PSA stolen cards list: How to check 6,451 graded items

PSA has published a list of 6,451 graded items it says were stolen from a FedEx carrier truck after pickup at its Santa Ana, California, facility on October 13, 2026. The inventory includes Pokémon cards and cards from other collecting categories, but PSA has not published a verified total for the number of Pokémon cards involved.

For collectors, the practical development is the release of PSA certification numbers tied to the stolen items. PSA’s official certificate list also includes serial numbers where applicable, giving buyers, sellers and affected submitters a reference they can check against an offered card.

What PSA has confirmed about the theft

In its October 23 theft update, PSA said multiple customer orders were taken after pickup from its Santa Ana facility. The company said the Santa Ana Police Department and the FBI are investigating. No standalone FBI announcement was identified in the research for this article.

PSA has not provided a category-by-category total for the inventory. Claims that nearly 3,000 of the items were Pokémon cards therefore cannot be verified from the official article or its certificate list. The PDF contains numerous clearly identified Pokémon entries, but it does not include a publisher-supplied Pokémon subtotal.

Police initially estimated the value of the stolen cards at $963,000, according to Associated Press reporting citing Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson Natalie Garcia. Garcia said the exact value had not yet been determined, so the figure should not be treated as a final loss valuation.

PSA described the safeguards it says it has taken:

“We have deactivated the certification numbers associated with every stolen graded item and shared the complete list with marketplace sellers, auction houses, and digital commerce platforms, which are actively monitoring for these items.”

Those are company-reported measures, not a guarantee that every attempted sale will be detected or automatically blocked. Collectors should still check prospective purchases themselves.

How to check a PSA slab before buying

• Ask the seller for clear photographs of the front and back of the PSA holder, including the complete certification number on the label.
• Open PSA’s published stolen-item list and search for the exact certification number rather than relying only on the card description.
• For a serialized card, compare its serial number as well when PSA has included that information in the inventory.
• If the certification number appears on the list, do not proceed with the transaction. Preserve the listing information and follow the reporting and tip instructions in PSA’s official update.
• If a number does not appear, that means only that it is not included in this particular inventory. It is not a broader authenticity check or proof that the seller owns the card.

The item-level inventory is more useful to buyers than a general description of the shipment because it identifies individual graded items. It also shows why the case should not be described as a Pokémon-only theft: Pokémon cards appear in the list, but so do cards from other categories.

What affected PSA submitters should know

PSA says it has refunded affected grading fees separately from compensation for the stolen items. For affected customers who used PSA’s return label and insurance, the company says compensation is based on each item’s fair market value, up to the Maximum Insured Value declared for that item.

“We will not ask impacted customers to wait for the investigation to conclude before receiving compensation.”

Affected submitters should read PSA’s full update and follow the company’s instructions for impacted customers. The stated limits are important: a grading-fee refund is separate from compensation for an item, and PSA says the declared Maximum Insured Value remains the cap on its fair-market-value calculation.

What Pokémon collectors need to remember

The theft is confirmed, and PSA’s list gives collectors a specific reference to check before buying a graded card. What is not confirmed is the claim that nearly 3,000 of the stolen items were Pokémon cards. The verified position is narrower: Pokémon cards are among the 6,451 listed items, and PSA says it deactivated the associated certification numbers and circulated the complete inventory to marketplaces, auction houses and digital-commerce platforms.

Collectors should keep transaction records, compare certification numbers with PSA’s inventory and avoid any item that matches the list. These steps do not replace ordinary authentication, seller-vetting and provenance checks, but they can help a buyer avoid an item identified in PSA’s official stolen-property inventory.