For the last two years, the Topps rookie premiere autos have been serially numbered for the sole reason of avoiding situations like this. It is not the end all and be all of fake protection, but it is a deterrent that has resulted in a lot of protection from fake autos in most cases.

For those of you who dont know, due to the way the rookie premiere auto cards are made, there are a lot of open doors for scammers to fake the autos on REAL cards. Basically, Topps produces a bunch of the cards, but only has a handful signed. The other cards are destroyed, but back in 2007-2009, they may not have made some good choices in the way that was done. This allowed scammers to buy the unsigned cards, sign them with fake autos and sell them as real. Up until a few months ago, 2007 was the worst 2008 was pretty bad, and 2009 was relatively untouched. Not anymore.

In the last few days I have seen fake autos from two distinct sellers making their way onto eBay. The fake autos are still in phase one, which means they are still very easy to spot, but that will change quickly.

Here are the most obvious ones I have seen:

Knowshon Moreno 2009 Fake Rookie Premiere Auto

Percy Harvin 2009 Fake Rookie Premiere Auto

Knowshon Moreno 2009 Fake Rookie Premiere Auto – SELLER 2

Percy Harvin 2009 Fake Rookie Premiere Auto – SELLER 2

These are just some of the massive amount these two sellers have sold, and it is the primary signal that 2009 is now on the list of sets not to buy at all. Its unfortunate that there are people out there who think this kind of douchebaggery is going to help things, as the value of the legit ones drop each time a fake is sold, but as long as there is money to be made right? The second seller is the most intriguing because he also has this fake sticker auto card for sale. It is the same style of fake auto as the fake 2007 rookie premiere autos of Peterson, which makes me wonder if this is the guy who is actually signing all the fakes to begin with. He also has this fake 2007 Bowman Chrome Auto, which is also an obvious one because of the lack of color change in the bottom half of the card, but still a good one. Bad things, people. Bad things, indeed.

In the end, we are the only defense for ourselves, and that is where I hope to make a dent in the education. Most likely, if the people buying these paid attention to sites like this one or any message boards, its obvious that they wouldnt purchase these obvious ones. Remember, if you have a question about a card, ALWAYS ASK BEFORE YOU BUY. There are lots of people out there that are willing to help.