How to Spot Fake Hemingway Cigarettes in Probably Stolen

Counterfeit cigarettes become your problem on Day 3 of Probably Stolen: Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim. That is when the Mentor warns you that “A shipment of counterfeit cigarettes just got unloaded…” and leaves you the tools to catch them. Every Pack of Hemingway Cigarettes that crosses your counter after that is worth a look.

Quick answer: Inspect the pack with the Magnifying Glass and check its lettering, color, logo, and security seal against the handbook. A missing or broken seal always means the pack is fake.

Fake vs real Hemingway cigarettes

Check	Genuine pack	Counterfeit tell
Lettering	Hemingway	HEMINGWAY (wrong font), Heminway (misspelled), misaligned, uneven or missing text
Color	Matches the color card	Color differs from the card
Logo	Matches the genuine emblem	Emblem differs from the genuine one
Security seal	Present and intact on the top flap	Missing or broken

Pixel-art shop counter with a large open handbook showing genuine and fake Hemingway cigarette lettering, logos, colors and seals. — The Hemingway handbook’s genuine and incorrect examples.

You only need to find one of these. The Mentor puts it bluntly: “A single discrepancy is enough.” The handbook pictures genuine and incorrect examples for each check and closes with “The differences should be obvious at a glance.” The seal rule is the cleanest test. Hemingway packs are never sold without a security seal, so a pack without an intact one is a counterfeit, no comparison needed.

Pixel-art shop counter with a miner customer, a magnifier enlarging a cigarette pack, and a counterfeit checklist panel. — A genuine security seal under the lens.

What you need to inspect Hemingway packs

The Mentor hands over everything on Day 3, so there is nothing to unlock first.

Magnifying Glass — it sits on your counter and opens the Inspection Tray.
Hemingway Identification Guide — opens as the Station Trade Commission’s “Hemingway Cigarette Authenticity Handbook” with the reference pictures.
“Mentor’s Note: Visual Inspection” — the short rules for confronting a client.
Hemingway Color Checker (optional) — a Document item with a base value of 50, described as “An official Hemingway color swatch.”

You can tell a pack is checkable from its tooltip, which reads “Can be inspected with a Magnifying Glass.”

Pixel-art shop with a woman at the window, zoomed cigarette pack, item tooltip and a counterfeit checklist panel. — Inspectable packs say so in their tooltip.

How to inspect a Hemingway pack with the Magnifying Glass

Wait for the customer to place their Pack of Hemingway Cigarettes on the counter. Then drag the Magnifying Glass onto that pack, from the counter or straight from your inventory (hold the button and drag slowly). The Inspection Tray opens.

Drag the glass by its handle to move the round lens across the pack; dragging anywhere else moves the tray window. Zoom in on the cross-and-vine logo, the “Hemingway” lettering under it, and the holographic security seal at the top of the pack.

Compare each part against the handbook. Check the spelling and font, the color, the emblem, and whether the seal is there and unbroken.

If you spot a problem, tick the matching box in the Counterfeit Check panel at the bottom right of the tray. The options are Lettering Issues, Color Issues, Seal Issues, Logo Issues, and Box Issues.

Press Confront to call the client out. If the pack looks clean, close the tray with the X at its top right and carry on with the deal.

Challenge the client only when you can identify a genuine flaw. A correct call changes the price; a mistaken one costs you Reputation and could send the client to another business.

How a genuine pack shows up after the check

A real pack carries the label in its tooltip:

“(Not Owned) Pack of Hemingway Cigarettes, pastel Inc., [Substance] [Luxury Item], Est. Value: 100, Base Value: 100, Can be inspected with a Magnifying Glass, [Label] Genuine”

When a seller is offering the pack, the SELLING panel lists it under “Condition” as “-Genuine (0%)” once you’ve checked it. From there you can buy it as normal with “Buy 1 Items”.

The lens over the Hemingway lettering on Day 4.

What genuine and counterfeit Hemingway cigarettes are worth

On Mark Up difficulty, a genuine pack’s tooltip shows an estimated value and base value of 100. The pack is tagged as both a Substance and a Luxury Item. These are the deals from our Mark Up run:

Deal (Mark Up difficulty)	Customer	Price
Buying one genuine pack	Scavenger	100 credits
Selling two genuine packs	Upper Level Visitor (Interests: Substance, budget 304)	115 credits each, 230 total

Upper Level Visitor BUYING two Packs of Hemingway Cigarettes at 115 credits each — Two genuine packs sold for 115 credits each on Day 4 (Mark Up).

Counterfeits are worth significantly less than genuine packs, which is why catching one matters. Confronting a seller over a real flaw makes them adjust their price.

Some items can be relabeled, and the Mentor’s note on Item Labels gives a counterfeit cigarette box marked as genuine as the example of raising a price. That carries risk. Most workers, Security Officers, and Lower Level citizens know common item fraud, and a failed scam costs you Reputation. Scavengers know it too, but they often don’t carry the gear needed to test authenticity. Tourists and Upper Level citizens are generally less aware, though the note warns that “sooner or later, people will find out.”

Hemingways are only one of the station’s faked goods. Our guide to spotting fakes covers Food Stamps, Immunivax Injectors, Ribwich and water, and how to use the Magnifying Glass walks through the Inspection Tray and Confront step by step. For every item’s base value, check the Probably Stolen items list, or start from the complete Probably Stolen guide.