A 30-year-old man was charged with eBay fraud over the alleged sale of phony autographed baseball cards, and authorities believe he had help from his 61-year-old mother. The pair are accused of being the masterminds behind “the biggest case of domestic fraud in the history of the online auction site eBay.”
According to Ohio news outlet WFMJ.com, “Authorities believe the two were behind a scheme involving phony autographs on sports memorabilia that cheated 25,000 people out of more than $2-million.”
Rich Mueller has been covering the case for SportsCollectorsDaily.com. He wrote, “The group created phony certificates of authenticity and included them with the fake autographs which generally sold through eBay.”
He reported that Mahoning County, Ohio’s assistant prosecutor said the gang “would typically use several eBay and PayPal accounts and when those were shut down by eBay over complaints, they would open others or use existing accounts of other members to continue selling.”
Five men have pleaded guilty to charges filed against them for their parts in the scheme.
Major League Baseball reached out to the prosecutor’s office over the alleged scam.
