Which hobby has the most scammers?

dtkk49a · November 15, 2013 9:18PM

Cards? Coins? Autographs? Stamps? Something else?

I think coins might have it.. What'ya think?

BenG76 · November 15, 2013 9:48PM

I am not sure which hobby they are worse in. I will say they are in everyone of them where they can make a buck. I collect retro videogames as well and the rare games are being reproduced by some sellers on EBay and elsewhere. So it doesn't matter what you collect there are always scammers around as long as there is money to be made.

GR · November 15, 2013 10:37PM

artwork is likely the most forged of all

itzagoner · November 15, 2013 11:15PM

marriage.

magikbilly · November 15, 2013 11:31PM

<< artwork is likely the most forged of all >>

That is getting harder all the time. What could be done by Wacker in the 20's, Van Meegeren in the 40's and and De Hory in the 50's and 60's could simply not be not today with neutron activation radiography and chemical analysis. Autographs are ripe and fertile ground, where people buy certificates and many generally have less skills than any other discipline, just giving up and relying blindly on fairly worthless COA's.

Eric

perkdog · November 15, 2013 11:57PM

I consider Guns a hobby and there are just as many scammers involed in that as well. In fact I got scammed myself this past weekend by a guy who was advertising pre ban 30 round magazines at a show I was at, ofcourse I bought 8 of them at $20 a piece and when my buddy looked them up they were not anything close to being pre ban, the alarming thing is these were being sold like hotcakes to numerous people so this guy fraudulently put out alot of illegal magazines in the Massachusetts area which is a major crime. Im planning on going to the next show and hoping this piece of chit is there and I will do what I can to let the police know what he is doing.

Scammers are everywhere looking to pounce on people trying to get enjoyment out of a hobby.

bighurt2000 · November 16, 2013 12:03AM

Autographs?

itzagoner · November 16, 2013 12:03AM

well, at least gun guy isn't slabbing up Broders.

cjaccardi · November 16, 2013 12:19AM

antiques so many fakes out there , more than art.

go to a flea market or antique mall.

MooseDog · November 16, 2013 12:40AM

Maybe having been an autograph collector I'm probably biased. In terms of high-end items (high demand and rare autographs) on a percentage basis I'm inclined to think there are a much higher percentage of fakes available in the marketplace at any one time than real.

In one sense it makes it more of a challenge but it is the proverbial "mine field".

WhiteTornado · November 16, 2013 2:49AM

Not sure about the most scammers, but coin collecting has plenty. Cleaning, dipping, artificially toning, adding/removing mintmarks, altering dates, puttying gold coins, to name just some methods. There are also more fakes than ever, including the numerous ones that come from China due to their law allowing it.

All of the problem type coins I mentioned above have found their way into top-tier grading company holders, too.

Hallco · November 16, 2013 4:43AM

<< Not sure about the most scammers, but coin collecting has plenty. Cleaning, dipping, artificially toning, adding/removing mintmarks, altering dates, puttying gold coins, to name just some methods. There are also more fakes than ever, including the numerous ones that come from China due to their law allowing it.

All of the problem type coins I mentioned above have found their way into top-tier grading company holders, too. >>

This! ^

Most of those are the primary reasons why I eventually had to call it quits with numismatics!

NickM · November 16, 2013 4:46AM

Dating sites?

Nick

NVbaseball · November 16, 2013 5:02AM

drugs and sex are very popular hobbies

vladguerrero · November 16, 2013 6:02AM

<< Dating sites?

Nick >>

This week a former employee of a dating site sued them because of damage to her wrists from typing up 1000s of fake profiles.

thenavarro · November 16, 2013 6:07AM

Whatever hobby has the biggest flow of money, has the most scammers.

magikbilly · November 16, 2013 6:09AM

Apart from the extreme knowledge required, the means to produce a forged signature are generally much easier to assemble than what is needed to forge a gun or coin etc., especially if the forger is producing recent material. Of course, altering coins and guns is a different animal.
But any vacancy will be filled - wherever the $ is as noted above - and that greed often leads to a reveal.

Eric

leftofdial · November 16, 2013 8:11AM

<< Whatever hobby has the biggest flow of money, has the most scammers. >>

So we can cross Pogs off the list of possibilities, right

summerof68 · November 18, 2013 3:51AM

The answer is............

Confederate Civil War artifacts. Experts in Civil War artifacts estimate that roughly 90% of all Confederate Civil War artifacts in the marketplace today are counterfeits!! Yes that's 90%.

Second place...........

Sports autographs. A few years back an extensive FBI investigation concluded that roughly 70% to 75% of ALL sports related autographs in the marketplace are fakes!

KbKards · November 18, 2013 4:27AM

But at 90% you're talking about a much smaller number of items and market for civil war items. Even if only 10% of sports autographs were bad it would be many times more items and people making it and buying it. All the sports shows, card shops, catalog and mail order stores, a pen and paper is all you need to be an autograph scammer. A few Abner Doubleday's and then you can invest in some sharpies and pictures.

magikbilly · November 18, 2013 5:27AM

<< The answer is............

Confederate Civil War artifacts. Experts in Civil War artifacts estimate that roughly 90% of all Confederate Civil War artifacts in the marketplace today are counterfeits!! Yes that's 90%.

Second place...........

Sports autographs. A few years back an extensive FBI investigation concluded that roughly 70% to 75% of ALL sports related autographs in the marketplace are fakes! >>

I believe the number is easily much higher - I've never heard that low a number.
Edit to add: Lowest I have heard is 85%.

Eric

byronscott4ever · November 18, 2013 6:03AM

<< But at 90% you're talking about a much smaller number of items and market for civil war items. Even if only 10% of sports autographs were bad it would be many times more items and people making it and buying it. All the sports shows, card shops, catalog and mail order stores, a pen and paper is all you need to be an autograph scammer. A few Abner Doubleday's and then you can invest in some sharpies and pictures. >>

I think the autograph percentage needs to be attributed to certain key names. If I go to a show and someone has 200 signed cards from no names, I don't think the percentage is that high. Now if you are talking about Jordan, Mantle, Tiger, etc. then the percentage is definitely very high.

Maurice · November 18, 2013 7:42AM

<< a pen and paper is all you need to be an autograph scammer >>

...and this why the autograph hobby has the most scammers.

magikbilly · November 18, 2013 9:01AM

<< 

<< a pen and paper is all you need to be an autograph scammer >>

...and this why the autograph hobby has the most scammers. >>

Yes, but you do need one more ingredient. An uninformed and uneducated buyer.
And everyone has the potential to NOT be that.

Eric

dtkk49a · December 20, 2013 1:22AM

Looks like you can't even buy a real bottle of wine nowadays. This is getting crazy.

Wine fraud

Stingray · December 20, 2013 2:26AM

Politics!!

Which hobby has the most scammers?

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