Kpop is a blooming industry, with a growing appreciation around the world. Unlike western album, we get the opportunity to achieve signed albums of those idols. But this has attracted a group of people thirsty for money, ready to cheat international fans by selling fake signed albums. But here is a way to not fall into this trap. 

Just to clarify I am not korean. My advice might not be 100% accurate, but I have gathered enough knowledge concerning the issue, and I thought about sharing it to other people. 

As you may know, the most common place international fans buy their signed albums is eBay. But as everyone knows, it isn't the safest place to buy legit things. Obviously not everyone is a scammer, so you have to really do a thorough search before impulsively buying.

There are mainly 3 types of signed albums on eBay sold:

★ mWave/soompi/yesasia albums 

★ Promo albums

★ Fansign albums

Before starting off, two important things to know before starting your own research:

★ If the album has a COA certificate, it is fake. Reason: the COA certificate is itself very pricey, somewhere along more than 50$ in order to obtain it, the person would need to ship it to the company, and the whole procedure itself is expensive, hence it is very likely that the people who obtained these certificates end up not being genuine. As why would you sell a signed album with COA for a mere 30$ when you spent more to get the certificate. So a signed kpop album has a COA certificate? Fake.

★ The Komca sticker DOES not prove the authencity of an album. You can ONLY rely on the signatures themselves to judge their genuinity. The silver Komca with "not for sale" are just albums not sold to general public but given as GIFTS to the staff. Those gifts could be signed or unsigned, and someone could buy an unsigned one and do the signatures himself. There are silver Komca albums unsigned on eBay, someone can buy them and sign it themselves. 

MWAVE/SOOMPI/YESASIA ALBUMS

The first type is essentially mwave albums (soompi no longer sells albums and yesasia tends to be pricier than mwave, so people mainly buy from mwave). There is no way to tell that it is a mwave album. Those are regular albums, with the C1 golden color sticker. However, there are still some ways to spot whether it is fake. Usually people who sell mwave albums will state it in their description, or if the seller doesn't state where he got his album, do ask them. Some sellers who are kind of new to eBay won't always remember to state that it is a mwave album. (Because they sometimes just want to sell this one album because they are no longer fans so they don't really care about writing lengthy descriptions and just want to sell them quickly) Then, do make sure the album they are offering was sold by mWave. Imagine they are selling a signed Shinee album and state they got it from mwave, there is no way they got it because mwave doesn't sell any signed YG or SM albums, or some popular groups like INFINITE or B2ST, I have myself asked mwave directly and this was the answer I got: 

“Dear Customer, Hello this is Mwave. Thank you for your interest. At this time we do not have any plans for Beast or Infinite because they are too busy with their schedules. We do not have plans for SM or YG artists either because it is pretty hard to get them to come. I am sorry for the disappointment. Please keep an eye out just incase we do get them for our Meet and Greet! Thank you. Best, Mwave

So do double check whether the album was sold by mwave. Another thing to spot whether it is fake is to ask the seller the receipt of the order. Legit sellers will provide it (often) immediately with a screenshot, whilst fake legit sellers will try to come up with an excuse (well some really are telling the truth when they forgot for instance their password, in that case ask what their ID was - to check whether they did buy from the board) or just NEVER answer you. Never buy without having some security. Some people also buy from group orders, ask them the seller's name (from who they bought), proof they paid them (or discussed with them) and when it's a meet&greet item, check whether that seller actually exists in the all star board (the board shows all the people who bought the items). A case for which I spotted a fake signed album was when a seller on mwave "let's talk" board put a thread saying she was selling several signed albums from mwave. However that seller registered on mWave several months after that meet&greet, so she obviously didn't get it herself (or she could have created a new account? But I doubt it), so I sent her email from who she obtained it. It has been 2 months and I NEVER received an answer. Yes, she could be busy, absent for vacation, but after more knowledge about the signatures (I now know well how some groups' signatures look like) I realized that the signatures were fake.  Good thing I didn't buy it, I tend to rush when I buy things - because I'm always scared that someone might buy it before me.

For the fake one, I am 99.99% it is fake. I will give you several reasons as to why. As for the "real" ones, once again there is no certitude those are 100% real, but by comparing to the signed albums I got from mwave, those ones are pretty similar. (The real albums are promo albums,  I couldn't find any mwave signed albums, there are very few around) Let's not forgot that those signatures are slightly simplified (like Jungkook) because they have to sign several albums, so they will look different from a fansign (because they are given more time and they give it to the fan in person!) or represented official signatures (like in photocards, goods, ... Etc because those are printed signatures, so obviously they'll try to make it look nice! Who would put a simplified signature for it to be printed on stuff?).

So why would those signatures be fake? Here are my reasons:

★ Anyone can spot that those signatures look signed by the same person. Same pressure of the pen...

★ Same neatness.... Too neat. We can see that person was trying to be careful. Usually they are trying to sign it quickly, but this looks like it was done carefully.

★ Rapmonster's signature was the most obvious. (Top middle) His signature is the one that usually never variates, it is clear and bigger, not a shy little scribble. We can't even clearly see the signature.

★ J-hope's (bottom right) signature was wayyyy too neat, like the circle surrounding his name is very neat, too straight. Just look it yourself.

★ The pen used isn't the normal one. You can see smudges, when there shouldn't be any. (It's possible smudges when the ink wasn't dry, but in this scenario it looks like it was because it was because the pen is easily smudged if you touch it even when it dried out)

★ There are so many other details that it is fake, I let you obverse with your own eyes.

So after you have double checked everything, that the signatures look legit and everything else, I guess you could buy it? At first, I have to say I couldn't tell this was a fake, because my eyes simply weren't used to their signatures. Please buy it if you know well the signatures (take some time to look at several of their signatures, like printed ones, or from people who did reviews on mwave of their albums, people post what they received and those people are the most legit obviously because they bought directly from mwave, and why would they post fake signatures? It's not like they were selling it)

Also look at the price, if it's $10, this is way too suspicious. (Except if it's an auction, then it's another story) if it's direct buy at that price for (more) popular groups like Miss A or 2pm, then really check thoroughly. Sometimes some sellers put pictures that aren't theirs, so please ask the seller to send more pictures if possible (or to ask them to put a paper with their username written next to the album when they take the picture). For nugu groups, those prices could be possible, but then be very careful. 

Never impulsively buy. Nobody wants some random money thirsty person's scribbles on the album they buy, that album would be worth NOTHING. (and would be impossible to resell)

Also, here's a little trick for BTS. BTS, from their debut, have NEVER changed the position of their signatures. The order is always as follows, Jin is top left, Rapmonster top middle, Suga top right, V middle left, Jimin middle right, J-Hope bottom left and Jungkook bottom right. They have adapted this since they signed a loooooot of albums and I guess it's easier for them. But not every groups does that though.

PROMO ALBUMS

Promo albums are special albums usually distributed to broadcasting channels such as Inkigayo, M! countdown, The Show, Music Bank etc. They are used to ... Promote their album! They are given to the staff. However, not everyone wants to keep those albums (with every groups that pass to those broadcasting channels, they could have a HUGE library made of all those treasures), so those eBay users will buy it from them (usually at rather cheap price or for free? Because they got connections with them) and then resell them on eBay. The fact is, the albums are not as desirable as we expect them to be, here's an article click here showing that the workers.... don't really care about those albums.
Promo albums are distinguishable because they have often printed "NOT FOR SALE" or "PROMOTION ONLY" on the back (normally), and have a silver colored promo sticker, with written 비매  which means Not for Sale in Korean. I've gone ahead to confirm this by asking mwave (I think they must really hate me with all the questions I ask them, but they are still polite to answer me!)

“ Dear Customer, Hello this is Mwave. Thank you for your inquiry. I believe that the difference between normal CDs and promo CDs is the different wording on the sticker and perhaps color. The promotional albums are more silver and has the word 비매 which means not for sale and the normal CDs have C1 and are more gold in color. There are even red letters for some of the promotional KOMCA sticker, so I believe some of the normal CDs could have red letters on it also and some CDs have white letterings. I think the company makes so that the KOMCA stickers also matches the CD colors. Also, I do not think there is a place where you can verify the number of your CD.

Sucks right? There is no way to know whether the KOMCA sticker corresponds actually to the album. So what's the use of that number then? ._. So basically, also make sure the letters' color is the same for every promo album of the same album! If one KOMCA sticker has white lettering for every promo albums a certain album has sold and then someone sells them with a red lettering... suspicious right? You really need to find the details, my friend!

Also, people who can get promo albums are.... korean! So do double check where the item ships from (some sellers says that they are based in USA, but doesn't mean they aren't shipping from Korea). If the item is shipped from Shanghai.... ermmmm.... wouldn't recommend buying from the person. Many many many fake signed albums are sold from chinese sellers, and they can't give any reason as how it would be real, the sole reason is "please trust me" (erm no. I won't. Plus they tend to sell only C1 KOMCA albums.) But watch out! Item sold from Korea =/= legit. Some companies don't use the promo stickers in their latest albums such as TOP Media (Teen top) or FNC entertainment (FT island, CN blue, n.Flying, AOA). Sometimes, there's also the management contact list (we can see the phone numbers, and it's a white sticker with the details. The seller usually hides parts of the phone number to avoid that people call those numbers, which is rather common sense!)

Most promo albums are signed, but not all of them! So beware, really beware, some really money thirsty people may go ahead to buy some unsigned promo albums and do the signatures themselves. Hence promo album doesn't equal to 100% genuine signed album.

The fake signatures just SCREAM for themselves. Just look at the details. Although it has the KOMCA silevr sticker, the NOT FOR SALE sticker, the manager's contact info (that weren't even covered tssss.)..... Anyone can see by comparing that it is fake. (I don't need to tell you what's wrong like the other example do I?) (Also the item would be shipped from Korea, an example that there's korean scammers as well!)
Also don't forget, the signatures on the album won't be 100% like the reference signatures. They signed it for Billboard, obviously they won't use their simplified signature. They have to sign several promo albums, so they won't add details like "Beast". Some members are more lazy when it comes to signing, some aren't. (men tend to have more lazy signatures, when you look at girl groups' signatures, theirs always seem to be quite nice, especially for rookie groups, they have the cutest signatures ever! Like Red Velvet, Oh my Girl, CLC...)
Once you spot someone who sells at least one fake signed album, I wouldn't recommend buying ANYTHING from them, even if some other seem legit. Once a scammer, always a scammer.

As said for the mwave albums, be sure to know well the person's/people's signature. Also a much too low price can trigger some doubts, selling an exo album for $30 is just way too suspicious, nobody is that kind hearted to sell it at such low price. 

FANSIGN ALBUMS

Fansigns albums are also recognizable by the fact that they are signed inside the album, in the booklet. Each member has his own page where he signs with his signature and there's a "TO: person's name" and sometimes a little message (depends on how that fansign works, sometimes they'll allow the idols to write a little message, sometimes they won't). There's also a post-it for which the person asked a question to the person and he has to tick between the choices (multiple choice question) or simply write the answer. The post-it is not always sold together with the signed album because the person might have kept it as a souvenir or whatever. The signatures are usually look very similar to their 'official signatures' which you can see on goods with printed signatures, on the back of some photocards and so on. You can always Google a group's signature to compare. Since the people have more time signing (and they make an effort doing a nice signature since the fan is literally in front of them), the signature will look almost the same as their official one. 

Just my own opinion, I personally wouldn't buy a fansign one, simply because the signatures would have been meant to another person, to that certain person since there's the person's name. It would feel wrong for instance to receive/buy a used birthday card, with someone else's name. You know what I mean? But I am not stopping you from buying it. 

(Pfouahhh. Took a bit of time to find fansign pictures ;_; I could have put again BTS, since there's plenty being sold on ebay, but we need some variation!) Okay so we have Exo-K here (and there's an unbelievable amount of fake being sold on ebay...), I decided to pick them since it would be more useful to the big fandom they have!
Okay so this person did a pretty good job copying I guess.

Why is it fake for me? I will go one by one, from top to bottom. (Btw, I didn't put them by the order of preference lol)
★ Kai NEVER does circles for the points on the ' i ', this is a big error. The picture was cut the way I found impossile, to see well the entire signature. So I cannot analyze it any further.
★ For Sehun, I got to say, the scammer did a pretty good job on this one. The "Hun" just seems fishy to me, especially the 'H'. But then, if it was only this signature, would be tough to spot the fakeness.
★ For D.O., The ' D ' is wayyyyyy too streched out. And his ' D ' is usually inclined, like a bit rotated, somewhat 30-45 degrees rotation. Just compare with the real signature and the reference.
★ Baekhyun..... ooooooh.... big giveaway.... really obvious on this one. Can't see? His signature is made of ' exo ' and 'baek' or 'baekhyun'. So basically his ' e ' looks like a horizontal arrow pointing toward the left. The fake signature ' e ' doesn't even look like a ' e ' , just an arrow pointing towards the top??? And the ' B ' isn't supposed to touch the ' o ' of 'exo'. Even if he did it quickly, it shouldn't touch that awkward way.
★ Suho's looks well imitated, The ' h ' looks like a curl, when he usually never does, normally just a spike.
★ Chanyeol's looks okay as well, but it doesn't look as smooth. The ' l ' isn't curled enough, well it's too small the space inside the ' l ' , and the ' c ' is not curled enough at the end.

Obviously the best option would be to a fansign yourself if ever you plan on going to Korea or the group comes to your country and offers it (like a poster fansign session for Boys' republic for their European tour for people who bought VIP tickets), because like that you are sure it's legit since they are signing it in front of YOURS own eyes. Or even buying it directly from mwave or yesasia, because they are 100% legit.

A good example of a 100% fake seller is an ebay user, which I won't reveal the name, but give his link click here. All his albums are sooooooo fake, now that I know so well the BTS albums, this just jumps to the eyes. I've contacted him previously, asking where he got the albums and he answered "abc company", what company is that???? And he never answered me back afterwards when I questionned him further. This guy has been scamming so many people, please do not buy from him. So even if a user is from Korea, they can scam you even better. Like an innocent lamb. I might post a full article of the sellers I belive are legit and those that are fake (more fake I know of...).

And as an end of note, feel free to comment if you want some help spotting a fake signed album. My opinion isn't 100% reliable, but if you have doubts, it's always better to have some opinions! :) (I've seen people ask help on forums, the signed album was so fake and since people have no experience - like they just toss their opinion like that without any afterthought - they thought it was real.) PS. That post took several days to write, motivation was needed, it took me several months of experience, so all was not done in a few minutes. Please do not plagiarize the article or use it to try to cheat better people. That would be very dishonest of you.  Tne images took time to be photoshopped, to be found etc. (my fingers hurt as i'm writing this, I should seriously learn to type with all 10 fingers)