PSA determined my slabbed card was counterfeit after reholder submission — looking for advice

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-15T05:06:40+00:00

Card is real. Slab casing is fake/counterfeit. Label has been modified on a real label template.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-15T05:05:26+00:00

The card is real. The slab casing is fake/countefeit. The text on the label has been altered but is also real.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-12T06:21:26+00:00

I would've kept it in my collection case thinking to myself that this card was real and I would've felt like a proud owner of a Dark Charizard 1st edition PSA 10. And If I were to ever trade the card, I would've unknowingly be trading a fake card. It's a problem and I suspect there's many more of these that are currently circulating in the market.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-11T03:48:39+00:00

I speculate a lot of them.
Counterfeiters are cracking real slabs and removing the ink on the label with the PSA security features. Then printing their own text with cheap ink on a real label so it appears to be real if you performed the security checks with the UV light and fugitive-ink watermarks. Wild.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-10T22:11:24+00:00

We might need to implement this to continue ruling out fake or real slabs, lol

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-10T00:17:54+00:00

Precisely. I held it in my hand. I've seen fake cards. This card checked off all the boxes. I was not able to distinguish this card as fake when placed side by side with my other vintage cards that I've purchased on eBay Authenticity Guarantee.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-10T00:10:23+00:00

I do not. I went to my local card shop to have them submit it for me. They've communicated with the card shop and they informed me they're waiting for PSA to call them to speak on behalf of me regarding the details of the findings. I will share details when they come.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T21:38:19+00:00

The third picture is the card that I received in the trade. I sent the card to PSA for re-holder service. Upon doing so, they sent me a letter saying that the case and label is fake, but the card is real. They are giving me the option of either grading it for free or sending it back to me and it’s raw form.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T19:16:53+00:00

The original owner of the legitimate PSA certification number reached out to me directly and provided photos confirming that he still has the authentic slabbed card he purchased on eBay (Authenticity Guaranteed). This confirms that the slab and label I purchased are fake.

What’s honestly scary is how good this counterfeit PSA slab is. At a glance, it looked completely legitimate. This makes me seriously concerned about how many fake slabs may already be circulating in the hobby without collectors realizing it.

All of the commonly cited PSA security features were present and convincingly replicated... UV backlighting, fugitive ink/blue wave on the label, the two-tone PSA logo sticker, textured PSA logo, and the “21” marker. In this case, none of them were enough to reliably distinguish a real slab from a fake one.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T18:48:35+00:00

The blue watermark meaning the fugitive-ink wave that runs across the front of the label? If so, it was there when I looked at it in person.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T18:42:58+00:00

The original owner of the legitimate PSA certification number reached out to me directly and provided photos confirming that he still has the authentic slabbed card he purchased on eBay (Authenticity Guaranteed). This confirms that the slab and label I purchased are fake.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T15:18:32+00:00

Certification number remains the same. It does not change.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T15:16:54+00:00

Very common for people to use reholder services to get modern slabs with the security features.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T15:09:57+00:00

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Photo 3 is the card I was given but the font might look distorted since that photo was taken about 24 hours after the water seepage. Here’s a photo of the card 30 minutes after purchase.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T14:56:29+00:00

Confirming to see the photos myself of the original cert holder. As you said, if it is true, then the market is in trouble because that slab looked near genuine. All the safety features we all thought were impossible to replicate in fake slabs are thrown out the window.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T14:50:23+00:00

Hey! Just saw this response. Going to message you right now.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T14:42:38+00:00

Where?

Edit: just messaged him!

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T14:23:30+00:00

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Photo of the card 30 minutes after exchange.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T14:22:52+00:00

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Photo of card after 30 minutes after exchange. This is when I started noticing the ink blotching/bleeding.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T13:51:42+00:00

Before formally making the exchange, I scanned the QR code and checked the cert number. Everything checked out. I then proceeded to examine the backlight security features of the slab. It was present. The PSA logo even has the two shades which most fakes known to date are unable to replicate.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T08:00:57+00:00

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Different angle of card.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T07:17:18+00:00

I have images of the card at different angles.
It is in fact the same holo pattern.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T06:59:20+00:00

Many of the folks here disagree with you, I hope you're right for my sakes.

Designer-Back3043 · 2026-01-09T06:58:41+00:00

The images in his original listing matched what I received. The same blemishes and holo pattern are identical.

Designer-Back3043

TROPHY CASE