Posted By:
Rhys
The saying possession is 9/10 of the law is correct. When you possess something you are given the presumption of ownership and your claim of ownership is good against all claims except those that can prove superior ownership. In a case like Ben's, he has scans of the cards and reported the theft to authorities etc. If one of his cards pops up at a flea market and he is proven to have a superior claim of ownership, you will be politely shown that although 9/10 is great, it is better to be the 1/10 with proof that that the card was stolen.
The only way to protect yourself in this situation would be to follow the legal chain back to the guy you bought it from etc. In a perfect world it would all link back to teh criminal and everyone would get reimbursed. In the real world, you just get screwed.
Rhys