Ever since the pandemic, the sports card/memorabilia market has surged. Sports fans were stuck in the house without a whole lot to do. Many turned to the hobby of collecting memorabilia.

While the interest in the hobby has increased, so have the fakes. Former Boston Celtics star Ray Allen recently made news when he posted a picture of two of his autographed Celtics jerseys either up for sale or auction and insisted they were forged.

Former Boston Celtics star Ray Allen blasts scammers in Instagram rant

Despite being out of the NBA since 2014, Allen is still popular with collectors. He’s a 10-time All-Star and a 2018 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He earned a championship in his first season with the Celtics in 2008.

Allen vented on Instagram after a friend of his sent him a couple of photos of his autographed jerseys. He stressed they are not his signature.

“A friend of mine sent me these pictures of my jerseys autographed and for sale online,” Allen wrote. “The one thing they got right was that it’s a signed jersey, but here’s what they got wrong — I did not sign it.

‘“These signatures are NOT mine, so if you are an autograph collector make sure that you only buy your memorabilia from reputable sources that give you a certification that the autograph is authentic. It is a real shame that people are taking advantage of people in this way; most autograph seekers are real fans, they deserve better!” #fakes.”

One of the photos appeared to be from an eBay auction where the seller listed the jersey for $109.50. The other was listed at $279.95 with an authenticity certification from PAAS (Professional Autograph Authentic Services).

With the memorabilia hype, many are on the lookout for phony signatures

Just had a friend get taken on a fake autograph because he was so excited to get back into memorabilia.

It's this simple. Don't buy anything with random authentication.

For autographs, JSA, PSA and BGS — that's it.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 15, 2020

The Colorado Avalanche recently won the NHL’s Stanley Cup. Since then, demand for Avs memorabilia has skyrocketed. The high demand has caused concern that they’ll be plenty of fake memorabilia on the market.

John Harding, owner of John’s Sports Collectibles in Colorado Springs, told KOAA News5 in June that he’s already witnessed people getting scammed by forged autographs as people try to capitalize on the Avs’ success.

”You know you buy a puck for $8, or $10, and put your own autograph on there and all of a sudden it’s an $80 puck. So, you have to watch out,” said Harding.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser had already warned about scams when he spoke to News5 right after the Stanley Cup.

”Believe it or not we’re going to see scams related to the Avs Championship,” said Weiser. “Do your homework and don’t quickly put down money for something that may not be real.”

It’s a sad state we’re in where people have to turn to forgery to make a quick buck. Allen proved it’s still happening even to those who are no longer in the spotlight.

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