How to Spot Fake Pokémon Cards: Checks You Can Do at Home

The four tests TCGplayer's authenticators use

TCGplayer, which checks cards in its own authentication center, rates four tests for fake Pokémon cards. It also warns that none of them is 100% conclusive: some fakes pass a test, and some real cards have printing quirks that make them look fake. Use several together.

Reading the card rates low because many fakes copy their text word for word from real cards. It is still the fastest first filter.

What to look for on the front

• Text: spelling and grammar mistakes, Pokémon written without the accent, or another name such as Pocket Monster. TCGplayer notes that, as of 2026, no Pokémon card has more than 380 HP, so HP in the thousands is a giveaway.
• Energy symbols: on fakes the symbol often fills too much of its circle, sits off center or has the wrong color strength.
• Font: real cards use a consistent typeface. Counterfeits often use a different one, a different size or the wrong color.
• Details that do not add up, such as an attack or evolution copied from another card, or a 2nd Edition mark. Pokémon cards come as 1st Edition and Unlimited prints, never 2nd Edition.
• Foil and texture: a holo pattern that looks off, foil on a card that should be plain, or a flat surface where the real card has fine texture. CGC caught one well-made fake test print Charizard partly because its holo pattern, though close, did not match the genuine one.

123457

Foil shine drawn as an illustration

The card number, enlarged

6

1. 1HPCheck it against an image of the same card
2. 2Text and fontSpelling, the accent in Pokémon and one consistent typeface
3. 3Energy symbolsOn fakes they often fill too much of the circle or sit off center
4. 4Evolution lineAttack and evolution details should match the real card
5. 5Holo art boxFoil in the wrong place, or a pattern that looks off
6. 6Card numberCompare the number, and the set symbol on sets that have one, with an image of the same card
7. 7Edges and borderClean, straight edges. A very wide border is a warning sign

Compare against an image of the exact same card, not just the same Pokémon. TCGplayer suggests a reputable database such as the official Pokémon TCG card database, and points out that many cards exist in more than one version and that no online database is complete.

The Cardmatic card database, in English and Japanese, shows a catalog image of each card and its TCGplayer market price where one is available, which helps with this comparison and with spotting an offer that is suspiciously cheap. Cardmatic does not authenticate cards: a scan tells you which card your copy looks like, not whether it is genuine.

The back, the edges and the feel

TCGplayer calls comparing the back the most reliable way to tell, and it is the first test its experts use. Apart from a few documented exceptions, every English Pokémon card has had the same back since 1999. On a real card the blue border is clearly distinct from the other blues in the design. A border that bleeds into them, or colors that look washed out, are red flags.

• Edges: real cards have straight, clean edges with no cardboard residue.
• Size and borders: lay the card on a genuine one. TCGplayer's conditioning standard gives Pokémon cards as 88 by 63 mm. Real cards can be slightly miscut, but a very wide border is a warning sign.
• Feel: next to a real card from the same set, with the same rarity and foil, a fake may weigh noticeably different, or its card stock may feel too thin or too weak.

Skip the bend and rip tests. Both damage the card, and TCGplayer recommends neither.

Buy carefully and get valuable cards authenticated

• Be wary of prices that seem too good to be true. The Pokémon Company says a pack priced dramatically below suggested retail is a near certain warning sign, and that it gets the most reports of counterfeit sales from flea markets.
• Buy from established sellers on platforms with strong buyer protection, and ask for clear photos of the back when you buy online.
• For an expensive card, get an expert opinion. The Pokémon Company and TCGplayer both suggest local shops that specialize in trading cards, and TCGplayer lists grading companies such as PSA, Beckett, SGC and CGC as sources of proof of authenticity.

PSA puts the difference simply: authentication verifies that a card is genuine, while grading assesses its condition. Both PSA and CGC check authenticity as part of grading. PSA will not grade a card of questionable authenticity and still charges the grading fee, and CGC guarantees that the cards it certifies are authentic unless the label says otherwise.

Buying a card that is already graded? Look up its certification number on the grader's website and compare the record, and any images, with the card in front of you. PSA warns that this does not eliminate risk: though it is uncommon, forgers have copied real certification numbers onto fake labels. Buy graded cards from trustworthy sources too.