One of the hazards of collecting is coming across fake phonecards, which have been appearing on the market in increasing numbers lately.
These cards are worthless or unusable as phonecards, and have been produced simply to cheat collectors.
How can you tell if a phonecard is fake?
- Always check that the card issuer actually exists. Fake phonecards usually come from companies or countries that collectors know little about. Be particularly careful of remote memory cards, since these are the easiest to forge, and many fake cards are in circulation, particularly in the UK, USA and Europe.
- Genuine phonecards (apart from optical and remote memory cards) typically have a magnetic strip or chip in them. Placing two together and pulling them apart, you should be able to feel a slight "tug" as the two cards are attracted to each other. Fake phonecards do not contain any magnetic material, and so will feel like ordinary plastic or paper.
- Close examination of the card by eye or with a magnifying glass will show whether the magnetic strip is perfectly straight, as it should be, or is just ink that has been painted or printed on the card.
Shown below are some phonecards known to be fake.
Click to view a larger image:
| Liberia | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Malawi | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Zambia | ||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
Other sites with information about fake phonecards:
- Andrea Varriale's Fake Phonecards Page
If you have come across other dubious or fake phonecards,
please send so that other honest collectors are not caught out.
