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.

EXAMPLE 1 — PurityFirst Peptides (Blacklisted) Their COA claimed to be from "Advanced Analytical Laboratories" in San Diego. I investigated: - No such lab exists in San Diego - The address on the COA is a UPS Store - The "lab director" name doesn't appear in any LinkedIn, publication, or professional database - The HPLC chromatogram on the COA was literally copied from a textbook (I found the original image) The COA claimed: - Semaglutide purity: 99.2% - Content: 10.04mg per vial - Endotoxin: <0.1 EU/mg - Sterility: Pass When the product was actually tested by Janoshik: - Purity: 86.3% - Content: 6.1mg (61% of label) - The peptide showed significant degradation peaks Everything on their COA was fabricated. The lab, the director, the results — all of it.

EXAMPLE 2 — How to Verify a Janoshik Report Since Janoshik is the most commonly cited lab, vendors sometimes fake Janoshik reports too. Here's how to verify: 1. Every Janoshik report has a unique report number (format: JAN-YYYY-XXXXX) 2. You can email Janoshik directly at their published email and ask them to confirm a report number 3. Real Janoshik reports have consistent formatting, fonts, and layout 4. The HPLC chromatogram on a real report will show specific peaks with retention times — these are difficult to convincingly fake I found one vendor ("ResearchGradePeptides") posting a Janoshik report that had been altered. The report number was real, but the purity had been changed from 91.2% to 98.7%. I confirmed this by contacting Janoshik directly. ALWAYS verify COAs directly with the lab. A 30-second email can save you from buying garbage.

this is incredible work. Question: what percentage of vendor COAs that you've reviewed do you estimate are fraudulent or misleading? Also — if a vendor provides a Janoshik report and I verify it's real, does that guarantee my specific vial is good? Or could they have tested one batch and be selling different (worse) batches under the same COA?

Great questions. Estimate of fraudulent/misleading COAs: Out of about 40 vendor COAs I've reviewed in the past year, I'd say: - ~30% were clearly fabricated (fake lab or photoshopped) - ~25% were "selective" (real but cherry-picked, old, or mismatched batch) - ~20% were real and matched the product (verified with lab) - ~25% I couldn't conclusively determine And yes, your second concern is valid. A real COA for Batch A doesn't guarantee Batch B is the same quality. This is the "selective reporting" problem. Ideally, every batch would be tested, but most vendors don't do that. The gold standard is: the BUYER sends their specific vial to a lab. That's the only way to know for sure what YOU received is what it should be.