The world's leading third-party autograph and memorabilia authentication service has released a new report that reveals the "most dangerous" autographs of 2012.

Neil Armstrong's autograph has become one of the most forged following his death earlier in the year (though this example from a US auction is genuine)

Following an increase in forgeries submitted for authentication, PSA/DNA Authentication Services has provided lists of the top offenders, with the aim of making collectors aware of the sheer extent of forgery and to encourage them to buy from reputable dealers.

According to the company, there is less than a 50% chance that the autographs of top sellers such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Babe Ruth are genuine - a shocking statistic.

"What is most startling about the number of fake autographs in the marketplace is that PSA/DNA does not often receive obvious forgeries for evaluation. So, if our rejection rate for a particular autograph approaches 50 percent, then you can only imagine how high that percentage of forgeries actually might be in the overall marketplace," commented PSA/DNA president Joe Orlando.

The "most dangerous" are as follows:

Historical and entertainment autographs

1) Elvis Presley

2) The Beatles

3) Neil Armstrong

4) John F Kennedy

5) Michael Jackson

Sports autographs

1) Babe Ruth

2) Lou Gehrig

3) Mickey Mantle

4) Michael Jordan

5) Muhammad Ali

All of Paul Fraser Collectibles' stock items are hand-selected by our team of experts and come with a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

We have signed items from every name on the entertainment and historical list available in our online store, so you can buy the most dangerous autographs without running the risk of purchasing a forgery. 

We also have two signed items from Muhammad Ali, number five on the sports list and certainly the most dangerous!