I'm an analytical chemist with 8 years of experience in pharmaceutical QC. I've been reviewing vendor COAs (Certificates of Analysis) posted on this forum for the past year, and I need to show you all how easy it is to fake these documents and how to spot the fakes. I've identified at least 7 vendors currently using fabricated COAs. Here's how they do it and how to catch them. METHOD 1: The Photoshop Template The most common method. They take a real COA from a legitimate lab, photoshop the vendor name, batch number, and results. Telltale signs: - Font inconsistencies (different fonts in header vs. results) - Resolution differences between the template and added text - Lab logo is blurry or pixelated (screenshot of a screenshot) - Metadata on the PDF shows it was created in Photoshop or Canva, not analytical software METHOD 2: The Fake Lab Vendor creates a completely fictional laboratory. They make up a lab name, create a professional-looking template, and generate whatever numbers they want. Signs: - Lab name doesn't appear in any accreditation databases - Lab address doesn't exist or is a residential address - Lab phone number is disconnected or goes to a generic voicemail - No presence on Google Scholar or in any published literature METHOD 3: The Selective Report Vendor actually sends product to a real lab, but only publishes the ONE good result and hides the failures. This is technically real data but deeply misleading. Signs: - Only one COA for dozens of batches - COA is months old but being used for recent batches - Batch number on COA doesn't match your vial METHOD 4: The Altered Real Report Vendor gets a real test done, results come back bad, so they alter the numbers. Signs: - Contact the lab directly with the report number — they can verify - Numbers seem "too perfect" (exactly 99.5% purity, exactly 10.00mg content) - HPLC chromatogram doesn't match the stated purity (if chromatogram is included) I'll go into detail on each in the replies with specific examples I've found.