Ever since Rob and I have reported on the newest ridicu-scam, I have seen a few naysayers that are telling me that the report should be removed due to copycats. Mario even posted on the fact that he has received a lot of people reaching his website due to his anti-pack searching posts, looking to find out how to do it. I will say this, there are SOME people out there looking for ideas on scams, but there are ten times as many looking for info on the hobby. That bigger portion of collectors are people who want the info we have provided to avoid a cruel fate. That is why this is important.
However, the perspective on Mario’s post is a little off in my opinion. There is a huge difference between pack searching and deliberately faking an autograph so that you can make money. I have reported numerous times on pack searching as a completely unethical practice, but the people responsible are only taking advantage of retail outlets who have better things to do with their time. Really, when you think about it, its not illegal, just unethical. The people who take out the hits and RE-SEAL the packs, that is a completely different situation.
As for the fake autos, those are completely wrong in every sense of the word. You are fraudulently selling an item as real, leading to people that are getting something not at all what they were expecting. Pack searchers are a little different because the people who buy the non-resealed hot packs are getting exactly what they are expecting.
Of course, the above is just semantics, but it really needed to be addressed for perspective sake. As for the inform versus ignore, that is the real issue here. Most of the commenters on the posts seem to agree that informing people to avoid the scam is worth the few people who use it for the scam, mainly because the scammers will find a way with or without these posts. Not only do they find ways, but most of the time, they figure it out themselves. Look at the fake patch industry, its the same thing. We all know how to do it, but only a select few are douchey enough to try wrecking patch cards for fakes.
Guys, posting on this is not going to create enough fakers to make a difference. Its the people that make the decision, they will find the means regardless. Besides, we don’t really reach THAT many people anyways.