I wanted to make constructive criticism thread with all the "fake slab" threads popping up. I guess first things first is yes fake slabs exist but at the same time they do not exist behind every door like we are sometimes lead to believe. Maybe someone has some examples but I have yet to see a newer secure plus fake PCGS slab or new fake PCGS slab, or new fake NGC or either that were faked that had a legit CAC sticker on them. This is where the constructive criticism comes in. If we have questions lets ask them as a question. So many threads pop up of fake this fake that where it isn't and just think of how many people read those and never come back to realize it isn't. I'm all for learning and asking questions and everything else but we should be 100 percent sure with proof before we throw out accusations that do hurt people's businesses. Its not just this forum and I am not singling anyone out but we need to be more responsible as a collecting community when a lot of the this is fake threads really aren't. Sorry for the rant just wanted to get that off my chest and hopefully make people think a little harder before posting definitive threads as opposed to asking as a question.
For years people asked the question - what about fake slabs ? - when there were no fake slabs, and never had been except for one isolated time in the very beginning (late 80's) when a few fake slabs were identified, and then never again for 20 years. And then, can't remember exactly when but I'm thinking it was around '07, some did begin to appear, and they came in all flavors. At first the TPGs offered up diagnostics to identify them, but the counterfeiters paid attention and corrected their mistakes - and said thank you very much ! To which the TPGs paid attention - and quit helping the bad guys. And where's that leave all of you ? Right between the proverbial rock and hard place ! So what do ya do about it ? The same thing you should have been doing all along - only buy from trusted and respected dealers. Do that and you have minimized your risk for buying counterfeit coins and counterfeit slabs as much as it can possibly be minimized. How and why ? Because trusted and respected dealers stand behind what they sell and will always give you a refund should the worst ever happen. As for correctly identifying fake slabs, well, there's really only one way - send them in to the TPG whose name is on it. Pretty much anything else is nothing but guesswork, and what the OP is talking about.
