PSA FedEx Truck Theft: 6,451 Graded Cards Stolen, What We Know

On 13 October 2026, thieves took 6,451 PSA-graded cards and items from a FedEx truck parked at PSA's shipping site in Santa Ana, California. The parcels were finished orders on their way back to customers, and nearly half the haul was Pokémon. Police put the loss at close to $1 million, an early estimate that may rise. The FBI has joined the investigation. At the time of writing nobody has been arrested and no cards have been recovered. PSA has switched off every stolen cert number and published the full list, so here's how to check a slab before you buy it.

What happened to the PSA FedEx truck?

A FedEx truck had just collected a load of completed PSA orders from the grading company's shipping and receiving site in Santa Ana. While the driver was away from the vehicle, reportedly for 60 to 90 minutes, someone broke the rear lock and took two full pallets of parcels and part of a third: about 250 orders in all.

The truck itself wasn't stolen, despite some early headlines. These were outbound returns: cards that had already been graded and slabbed and were heading back to the people who submitted them. Nothing suggests PSA's European or Japanese services were involved.

What was stolen?

PSA's list runs to 6,451 items, and trading cards outnumber sports cards. Tallies of the list break down roughly like this:

Some big names are on the list:

• Pokémon: 1999 1st Edition Base Set Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise holos, three 1st Edition Neo Genesis Lugia, EX Deoxys and Rayquaza Gold Stars, an EX Holon Phantoms Pikachu Gold Star and Skyridge Gengar and Umbreon holos.
• Magic and One Piece: a Smaug the Magnificent Gleaming Gold from The Hobbit set and a 2005 One Piece promo, PR007.
• Sports: a one-of-one Shohei Ohtani Superfractor, a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth and autographs including Michael Jordan and Aaron Judge.

Police estimated the haul at about $963,000. That figure may have covered only the two full pallets, so the real total could be higher.

Has anyone been caught?

Not yet. The Santa Ana Police Department and the FBI's Los Angeles field office are investigating together, and PSA says it has handed over video footage, shipment manifests and item-level records. In the most recent reporting we could find, from 27 October, there were no arrests, no named suspects and no recovered cards.

How is PSA compensating customers?

PSA isn't waiting for the investigation to finish. It is paying customers the fair market value of each stolen card, up to the card's Maximum Insured Value, and refunding grading fees in full as a separate payment. If a card is recovered later, the owner can choose to keep the money or take the card back. How a claim is handled depends on the return route:

• Returned on PSA's own label: covered by PSA's insurance, and payments are already going out.
• Returned on the customer's own shipping label: handled case by case by a dedicated PSA team.
• Submitted through a dealer or group submitter: compensation goes through that dealer.

The catch is the cap. The Maximum Insured Value comes from the service level you paid for, so a card that came back worth far more than its tier allows is only covered up to the tier's limit. These were PSA's US tiers when the theft happened:

Most of the anger in the hobby is about that formula: how PSA works out "fair market value", and whether the caps leave owners short when card prices have climbed since they submitted.

How do you check if a PSA slab is stolen?

PSA has deactivated the cert number of every stolen item and shared the list with marketplaces and auction houses. Before you pay for a recently graded PSA slab, especially a Pokémon or One Piece card, take two minutes:

Were UK collectors affected?

No reports so far say any UK or European customers lost cards. The parcels were a FedEx collection from PSA's US headquarters. If you had a PSA order shipped back from the US in mid-October, directly or through a group submitter, check your PSA account and get in touch with PSA or your submitter.

There are lessons for UK collectors either way:

• Your tier is your insurance. When you submit to PSA, pick the service level for what the card could be worth once graded, not what it's worth raw, and keep photos, cert numbers and receipts.
• Ask your group submitter three questions: which tier your cards go in under, who insures each leg of the journey, and how a payout would reach you.
• Buying from a shop protects you in transit. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods you buy from a UK trader stay at the trader's risk until they reach you. A private sale gives you no such cover.
• Insure what you post. Royal Mail Special Delivery covers up to £2,500 at most, and pays market value up to the cover you bought. Above that you need a specialist courier or insurer.

It isn't the first big card theft

Closer to home, Ace Grading's Banbury headquarters was broken into in December 2024, with Thames Valley Police estimating around £250,000 of cards taken, most of them customers'. Ace's insurer paid customers at fair market value, and no arrests have been reported since. We covered it at the time: the Ace Grading burglary and what it means for collectors.

UK card shops have been hit too. Warrington, Peterborough and several Nottinghamshire stores lost stock in 2025 and 2026, and the Warrington burglars were jailed this summer. The pattern is the same everywhere: the cards are rarely recovered, and insurance and the paperwork you kept decide what you get back.

Our take

Thinking of grading your own cards? Our PSA 10 and Ace 10 centering guide explains what each grader needs for a 10.

PSA FedEx theft FAQ