FBI hunting for almost 3000 stolen Pokémon cards

The FBI and Santa Ana police are investigating the theft of 6,451 PSA-graded trading cards from a FedEx truck in California, including 2,978 Pokémon cards. PSA says the orders were stolen on 13 October after pickup from its Santa Ana facility, turning a specialist grading dispute into a much wider problem for collectors and marketplaces.¹

What happened

PSA says it has supplied investigators with video footage, shipment manifests and item-level records. The company has also published a list of every stolen card, including certification numbers and, where relevant, serial numbers. It has deactivated the certification numbers and shared the list with marketplace sellers, auction houses and digital commerce platforms, making it harder for the cards to be sold as if nothing had happened.²

The haul is not limited to Pokémon. According to reporting cited by Eurogamer, the stolen items include 898 One Piece cards, 880 basketball cards, 640 baseball cards and 433 football cards. The New York Times reports that the overall collection is worth more than $963,000, although the final value of individual cards will vary with condition, rarity and market demand.¹

What collectors should know

PSA says it has refunded grading fees on affected orders, separately from compensation for the cards themselves. Orders sent with a PSA return label are covered by insurance, with payments already being issued. Customers who used their own label are being directed to a dedicated PSA team, while people who submitted cards through a dealer should contact that dealer directly.

Compensation is based on fair market value up to each item's declared maximum insured value. If a stolen card is recovered, its owner can choose whether to take it back. That distinction matters: the certification lookup may be disabled, but ownership and insurance questions still need to be handled individually rather than assumed from a marketplace listing.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact the FBI's Los Angeles office or Santa Ana police. Collectors who encounter a potentially affected PSA-graded card should check the company's published list and avoid treating a deactivated certification number as proof that a listing is legitimate.

Our opinion

This is a reminder that the grading label is not the same thing as a secure chain of custody. PSA's decision to publish item-level identifiers and circulate them to marketplaces is the most useful immediate defence for collectors, but it also puts pressure on every buyer and seller to check those records before a transaction. Until the investigation is resolved, unusually cheap PSA-graded cards deserve more scrutiny, not less.

¹ Eurogamer's report summarises the investigation, the breakdown of the stolen cards and the estimated value.² PSA's official theft update explains the affected orders, identifiers, refunds and insurance process.