I recently had the unpleasant experience of purchasing a fake Shure mic. Luckily the guy that sold me it was unaware and the matter was settled amicably. Here are some of the numerous ways to check if your Shure mic is real. (mainly SM58's, Beta 57a, Beta 58a and Sm57) - The quickest way to identify whether your mic is fake or not is to remove the grille. There should be two wires visible a green and a yellow situated on the same side of the capsule. If the two wires under the grille are black and red you have a fake mic. They will also be on opposite sides of the capsule. - I noticed the fake when the grille was removed was also about half an inch taller than a genuine but you can only check that if you have a genuine one to compare it to. - The logo on the side is actually part of the microphone body on genuine shure mics rather than a slightly blurred metallic sticker. - If you look at the barrel of the connector on a genuine shure mic you should see a thin metal strip with the 3 pins underneath it. Each pin is numbered and under the lowest of the pins there is the shure lettering following the curve of the body. On fake microphones you will find the lettering 'shure' above the pins in the place where the metal strip on the genuines should be. The best way to protect yourself before you buy is to ask the seller for a picture of the microphone with the grille removed with the idea to detail the easily visible green and yellow wires. Maybe if you are selling a shure microphone you should include this picture within the item description. Hope this helps and protects people who have innocently or not been sold a fake Shure microphone.