May 12, 2026 14:00:00

'Charizard' is the most counterfeited trading card of all time, according to a 2025 report by TCG grading company PSA.

The PSA , a US-based organization that certifies and rates trading cards (TCGs), has released its 2025 report on TCG counterfeiting. The report outlines trends in the counterfeit TCG market, TCGs that are frequently counterfeited, and cards with high counterfeit rates.

PSA | 2025 Fraud Report
https://www.psacard.com/info/fraud-report

PSA_Fraud-Report_2025.pdf
(PDF file) https://downloads.ctfassets.net/l40e281thfxr/72ZJooe31lk9KGBklfQFOu/4a3bf368f91a364fad3ccc2eca077a17/PSA_Fraud-Report_2025.pdf

The 10 Pokémon cards most likely to be fake (and how to tell)
https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-tcg-fake-cards-how-to-tell-psa-grading-charizard-pikachu/

The image on the left below shows a graph illustrating the breakdown of counterfeit cards by category. Overall, TCGs account for 56.3%, collectible cards (such as those featuring sports figures) for 43.1%, and other pop culture cards for 0.6%. The graph on the right shows the breakdown of counterfeit cards by year, with 'modern cards' released after 1990 accounting for 70.1% and 'vintage cards' released before 1990 for 29.9%, indicating that newer cards are more frequently counterfeited than retro cards. The year-on-year increase for counterfeit cards in 2025 is projected to be 45.3%, with counterfeit sports cards increasing by 5.1%. In particular, the increase in counterfeiting of 'Pokémon Trading Card Game' cards is remarkable, with a 125% increase compared to the previous year.

In 2025, the most counterfeited trading cards were 'Pokémon cards.' Second was baseball, third was basketball, and fourth was American football. Long-standing popular TCGs like 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' and 'Magic: The Gathering' also ranked highly, but relatively newer TCGs such as 'Disney Lorcana' (7th) and 'ONE PIECE Card Game' (8th) were also included. According to the PSA, in 2025, the number of 'ONE PIECE Card Game' cards submitted for authentication exceeded that of 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game Duel Monsters' and 'Magic: The Gathering,' but the detection rate of counterfeit cards remained relatively low. The PSA attributes this to the frequent use of 'proxy cards,' which are substitute cards used to test decks, in 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game Duel Monsters' and 'Magic: The Gathering,' and the fact that these can unintentionally end up on the secondary market.

Below is a ranking of the people or characters with the most counterfeit cards. Charizard came in first, surpassing Michael Jordan in second place and Pikachu in third. Other Pokémon characters included Gengar in fifth place, Rayquaza in seventh, Umbreon in eighth, and Mewtwo in ninth, with Pokémon accounting for half of the ranking.

The following is a list of specific cards that were found to have a high number of counterfeit copies submitted to the PSA. Michael Jordan's card came in first place, but Charizard cards came in second through fourth and sixth place. Also, in fifth place was a promotional card of Pikachu wearing the same hat as Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with a Gray Felt Hat,' which was distributed as part of

the Van Gogh x Pokémon collaboration at the Van Gogh Museum, and whose distribution was canceled due to a surge in resellers.

The cards with the highest proportion of counterfeits among those submitted for authentication were sports cards, specifically cards featuring legendary baseball players Honus Wagner and Mickey Mantle , and two types of cards featuring legendary NBA player Michael Jordan .

In 2025, the percentage of counterfeit Pokémon cards that surged compared to the previous year were all high-rarity cards. Also, in August 2025, McDonald's Happy Meals included a limited-edition Pikachu card, which led to mass purchases for resale purposes and food waste, prompting McDonald's to apologize for its 'insufficient response.' According to the PSA, they authenticated over 285,000 of these limited-edition cards, and 51 were found to be counterfeit. The PSA stated that 'even with a sufficient supply in circulation, the motivation to counterfeit will not disappear.'

Furthermore, there are 'modified cards' that are not outright fakes but have been altered to improve their PSA grading rating. Modifications include sanding down the card by 0.1mm to remove scratches on the edges, recoloring, cleaning, and surface treatment. PSA reportedly detects modifications by accurately measuring dimensions, observing light reflection, and checking for slight warping.

In addition, in the modified card category, 'ONE PIECE Card Game' surpassed 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game Duel Monsters,' and in the character-specific rankings, Pikachu overtook Charizard to take first place.

According to the report, PSA has a database of over 270 million card images and uses AI to detect anomalies. PSA states that while AI handles comparisons that would be difficult to do manually, the final decision still requires skilled authenticators who rely on touch and smell, and that 'we believe that the combination of technology-driven human grading is the most powerful method for distinguishing between genuine and counterfeit items.'