No charges in Nanaimo, B.C., counterfeit Pokémon cards case

One Nanaimo, B.C., man was allegedly swindled out of over $1,000 for seven boxes of what ended up being counterfeit Pokémon cards last February — but police say they didn't proceed with charges against an online seller in the case.

According to a search warrant obtained by CBC, the buyer – who lives in Nanaimo – paid the seller $600 in cash at his home, which is located in a supportive housing unit, and another $600 online. He believed the collection to be valued at over $9,000.

The boxes of collector cards were listed on the online platform Kijiji, and included a Pokémon Evolutions booster box and Magic the Gathering cards.

But there was a problem.

As outlined in the warrant, upon receiving the product, the buyer inspected the items he had purchased and saw inconsistencies that led him to conclude he had been scammed. That's when he contacted police. 

Police say the case didn't result in any charges, because they could not definitively prove that the suspect knew the cards were counterfeit before selling. 

"There's so many nickel and dime frauds, it's really not in the best interest of the public for us to utilize our time to proceed with charges on that," said RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien, who speaks for the Nanaimo RCMP. 

"You have to do your due diligence and do your homework before you send someone money [that] you've never met before."

The information on the case is contained in information sworn by Nanaimo RCMP to obtain a search warrant for the suspect's residence. The CBC is not naming the suspect because he has not been charged.

The case highlights the issue of online fraud — particularly around the sale of collectible items on platforms like Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace — and how seeking recourse through the police may not lead to monetary compensation.

Charges rarely brought forward: RCMP officer

According to the warrant, the buyer willingly forfeited the goods for inspection when police began investigating.

Investigators then compared the items on hand to online samples of genuine products being sold by verified dealers, and determined that the buyer had been sold counterfeit cards.

"Upon completing the transaction and taking possession of the goods, [the buyer] completed additional research to learn that the product, which he believed to be valued at more than $9,000 after [the seller] assured was genuine, were counterfeit and valueless," reads the warrant. 

The warrant later details that the seller still had 13 active online listings on Kijiji at the time, for cards and packs, priced from $54 to $1,400. 

The Nanaimo sale is similar to a 2022 case, when a B.C. small claims tribunal awarded full refunds to two collectors who claimed they had been swindled by a "scammer" offering valuable Pokémon cards for sale.

The buyers in that case had paid hundreds of dollars for six Pokémon cards and had received a baseball card, basketball card, and about 15 others that held no value to the buyers. 

O'Brien says that these cases rarely result in criminal charges being brought forward — and it's even more rare for victims to get their money back. 

He says larger cases can attract the attention of police forces' commercial crime units, but those cases often deal in amounts of money totalling thousands, if not millions of dollars, and can still take months or years to bring charges forward.

O'Brien says it's a hard lesson to learn, but buyers should be be aware when purchasing online. 

"Before you enter into an agreement, what have you done to determine it's legitimate?" he asked. 

He advises online shoppers to check the seller's profile, how new their account is, and if there's a history of product sales and reference checks, as ways to be safe when purchasing online. 

RCMP have also previously said that anyone buying items from an online seller should aim to meet them in a public place when picking up the products.

"Follow your instincts: if something seems to good to be true, it likely is," reads an RCMP statement from earlier this year. "If something about the transaction is making you question how legitimate it is, it's best to pass on the deal and maintain your safety."