Here we go yet again -- alleged trimmed and recolored CJs at auction

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by steve B

Alteration going away? No, it's been here for decades, and the money is way too much for it to go away.

The authentication/grading companies being either nearly useless or complicit?
That could go away, but it seems like the vast majority of the hobby wants to be lied to and taken advantage of.

A friend collects stamps from among other things a small sort of country. Most of their stamps are other countries stamps overprinted with a new name. (sort of a standard thing) The guy who was THE expert a long time ago turned out to also be the guy making fake over prints that surprise! were expertized as good.
Once it was found out, he was kicked out of all philatelic groups he was in, and If I remember it right charged with fraud.
He expertized other stuff too, and now his expertizing mark* is taken as a sign that a fake is likely what you're looking at.

In Europe, it was standard for the expertizer to stamp their name on the back of the stamp. Sometimes in different positions to indicate real or fake flawed or not. They would also do entire sets essentially for the same price as one stamp. I learned this when I asked my friend about a stamp I'd gotten that was a very nice example, and had an expert mark, but I couldn't figure out why. Catalog value was maybe 50 cents, and the catalog listed no valuable varieties.

Serious legal action, ostracization, and similar measures are all that will curb the amount of nonsense we have going on now.
But the hobby for the most part doesn't have the guts to stick with demanding that, and Law enforcement seldom has the "need" and or support to commit resources to it when there are so many bigger crimes that need attention.

Well stated, and completely agree...

But regarding your last statement, somehow Law Enforcement was able to commit ample resources to Mastro and to Operation Bullpen (neither of which was anywhere as rampant/widespread as the current card fiasco).

Don't be so sure that the FBI isn't still working on this. It takes time to build and cement the case, and there are a ton of "players" involved. In addition, Covid has probably delayed their investigative procedures by a number of months.

Time will tell.