Top 10 Pokémon Cards You Should Watch Out for as Fakes (and How to Spot Them)

As Pokémon trading cards gain popularity, both players and collectors face a growing concern: counterfeit cards. While some fakes are easy to spot, the increasing investment in the hobby has led to more sophisticated forgeries. Identifying which Pokémon cards are most frequently targeted and knowing what to look for when examining singles can help you avoid being duped.

A recent fraud report from a grading service highlights trends in forged and altered collectibles, including Pokémon cards. This service specializes in assessing card conditions and values, making it adept at detecting counterfeits. The report revealed a staggering 407% increase in altered Pokémon cards submitted for grading in 2025.

The characters that counterfeiters focus on may not surprise you, but it’s essential to recognize which cards deserve extra scrutiny. While it might seem logical that only the priciest and rarest cards would be faked, that’s not entirely true. In fact, some of the top cards can be found for $150 or less. This makes sense, as it’s more challenging to pass off an ultra-rare card as genuine, and selling a card worth as much as a down payment on a house is a different ball game.

Interestingly, modern cards are more frequently counterfeited than older ones, with only one card on the list being over eight years old. Nearly half of the popular fakes are from 2019, coinciding with the rise of influencers like Logan Paul in 2020.

The report also reveals some intriguing tidbits, such as Charizard being a more sought-after counterfeit target than both Mickey Mouse and Michael Jordan. However, the most valuable information from the report is the six key factors to assess when determining a card’s authenticity:

A quick online search can aid in evaluating a card by allowing you to compare images. Yet, as counterfeits become increasingly sophisticated, some signs of forgery may not be immediately visible. Nowadays, even sealed packages can be tampered with, and the lengthy wait times for grading services suggest that the issue of counterfeits isn’t going away anytime soon.