Azeztulite. One of the most foolish scams on the mineral world. Not only are people buying shards of the most common mineral on earth for several dollars per carat, the scam just keeps getting bigger!

One of the reasons I even bother to bring this point up is that I’m seeing all of these variations (all trademarked) whenever the scamsters find enough of a supply to warrant new names.

I was viewing an eBay seller’s account and I saw this nugget, mixed into an account full of interesting minerals…

When this shameful scam will end, nobody can know. We certainly hope it is sooner than later. Azeztulite is broken quartz shards, devoid of worth.

We originally heard about these at the Munich show, however, by the time we went to the booth they were gone. So, I’m both bothered they would bring them to Tucson, yet, happy that John Veevaert got a lovely photograph of one to share with you at home.

Let’s all thank John for showing us this photo!

Stay away from these specimens, fake fluorites from China

Still just beginning, but I foresee great things coming from MinDat.org’s Auctions.

I want to tell you this here on FakeMinerals.com because MinDat.org’s Auctions. are guided by the community of mineral enthusiasts, pretty much making it impossible for fraudsters to operate in the auction forum.

So, if you want a safe alternative to eBay, check out MinDat.org’s Auctions.

“Article” on meteorite find in the UK

Is this a meteorite?

Check out this article…the meteorite is described as
“black with a shiny crystal-like gleam”
“thought it was a lump of coal”

Are we sure it is not just a piece of slag or maybe a tektite. Hey, good for the kid for finding a rock in the back yard, but did they verify the specimen with ANYONE else besides the parents and eBay? It doesn’t say so in the article. Sloppy reporting for sure!

Stuff tends to spread like wildfire on the internet, and anything that drags you away from Twitter or foxy bingo online (www.foxybingo.com) will usually be either something completely amazing or, as more commonly experienced, a complete and utter hoax. I genuinely worry about the people that fall for this stuff – if you’re buying meteories off the internet, then chances are you’re probably being scammed. I could go outside and buy some red sandstone, take a welder to it, and claim it was from Mars. Would I make a ton of money? Probably.

Mike, thanks for the e-mail.

I don’t pay much attention to fossils, I’m just not into them. Don’t get me wrong, I do love the way they look, I love to dig them up, but I just don’t get INTO them.

So, I stay away from proclaiming how fake the fakes are.
A readed named Mike sent me an e-mail showing me a real Mosasaur jaw (see below)

Versus, these things that look like fakes from 100 yards away…

I’ve sent out e-mails and phone calls to the dealers selling fake ones on eBay and if they don’t take them down by this weekend I’ll out them for you.

Just simply put…stay away from bulk fossils from Morocco. Buy from a quality dealer. Understand, good fossils are expensive, there is a lot of time and preperation put into real fossils. If you want something good, it isn’t cheap. If you want something cheap, it isn’t good. (unless that is the advertising price on The-Vug.com! =)

I was first told about these fakes last year, single Calcite crystals glued together in clusters on basalt matrix.

FakeMinerals was given these pictures from Sami at Matrix India, exposing these fakes.

As you can see, the Calcites are grouped together in circular sprays. At the base of the crystals the glue is visible.

So, if you see any of these on eBay or at a local rock show, beware, they are F-A-K-E!

Certainly not something you want to find out about your beautiful gem crystal on matrix…but in fact, a whole subdivision of gem mineral sales at the point of origin are sometimes manufactured specimens involving a liberal slathering of glue to hold everyting in place.

For instance, the new wonderful Scorderite xtls on matrix from China. Beautiful. Glued.

So, if you have any specimens you wonder about, give them a soak in some Acetone. See what falls apart! Sometimes nothing, sometime something substantial. Bummer for us honest mineral collectors and dealers.

Thanks to Dr. L for the photo!

In the video above Alfredo Petrov shows Justin Zzyzx an Aragonite with Gypsum from Spain that has been dipped into Copper Sulfate, turning the Aragonite GREEN, as if it were pseudomorphed into Malachite. Very pretty, but very fake!


Over the next couple months The-Vug.com will be traveling all over the USA to pass out magazines, film and take lots of pictures to share with you on The-Vug.com, FakeMinerals.com and Wheretobuyminerals.com. People write in everyday to tell us what a great job we are doing for the mineral community. Tack on $5.00 to those words and we know you are serious! =) Planes, Cars and Gas, not inexpensive. So, chip in a five spot and keep The-Vug.com plugging along!

I get e-mails from people who buy gemstones all the time. I am not a gemstone kinda guy…I just cringe when I think about my gem crystals being ground down! So, I don’t have many tips for you that haven’t been handed down to me from others.

If you are buying a rare gem stone and want to make sure that you are getting what you paid for, how about getting it cut yourself?

If you want good quality cut stones, why try and buy cheap stuff off eBay? Personally, I wouldn’t trust cheap gemstones for the sole reason, there is an entire market out there set about fooling you! Some person from Thailand isn’t really going to be too worried telling you that they are 100% honest, non-treated…when in that culture, it just doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t matter to them if they are lying to you. In fact, they just assume that they have to do that to get you to give them your trust. With the conusmerist programing we have had, we are all too willing to give our trust to someone right away when they tell us those buzzwords. The person with the screaming deals and the gemstones at stupid low prices have them that way because they DON’T know what they have.

Just deal with a reputable dealer(s) that you know on a face to face basis. If I was buying gemstones that is what I would do.

If I just wanted cheap brightly colored shiny baubbles, maybe eBay is the place to go.

Look at this crap. Faced green glass sold as faceted Moldavite. Yeah, Moldavite IS glass, so how are YOU going to prove him wrong? Sigh.

Below, two pictures from the same auction. The crappy Green Quartz clusters from early 2000’s have now come back…as YELLOW!

Sure to scam a whole bunch of novice buyers, this shitty Citrine is doing nobody a favor, except for the people selling it.

Thanks Mike!