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operation bullpen

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Fraud Issues

Operation Expose the Fraud

By Greg Bates
During Operation Bullpen, Ferreira worked with Mark McGwire’s charitable foundation to prepare a ruse to catch the forgers and counterfeiters. (Photos courtesy John Ferreira)
Autographs

Operation Bullpen’s FBI undercover agent and collector John Ferreira provides tips on how to avoid fake autographs

By Bert Lehman
Tim Fitzsimmons
Autograph News

FBI agent Tim Fitzsimmons' take on the current autograph hobby

By Bert Lehman
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Bert Lehman | The Infield Dirt

Revisiting Operation Bullpen

By Bert Lehman
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News

Director of ‘The Countefeiter’ talks about Greg Marino and the 1998 home run chase

By Bert Lehman
OPBULLpressconference
Hobby News

Operation Bullpen Endures, Public Fascination Continues

By Tom Bartsch
Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins signs autographs at Yankee Stadium in a vintage 1978 shot.
Baseball

Quotable: Athletes Commenting on Cards, Autographs

By Tom Bartsch
This is an example of a COA used by Round Five from FBI files, a New Jersey company run by ex-heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner. Round Five is among the memorabilia firms to appear on a comprehensive list released by the FBI of all organizations involved in its years-long Operation Bullpen investigation related to forged memorabilia.
Fraud Issues

Operation Bullpen: Authenticators and autograph sellers to watch for

By Kevin Nelson
The FBI confiscated these fraudulently signed caps and jerseys in the 1999 Operation Bullpen bust, but as every collector knows, the problem of forgery has not gone away.
Fraud Issues

Ten Ways to Stop a Forger

By Tom Bartsch
The smiles are all genuine, but the signatures are not: a Beatles forgery produced by the Operation Bullpen ring.
Fraud Issues

How Forgers Make Cash from Fake Celebrity Photos and Movie Posters

By Tom Bartsch
These boxes of forged cuts represent only a small sampling of the tens of thousands produced by the gang. The FBI took this photo at its 2000 press conference announcing the bust of the ring and it has not been shown to the public before, like several of the images accompanying this article.
Authentication

Forged 'Cuts': How Crooks Spun Pieces of Paper into Gold

By Tom Bartsch
The Mother Teresa baseball, perhaps the most famous autograph forgery ever done.
Baseball

Part 5: What's So Crazy About a Mother Teresa Baseball Anyhow?

By Tom Bartsch
A classic shot of the great Joe DiMaggio in action. The only thing that’s wrong is the signature is a fake.
Authentication

Forging the Big Three: DiMaggio, Mantle, Williams

By Tom Bartsch
The forged signatures of two of golf’s legendary names, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Fraud Issues

The 1998 Home Run Chase: A Perfect Storm for Counterfeiters

By Tom Bartsch
Mickey Mantle with the No. 7 beneath his signature – the classic look.
Fraud Issues

How To Trick People and Get Away With It: The Art and Craft of the Forger

By Tom Bartsch
A fake Babe Ruth baseball, signed on the sweet spot.
Authentication

Operation Bullpen, and Why Forgers Don't Always Hit the Sweet Spot

By Tom Bartsch