A “fake CGC” covers two distinct realities: the entirely counterfeit slab, made in-house with a printed label and a glued case, and the authentic slab but tampered with from the inside, where the original comic was replaced by a copy of lesser value then returned to CGC for “reholding”. This second case exploded at the end of 2023 with a scandal affecting around 350 comics before CGC filed a complaint against those responsible. To protect yourself, you must systematically cross-reference the certification number on the official CGC website, examine the heat-sealed hologram under the light and compare the photos of the case with those recorded during dimming.
Professional grading has a simple objective: to freeze the condition of a comic at a given time and guarantee the buyer that he is paying exactly what is described on the label. CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) has established itself since the early 2000s as the benchmark in the sector, to the point that its sealed transparent case – the famous “slab” – serves as a benchmark of trust on eBay, at conventions and on specialized platforms. A comic graded 9.8 logically sells for more than an equivalent non-graded copy, precisely because the buyer no longer needs to inspect the paper, the corners or the stapling himself: CGC has already done this, under commercial oath.
It is precisely this confidence that makes the CGC slab a target. A sealed box reassures the buyer so much that it often pushes them to skip the verification step that they would spontaneously do on a raw comic. This psychological shortcut, combined with the sometimes considerable value of certain key numbers, has given rise to two well-identified avenues of fraud: the artisanal counterfeiting of cases and labels, older and relatively easy to spot once you know where to look, and internal substitution — an authentic, lower-grade comic slipped into a legitimate case — much more difficult to detect because it uses real CGC components.
This article details how these two types of fraud work in practice, what CGC has put in place to combat them since the 2023-2024 scandal, and especially the step-by-step method for checking a slab before buying it, whether online or in person at a convention.
How CGC became the standard — and why it attracts fraudsters
CGC has been grading comics since 2000 and has built its reputation on a simple principle: a numerical score out of 10, awarded by a panel of several independent graders, accompanied by a sealed encapsulation supposed to freeze the condition of the book for decades. The box is not just a decorative container: it is physical proof that the rank displayed corresponds to the comic it protects. Each slab bears a unique certification number, engraved on the label, which links to a publicly viewable file on the CGC website — series, number, grade, date of gradation and sometimes a photo of the comic as it was received. This system has operated for over twenty years with a high level of confidence, sufficient for key copies likeIncredible Hulk#181 orAmazing Spider-Man#252 trade for four or five figure amounts based solely on the displayed CGC grade, without the buyer ever physically opening the case. It is precisely this almost automatic trust that ended up attracting fraudsters, including — this is the most troubling point in recent history — within the company itself.
Two very distinct fraud logics
Before going any further, we must clarify a point which often causes confusion on the forums: “fake CGC” does not designate a single thing. We actually distinguish two families of fraud, with very different mechanisms and levels of dangerousness.
The first is outright counterfeiting: someone fabricates a case from scratch that imitates the appearance of a CGC slab, with a homemade printed label roughly reproducing the official layout, and inserts a lower grade comic or even a facsimile. This type of fraud, documented for years on CGC forums and by restoration professionals like comicpresser.com, relies on "glued case half-shells" and hand-crafted labels. These forgeries are generally identifiable quite easily once we know the visual codes of a real slab, because faithfully reproducing the heat-sealed hologram and the microprinting of the text remains technically difficult for an isolated forger.
The second, much more insidious, does not consist of imitating a CGC box but of diverting an authentic one. The fraudster opens a real slab, removes the high grade comic, replaces it with a lower grade copy of the same series and the same issue, then closes the case or returns it to CGC for "reholding" - a procedure normally intended to replace a damaged case without regrading the comic. The new slab, perfectly authentic in its manufacture, then displays a grade which no longer corresponds at all to the comic actually inside. It is exactly this mechanism which is at the heart of the scandal which shook the community at the end of 2023.
The CGC reholding scandal: what really happened
At the end of December 2023, an Instagram account specializing in vintage comics, @then.9newstand, published a photo comparison that calls out: a copy ofAmazing Spider-Man#252 in Mark Jewelers variant, graded high and sold for $15,700, has visible damage inconsistent with the grade displayed on the label. The alert spread quickly on the CGC forums and YouTube, and other collectors began comparing their own slabs with the photos taken at the time of the initial submission. On December 28, 2023, CGC published a first press release acknowledging the existence of a problem and announced that it had hired private investigators and an external law firm. On January 3, 2024, the company released an official list of potentially affected comics: around 350 copies, mainly high-value key issues such asIncredible Hulk#181 (Wolverine's first appearance), for which the pattern was systematically the same - buy an expensive high grade copy, empty it of its contents, substitute a much less well preserved copy bought for a fraction of the price, then send the whole thing back for reholding to leave with a new clean certification number.
The investigation ultimately named two former CGC employees, Brandon Terrazas and his wife Ayana Terrazas, accused of stealing comics belonging to customers during their time with the company, replacing them with copies of lesser value, then reselling the hijacked high-grade books on the open market with false labels. CGC and its parent company, Certified Collectibles Group, filed a lawsuit against the two former employees, seeking damages of up to $2 million per infringed mark under U.S. trademark law. On February 13, 2024, a court issued an order for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendants from any activity related to CGC graded comics during the proceedings.
CGC’s response and process changes
Beyond the legal procedure, CGC announced several concrete changes in its internal functioning. Any reholding request — previously a relatively quick service intended for damaged boxes — now requires review by a senior grader before being processed. The seals of the boxes have been reinforced to make undetectable opening more difficult, and the company has indicated that it is testing additional security solutions without publicly specifying their exact nature, for obvious reasons of anti-fraud confidentiality. On the compensation policy, CGC was specific: if a listed comic is examined and found to be correctly graded, it is re-held with a new certification number and returned free of charge to its owner. If, on the other hand, the grade turns out to be incorrect, the owner is compensated up to the actual market value of a copy correctly graded at the level that was initially announced — and not the value of the comic actually found in the box. On the certification sheets available online, a crossed out number (“strikethrough”) indicates that a file has been reviewed by the grading team as part of this investigation, without this automatically meaning that the comic in question has been tampered with.
Spotting a counterfeit box: physical clues
For artisanal counterfeiting - the case entirely made in-house rather than a real slab diverted - several clues remain relatively reliable, provided they are checked methodically rather than at a glance.
The hologram is the first checkpoint. On a recent authentic CGC slab, it is heat-sealed and integrated directly into the thickness of the plastic of the label, which gives it a particular texture and depth when tilted under direct light: the reflections move clearly and continuously. On a counterfeit, the hologram is often a simple sticker placed on the surface, which appears flat, whose reflections are blurry, static, or which peels off slightly at the edges if examined closely. The second point concerns the typography and layout of the label. CGC uses a proprietary font and layout grid: the alignment of series name, number, grade and subcategories (such as paper whiteness) always follows the same rigorous pattern. Irregular letter spacing, poorly centered grading, or subcategories that don't line up properly with the rest of the text are serious red flags. The third point, often neglected, consists of checking that the comic visible inside the box corresponds to what the label announces: edition, variant cover, possible special mentions. A label that announces a specific variant on a comic that clearly does not bear the distinctive marks of this variant should immediately arouse suspicion.
Check certification number online
This is the simplest and most decisive step, and yet one that many buyers skip because the case looks "ok." Each CGC slab has a unique certification number, printed on the label, which should be searchable on the official verification tool on the CGC website. Three scenarios are possible at this stage. The number does not return any results: it is an immediate warning signal, either the number is fabricated or it has been copied incorrectly - if in doubt, you should ask the seller again for a clear and readable photo of the label before concluding anything. The number exists but corresponds to a comic different from the one displayed on the box - series, number or grade which do not correspond: this is the sign of a real label recycled on a bad slab, a technique used by certain fraudsters who recover an authentic certification number to apply it to a fake box. The number exists and corresponds perfectly to what is described: this is a good sign, but it is not enough to completely rule out the risk of internal substitution in the style of a 2023-2024 scandal, to the extent that this fraud used real, legitimate certification numbers attached to substituted content. For this specific case, comparing the historical photos recorded on the CGC sheet — when they are available — with the actual physical condition of the comic received remains the best protection.
Reholding: a legitimate service that has become a point of vigilance
It is important not to demonize reholding as such: it is a perfectly legitimate service, designed to replace a cracked, yellowed or damaged case without having to regrade the comic. The vast majority of reholdings take place without the slightest problem. The 2023-2024 scandal did not reveal a flaw in the principle of reholding, but in the control surrounding it at the time – a service deemed too fast and not sufficiently supervised, which made it the preferred gateway for the substitution of comics. For a buyer, the practical consequence is simple: a slab whose label indicates a recent reholding date, without the original certification number being clearly traceable, deserves a little more careful examination than average - not automatic suspicion, but additional verification, in particular for high-value key numbers which have historically been the preferred targets of this type of fraud.
Impact on the market: has confidence in slabs been permanently damaged?
The first visible consequence of the scandal was a spike in general distrust, particularly for slabs sold without clear documentation of their history or verifiable photos. Some collectors, scalded, have temporarily favored freshly graded comics — whose journey between submission and sale is short and traceable — to the detriment of older slabs that have changed hands several times, precisely the profile most exposed to this type of manipulation. Fundamentally, however, the graded comics market has not experienced a widespread collapse in value linked to this affair. The vast majority of slabs in circulation, including those from the most sought-after series, have never been included in the list of approximately 350 identified copies. The episode mainly had the effect of raising the level of requirements of experienced buyers: systematic verification of the certification number before any significant purchase, preference for sellers capable of providing an ownership history, and increased attention paid to the condition of the hologram and the seal when purchasing in person. This is good news in the long term for the reliability of the system, even if it comes at the cost of a one-off shock to confidence. To place a graded comic in its rating context, it remains useful to understand the difference in value between neighboring grades: the difference between a 9.0 and a 9.8, for example, can represent a significant multiple of the price, which precisely explains why these few tenths of a point could motivate such elaborate frauds — see our detailed comparison onthe difference in rating between a CGC 9 and a CGC 9.8to concretely measure this effect on the market.
Buying guide: how to secure the purchase of a CGC graded comic
Here is a list of concrete checks to systematically apply before paying for a CGC graded comic, whether the purchase is made online or during a physical meeting.
- Check certification numberon the official CGC search tool before any financial commitment, including for a seller who seems perfectly serious.
- Compare series, number, grade and subcategoriesdisplayed on the label with those returned by the online form — the slightest discrepancy must stop the transaction until clarification.
- Request clear and recent photosof the case from several angles, in particular of the hologram tilted under the light, rather than just a generic photo taken from an old ad.
- Examine the physical condition of the comicvisible through the plastic: corners, spine, staples — a comic that appears visibly more damaged than the displayed grade suggests is a major red flag.
- Be wary of an abnormally low pricefor a high grade on a sought-after key number, especially combined with the seller's insistence on closing quickly, in cash and with no possible return.
- Favor sellers capable of justifying the historyof the comic — date of initial submission, possible reholding, provenance — rather than a simple photo of the slab without context.
- Examine the seal and the case halveslooking for traces of glue, ill-fitting edges, or uneven thickness that would betray a hand-reassembled case.
- Keep track of the entire transaction— screenshots of the ad, message exchanges, photos received — useful in the event of a subsequent dispute, particularly on a platform like eBay which has dedicated buyer protections.
- Maintain your own collection history, including the certification numbers of comics already acquired, to be able to react quickly if a future report from CGC concerned one of your slabs — thecollection management applicationallows you to centralize this information rather than dispersing it between several receipts and screenshots.