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FedEx Truck Carrying PSA-Graded Pokémon Cards Robbed; PSA Deactivates Certification Numbers of Stolen Slabs

Police estimate damage at $963,000 (two palettes); compensation based on fair market value up to the maximum insurance value chosen by the customer.

김태희 기자 · Published Oct 23, 2026, 10:21 KST · 4 min read
Photo: PSA

A FedEx truck carrying cards that had completed PSA grading and were returning to customers has been robbed. The Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) stated that the stolen items included sports cards and Pokémon cards. PSA announced that it has deactivated the certification numbers (certs) of the stolen slabs and notified marketplace partners. This is a matter directly relevant to domestic buyers who purchase PSA slabs from overseas.

Police Confirmed Facts: Two Palettes, Estimated at $963,000

According to CBS Los Angeles, the incident occurred on October 13 (local time) at the 1600 block of E. St. Andrew Place in Santa Ana, California, near the PSA headquarters. Police explained that two palettes were stolen and a third palette was "disturbed." The palettes held various trading cards, including sports and Pokémon cards, that had finished PSA grading and were being returned to their owners.

In a statement, the Santa Ana Police Department put the estimated loss at $963,000. However, they noted that the exact scale of the damage cannot be confirmed until the remaining boxes are scanned. A report by Heavy (syndicated on Yahoo) stated that police reported about 250 stolen packages. As of October 19, police reported no arrests and no recovered items. A FedEx spokesperson stated that customer shipment security is a top priority and that they are cooperating with the investigation.

Individual loss figures are unverified claims. YouTuber SKY-B claimed to have lost 104 submitted cards worth over $100,000. Claims that a single card was worth $500,000 or that total damages reached millions of dollars have circulated on social media, but these figures have not been verified by police or PSA. The only official figures are the two palettes worth $963,000 announced by police.

PSA Response: Deactivation of Certification Numbers, Compensation Within Insurance Limits

In a statement sent to Kotaku and others, PSA said, "We are aware of the third-party delivery vehicle theft involving PSA graded items," adding, "We have deactivated the certificates of the stolen items and notified our marketplace partners." They also stated that the customer service team is contacting affected customers directly.

According to a PSA customer email published by Dexerto, compensation is based on fair market value (FMV), capped by the maximum insurance value (MIV) selected by the customer at the time of submission. This means that cards whose market value rose after grading may not be compensated fully at current market prices. In an interview with CBS, SKY-B claimed that some compensation amounts offered by PSA were "insultingly low."

Deactivating certification numbers has limitations. Heavy pointed out that deactivation cannot physically prevent someone from removing a card from its case and selling it without a label. Rare cards with serial numbers are easier to track, but ordinary cards become difficult to track once removed from the slab.

Unofficial victim lists should also be approached with caution. According to Latin Times, a community tally run by card YouTuber Boston Card Hunter had over 1,000 entries registered by the morning of October 20. However, because these were self-reported by victims, they have not been verified by PSA. A Google Sheets list created by a Reddit user is also circulating (reported by SI). Absence from these lists does not mean a listing is safe, nor does inclusion guarantee that an item is stolen. The basis for judgment is official PSA verification results.

What Domestic Buyers and Proxy Users Should Check

There is considerable demand in South Korea for submitting cards to PSA via overseas grading proxies or directly purchasing slabs from platforms like eBay. To prevent damage, buyers should check the following:

| Situation | How to Verify | |---|---| | Before buying a slab | Enter the certification number from the label into the PSA Cert Verification page (psacard.com/cert) and cross-check the year, brand, card number, and grade against the physical item | | When verification fails | Double-check for input errors, and halt the transaction if it still cannot be found. PSA advises sending front and back photos to customer service for inquiry | | Even if verification is normal | PSA states that verification alone does not eliminate risk because there are cases where actual certification numbers are copied to create counterfeit labels. Check seller reliability together | | When grading was submitted via proxy | If return is delayed, check the PSA order status through the proxy service. Since the compensation cap is the insurance value chosen at submission, verify the insurance amount on the proxy application form |

It has not been confirmed whether Korean-language cards were among the stolen items. PSA stated it would provide further guidance to affected customers, but no further public announcements had been confirmed as of October 22.

Sources

This article was written with the help of AI based on public sources. Responsible: 김태희 기자 AI principles →

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