The more Pokémon trading cards pop off, the more potential players and collectors have to worry about one thing: counterfeit cards. Sometimes, a fake card will be obvious. As more money pours into the hobby, however, there’s more incentive than ever to pull a fast one on people. Fakes are getting harder to tell from authentic ones, but it helps to know what Pokémon cards are the most likely targets — and what you should look out for in general while inspecting singles.
Grading service PSA recently published a fraud report that goes over trends in forged and altered collectibles, including Pokémon cards. As PSA is in the business of assessing card conditions and determining their value, the service needs to be good at spotting counterfeits. According to the report, 2025 saw an incredible 407% increase in altered Pokémon cards attempting to be graded.
The specific characters that swindlers target likely won’t be a surprise, but it’s still worth knowing which cards should warrant a second look IRL. It’s easy to assume only the most expensive and elusive cards on the market would be in contention, but that’s not the case. The top card can be purchased for $150 or under. It makes sense, though: It’s harder to pass off an ultra-rare card as legitimate. It’s also difficult to sell a card that’s the equivalent to a down payment on a house.
Most counterfeited Pokémon cards
Curiously, modern cards are more likely to be fake over retro ones — there’s only a single card on the list that’s over 8 years old. Nearly half of the popular fake cards are from 2019, specifically. While their prevalence speaks to the quality of the artwork, cards in those sets would have been somewhat close to influencer Logan Paul’s arrival onto the scene in 2020.
How to tell if a Pokémon card is fake
There are some other fun facts in the report, like the idea that Charizard is a more popular counterfeit target than both Mickey Mouse and Michael Jordan. But the most useful thing PSA shares in its findings is what the service looks for when determining legitimacy. There are six main things you should assess while looking at a card:
- Card edges: The beveling on a card should be consistent. If you’re seeing a weird or uneven texture there, that’s a giveaway.
- Colors: Altered cards sometimes have ink bleeds. These are most noticeable on the edges and borders.
- Shape: A fake card might be warped or curved.
- Gloss: If the card looks too shiny, or the sheen appears uneven, then that should raise flags.
- Layering: If card layers are visible, that could be a sign something is amiss.
- Size: This one might be tough to access on-the-go without a ruler, but Pokémon cards have specific dimensions. Even fractions of a millimeter matter, the PSA says.
If nothing else, a quick Google search will help when evaluating a card — you can simply compare pictures. But counterfeits are getting harder to spot, PSA says, and some of the signs won’t be visible to the naked eye. Heck, these days you can’t even trust that a sealed package hasn’t been tampered with. Something tells me that the reported multi-month waiting time for PSA grading isn’t going down anytime soon.
He traded his $130,000 supercar for Pokémon cards, and doesn’t regret it one bit
Meet the man who gave up an Audi R8 for a Pokémon card collection
About the Author
