PSA outlines refunds after $963,000 card theft

Thieves stole PSA-graded sports and Pokémon cards from a FedEx truck in Santa Ana, California, on October 13, 2026. The cards had finished grading and were heading back to their owners.

The theft affects customers whose completed submissions were aboard the truck near PSA’s shipping facility. PSA has contacted affected owners and begun arranging compensation. The company also disabled the stolen items’ certificates and alerted its marketplace partners.

Packages taken near PSA’s shipping dock

The truck was parked near PSA’s shipping and receiving site at 1610 E. St. Andrew Place. The driver left it unattended for 60 to 90 minutes. Someone broke the vehicle’s lock and removed the packages during that period.

The missing shipment included 2 pallets, each carrying approximately 100 packages. An estimated 50 more packages were taken from another pallet. The overall package estimate was approximately 250.

PSA valued the stolen pallets at $963,000. The company was still identifying the additional packages missing from the other pallet, whose value was not included in that figure. The number of individual cards inside the stolen packages remains unknown.

PSA reported the theft on October 13, 2026. The shipment contained other trading cards alongside the sports and Pokémon material.

Compensation and grading fees

Collectors, PSA’s parent company, said compensation would use fair market value. Each item’s payment is capped at the maximum insured value its owner selected before grading.

PSA also said it would refund grading fees, according to NBC News. The fee refund is part of the company’s response alongside payment for the missing cards.

One affected collector, SKY-B, said his missing submission contained 104 cards. He had dropped them off with PSA, and they were being sent back to him in Michigan. He said the submission carried insurance of up to $156,000.

NBC News put his grading fees at $8,000, while Heavy.com gave the amount as $8,468. Both figures concern the same affected collector’s submission.

SKY-B described cards he considered irreplaceable. He discussed the missing cards in a YouTube video on October 19, 2026. His account is among the customer disclosures that have helped identify material missing from the shipment.

Identifying missing cards

Collector Nick Andrews, known as the Boston Card Hunter, compiled a list of cards owners said were taken. The list reached 383 entries on October 19, 2026. Andrews also said a separate victim had lost cards valued at $500,000.

The claimed missing items included a Michael Jordan card made by Upper Deck in 1995. A Nami card from the 2024 One Piece anniversary set in Simplified Chinese also appeared on the list.

PSA asked marketplace partners to watch for scarce cards and items with serial numbers. The company disabled certificates tied to the stolen material so affected slabs could be identified through their certification records.

A card removed from its holder would no longer carry that certification label. Cards without individual serial numbers can be harder to identify once separated from the original holder.

PSA’s shipping response

Collectors said PSA would assess its shipping processes and procedures. The company said possible changes included further guidance for shipping partners, according to Sports Collectors Digest.

FedEx said shipment security was a priority and that it was cooperating with the response to the theft. PSA likewise said it was working with the carrier.

What to do

• Check whether PSA’s notice identifies your submission among the affected shipments. Compare the listed missing items with your submission record.
• Ask PSA to separate the proposed card compensation from the grading fee refund. Confirm the maximum insured value selected for each affected item.
• Check a seller’s PSA certification number against its record when considering a slab tied to the missing-card list. Ask about its recent ownership history if the certificate is disabled.

Related: how long grading takes, grading news.