Every scan of a ForgeStop tag is stamped with one of four statuses. This article explains what each status means and when you will see it.

The Four Statuses

Status	Badge Color	What It Means
Authentic	Green ✓	The tag passed cryptographic verification. The product is genuine and the scan completed successfully.
Counterfeit	Red ✗	An invalid scan result from a failed or repeated cryptographic value. A Counterfeit result can also be triggered by a genuine tag if the consumer refreshes or revisits the authentication page — the cryptographic token is single-use. Ask the consumer to scan the physical tag again; if the new scan returns Authentic, no further action is needed. Persistent Counterfeit results across fresh scans may indicate cloning or tampering.
Rescan	Yellow ↻	An additional verification step. The system requests a follow-up scan when the previous result was unexpected but potentially valid. The consumer sees a prompt to scan the tag again, and the subsequent scan determines the final outcome.
Invalid	Orange ⚠	Either (1) the scanned tag is unknown or inactive — for example, never activated through BatchMaker, blocked, archived, or belonging to another brand; or (2) the scan attempt did not complete — the consumer tapped their phone too quickly and moved it away, or a connectivity or session issue prevented the validation request from finishing. Most Invalid scans self-resolve when the consumer tries again.

What to Do When You See Each Status

Authentic

No action needed. This is the expected outcome for every legitimate scan. Use the Analytics tab (see The Dashboard Overview) to track scan volume and locations.

Counterfeit

First, rule out the most common benign cause: the consumer may have refreshed or revisited the authentication page, which repeats the cryptographic token and triggers Counterfeit. Ask them to scan the physical tag again with a fresh tap.

If the new scan returns Authentic, no further action is needed.
If repeated fresh scans still return Counterfeit, treat it as a real signal:
- Click the row in the Scans tab to see the full scan detail.
- Note the scan location and timestamp.
- If you see a cluster of Counterfeit results in a region you do not sell to, it may indicate grey-market activity or cloning attempts.
- Contact [email protected] with the scan ID for investigation.

Rescan

No action required from you. The consumer is prompted to scan the tag again, and the follow-up scan determines the final status. Treat Rescan as a normal part of the authentication flow — it is the system erring on the side of caution before returning a definitive result.

Invalid

Most Invalid scans self-resolve when the consumer tries again with a clean tap. Investigate further only if:

A specific batch shows unusually high Invalid rates. The tags may have been damaged in transit, or the product packaging may be interfering with NFC reads.
The consumer reports an Invalid result on a tag that should be active. Confirm the tag belongs to a batch in your Dashboard (check the Batch Items table on the Batch Details screen) and that the batch has not been archived. If the tag should be active, contact [email protected] with the scan ID.