hotsoup,
Unfortunately, as you can probably tell from the mixed information on this thread, there is no one surefire way to spot a counterfeit. The folks making these fake scopes aren't stupid and are always changing their tactics. We have seen serial numbers lifted from real products, serial numbers that look real but are not, and serial numbers that are totally incorrect.
Just looking for the right serial number format would have been a pretty good strategy five years ago when almost every counterfeit we saw were laughably bad Mark 4s, but those days are gone. We are seeing almost-passable looking VX-3is, VX-2s, DeltaPoint Pros, LCOs, among others.
If you are looking at a used item and want to be sure, shoot us an email with a description and some pictures to
[email protected]. We especially want to see images of the windage and elevation dials and the power selector.