I have actually obtained alot of high ticket items from sellers with low to no feedback. You never really know how a seller obtains an item. It could have been a gift that they longer want or did'nt want so they decided to sell it. One would assume since it came with a coa from JSA that it would be good, why would it have to be second guessed? I mean it could have come down to JSA "authenticating" a fake item which has happened as well but in this case it was a fake coa and sticker on a fake item which the normal person might not have caught onto.

Will all things being said any buyer always has the opportunity to get a full refund through ebay if there is an issue, so is there really any risk at all? I don't think anyone would disagree.

Comment by Dale Nehring on October 5, 2012 at 3:51pm: Peter,

I totally understand your thinking and to a point agree. Feedback doesn't always tell the tale but knowing that Ebay is notorious for fakes would tend to make me really leery of anyone selling high priced premium items right out of the box.

Every authenticator makes mistakes and so as to avoid liability the all word their COA's " After comparing the signature it is our opinion". Opinions in this "Hobby / Business" are very expensive and in all honesty mean very little. There's no substitute for common sense. If Joe Jones in E. Pocatella Idaho is offering signed 8x10's of Ken Griffey Jr. for $24.99 buy it now I can say without a doubt they are no good and I don't need JSA or anyone else to prove it. I have dealt with Ken and know that that item would cost me legitimately $99 wholesale from him.....

Comment by Kristin Nicole on October 5, 2012 at 8:27pm: Just want to thank you for bringing this issue to light. I am the seller of the real Matt Barkley Jersey on eBay (kmccoy99). It is sad that these things happen because it makes it difficult for an honest, hard working, new seller to actually sell merchandise. The item still has not sold. But like I said thank you Scott Paul!!

Comment by DB on October 6, 2012 at 2:03am: Kristin, welcome aboard. You might also consider reporting wolfmansbruther on ebay for "theft" of you JSA COA which is a major violation on EBAY as you know or perhaps you have already done so. Of course, this seller, could claim it wasn't stolen leaving open the possibility of he either manufactured a fake COA or used a FAKE COA. Either way its a loose loose proposition for the seller. Appears the account is in limbo but is still a registered user.

Comment by Scott Paul on October 6, 2012 at 5:07am: Thank you Kristin but it is really Peter leone that deserves the credit and thanks for bringing the problem of fake coa's to light.

Comment by Kristin Nicole on October 6, 2012 at 8:23am: I'm sorry it is Peter Leone I need to thank :) and everyone else for the advice. I am in the process of trying to get ahold of an actual LIVE person at eBay. Any advice there?

Comment by Peter leone on October 6, 2012 at 5:05pm: Kristin, no problem. I am glad that I was able to figure this out and to bring it to light. This seems like the new thing for these forgers to do which is why some 3rd party authentication companies have decided to change coa's and holograms.

I was actually going to contact you through ebay once this came to light but was advised to hold off while this was being investigated. However now that you have come to light on here it is fair game.

I do however have a couple of questions.

Do you happen to remember when JSA authenticated the jersey that you have? Also was that the only item you gave them to authenticate? The reason I am asking is I am sure that these people did not make just 1 cert card or hologram in an effort to pass off 1 Matt Barkley Jersey. If you have more than 1 item authenticated it is more than likely that the other items may also have some bad stickers associated with them somewhere.

I don't know how offten you use JSA but my recommendation to you would be to have them re authenticate your jersey for you and put on a new sticker or better yet have another company authenticate it for you. The number associated to your jersey and the fake one is still in the JSA database so I am sure if you brought this to their attention they will re authenticate it for you at no charge. The other option is to have them do a LOA (Letter of Authenticity) this way there is an actual photo of your jersey on the letter and then there wont be a question that they certed that particular jersey.

This was brought to the attention of JSA who for 1 reason or another did not admit that there was a problem with the 2 coa's which is so obvious so either they did'nt want to admit it to someone outside of their company or they really don't think there is a problem. My response to that is none becuase it does'nt take an expert to see there is a problem..