Operation Bullpen, Brett Lemieux and counterfeit sports memorabilia

For those not aware, Operation Bullpen was an FBI investigation that ran in the 90s and early 2000s. They estimated that the majority of all sports memorabilia in the US is counterfeit: Operation Bullpen

Fast forward 20 years. One of largest dealers of signed memorabilia, Brett Lemieux AKA Mister Mancave, got raided and confessed that he used counterfeiters and autopen to forge countless signatures and also forged certificate of authenticity stickers from all the major 3rd party authenticators: ESPN

Even with the autographs that are actually authenticated by PSA, JSA, etc, the forgers have gotten way too sophisticated for them to say with any degree of certainty that any autograph is authentic. All this to say, if you're going to buy signed/game used stuff, make sure its actually authenticated by the league itself, which requires autos to be signed in front of a league rep.