Audit log

Every state-changing event for Pokemon: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot taken at submission time, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-05-14 06:03:16Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 419,629,139

   sig

   3fGzN6WnugrX…T7trz7Hvcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   EJfbPseQUNiw…TrnbWXzZcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (8016 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"ae175d81-1ef5-4db8-a3ab-49868a08fd36","kind":"publish","page_slug":"pokemon","published_at":"2026-05-14T06:03:16.009Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Pokemon","sections":[{"content":"<cite index=\"2-2,2-8\">The Federal Court of Australia issued a broad injunction against Pokemon Pty Ltd and Kotiota Studios in December 2022 for creating an unauthorized NFT game called 'PokéWorld' that misused Pokemon trademarks and characters.</cite> <cite index=\"2-4,2-5\">Kotiota had falsely represented themselves as contractors for The Pokemon Company, claiming involvement in developing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Home, and Pokemon Sleep, and even alleged that Pokemon owned 8% of Kotiota.</cite> <cite index=\"14-3,14-4\">The Pokemon Company International explicitly stated that they, The Pokemon Company, and Nintendo had made a deliberate decision not to launch any Pokemon NFTs, and denied any involvement with Kotiota.</cite>","heading":"Unauthorized NFT and Cryptocurrency Projects","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Bulbagarden court case report on Pokemon NFT lawsuit","type":"community_report","url":"https://bulbagarden.net/threads/tpci-used-lawsuit-its-super-effective-pokemon-takes-crypto-fraudsters-to-court-for-misuse-of-pokemon-characters-and-trademarks-in-nft-game-scam.295609/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Game Developer report on Pokemon Company NFT lawsuit","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-pokemon-company-files-suit-over-unauthorized-pokemon-nft-game"}]},{"content":"<cite index=\"1-1,1-2\">At least 477 cases of Pokemon trading card scams have been reported since October 2025, with losses totaling at least $958,000, according to authorities in Singapore who warned that scammers are exploiting excitement around new set releases.</cite> <cite index=\"5-3,5-4,5-6\">In May 2024, federal authorities arrested Anthony Curcio and Iosif Bondarchuk for a $2 million fraud scheme involving inflated prices of collectible cards, including Pokemon cards, with one Michael Jordan card sold for $171,000 when it was worth between $6,000 and $7,000.</cite> <cite index=\"3-5,3-6,3-10\">A separate investigation in 2025 revealed alleged prototype Pokemon card fraud involving thousands of potentially forged cards, with one prototype Pikachu card selling for $24,400, potentially involving millions of dollars in fraudulent sales since 2024.</cite>","heading":"Trading Card Scams and Fraud","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Bitdefender Pokemon card scam report","type":"research","url":"https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/pokemon-card-scams-2026"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Newsweek federal fraud case report","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.newsweek.com/pokemon-sports-trading-cards-fraud-scheme-arrests-1906522"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CBR Pokemon TCG prototype scam investigation","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cbr.com/pokemon-tcg-prototype-card-scam/"}]},{"content":"<cite index=\"6-4,6-5,6-6\">Singapore police reported at least seven job scam cases since January 2026 involving fake online tasks linked to digital Pokemon trading cards, with victims losing S$51,600 after being induced to deposit cryptocurrency on fraudulent websites.</cite> <cite index=\"6-20,6-21,6-22,6-25,6-28,6-29\">The scam involved victims selecting digital Pokemon cards on fraudulent websites and being told they would earn commissions based on card values, but when victims tried to withdraw their supposed earnings, the withdrawals could not be completed and website operators became uncontactable.</cite>","heading":"Cryptocurrency Job Scams","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"The Online Citizen Singapore police advisory","type":"news_article","url":"https://theonlinecitizen.com/2026/02/06/police-warn-of-commission-based-pokemon-trading-card-scams-causing-s-51-600-losses-in-jan-2026"}]},{"content":"<cite index=\"1-11,1-13,1-15,1-17\">Scammers have created counterfeit Pokemon cards inserted into fake graded slabs sold as premium collectibles, fake Pokemon merchandise and anniversary collectibles, and use the Pokemon brand to steal credentials through phishing attacks that can lead to stolen logins or malware infections.</cite> <cite index=\"16-2,16-3,16-4\">The Pokemon Company was alerted to fraudulent activities when Kotiota's legal department contacted media organizations requesting to be credited as Pokemon developers, claiming intellectual property rights related to Pokemon video games.</cite>","heading":"Counterfeit Merchandise and Brand Misuse","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Bitdefender Pokemon scam analysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/pokemon-card-scams-2026"},{"credibility":2,"name":"GamesRadar Pokemon NFT fraud investigation","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.gamesradar.com/crypto-bros-lie-about-pokemon-nfts-get-smacked-down-by-the-real-pokemon-company/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Bitdefender Pokemon card scam analysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/pokemon-card-scams-2026"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Bulbagarden NFT lawsuit report","type":"community_report","url":"https://bulbagarden.net/threads/tpci-used-lawsuit-its-super-effective-pokemon-takes-crypto-fraudsters-to-court-for-misuse-of-pokemon-characters-and-trademarks-in-nft-game-scam.295609/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Newsweek federal fraud case","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.newsweek.com/pokemon-sports-trading-cards-fraud-scheme-arrests-1906522"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Singapore police advisory","type":"news_article","url":"https://theonlinecitizen.com/2026/02/06/police-warn-of-commission-based-pokemon-trading-card-scams-causing-s-51-600-losses-in-jan-2026"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CBR prototype card fraud investigation","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cbr.com/pokemon-tcg-prototype-card-scam/"}],"summary":"Pokemon itself is a legitimate intellectual property owned by The Pokemon Company International, Nintendo, and Game Freak. However, the brand has been extensively exploited in various scam operations including fraudulent NFT projects, trading card fraud schemes, counterfeit merchandise sales, and cryptocurrency investment scams that have collectively resulted in millions of dollars in losses.","timeline":[{"date":"2022-08-25","event":"Kotiota Studios contacted media claiming to be Pokemon developers","source":"GamesRadar","source_url":"https://www.gamesradar.com/crypto-bros-lie-about-pokemon-nfts-get-smacked-down-by-the-real-pokemon-company/"},{"date":"2022-12-21","event":"Australian Federal Court issued injunction against Pokemon Pty Ltd for NFT fraud","source":"Bulbagarden","source_url":"https://bulbagarden.net/threads/tpci-used-lawsuit-its-super-effective-pokemon-takes-crypto-fraudsters-to-court-for-misuse-of-pokemon-characters-and-trademarks-in-nft-game-scam.295609/"},{"date":"2024-05-31","event":"Federal arrests in $2 million Pokemon and sports card fraud scheme","source":"Newsweek","source_url":"https://www.newsweek.com/pokemon-sports-trading-cards-fraud-scheme-arrests-1906522"},{"date":"2025-01-28","event":"Investigation revealed alleged Pokemon prototype card fraud involving millions","source":"CBR","source_url":"https://www.cbr.com/pokemon-tcg-prototype-card-scam/"},{"date":"2025-10-01","event":"477 Pokemon trading card scams reported with $958,000 in losses","source":"Bitdefender","source_url":"https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/pokemon-card-scams-2026"},{"date":"2026-01-01","event":"Singapore police warn of cryptocurrency job scams using Pokemon cards","source":"The Online Citizen","source_url":"https://theonlinecitizen.com/2026/02/06/police-warn-of-commission-based-pokemon-trading-card-scams-causing-s-51-600-losses-in-jan-2026"}]},"v":1}

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