Twenty fake and suspicious “editions” of Forbes, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Variety and other brands — each with the domain in question, the verdict, the evidence and where the real publication lives. Compiled from press investigations and direct verification, September 2026.
A fake edition is a website or cover that poses as a national edition of a famous publication — “Forbes Bahrain”, “Vogue Sweden”, “Vanity Fair Germany” — without any license from the brand’s owner. Placements and covers there are sold to buyers who believe they are buying the famous brand. Some are confirmed by the brands themselves; all fail the verification checklist.
| # | Edition | Domain | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forbes LA | forbesla.com | Fake — confirmed by Forbes Media |
| 2 | Forbes Liechtenstein | forbesliechtenstein.com | Fake — confirmed by Forbes Media |
| 3 | Forbes Europe | forbeseu.com | Fake |
| 4 | Forbes Chicago | forbeschicago.com | Fake |
| 5 | Forbes New York | forbesnyc.com | Fake |
| 6 | Forbes Bahrain | forbesbahrain.com | Fake |
| 7 | Forbes Morocco | forbesmorocco.com | Fake — abandoned |
| 8 | Forbes Malta | forbesmalta.com | Fake |
| 9 | Forbes Switzerland (forbesswitzerland.com) | forbesswitzerland.com | Fake — dead |
| 10 | Forbes Ukraine (2014–2017 zombie license) | forbes.ua (then) | Historical zombie license |
| 11 | Vanity Fair Denmark | vanityfair.dk | Fake — closed early 2026 |
| 12 | Vogue Sweden | vogue.com.se | Fake |
| 13 | Harper's Bazaar Sweden | harpersbazaar.com.se | Fake |
| 14 | Rolling Stone Sweden | rollingstone.com.se | Fake |
| 15 | Variety Sweden | variety.com.se | Fake |
| 16 | L'Officiel England | lofficielengland.com | Fake |
| 17 | Maxim Asia | Instagram covers | Fake — edition does not exist |
| 18 | Fast Company Philippines | fastcompany.ph | Suspicious — license not confirmed |
| 19 | Glamour Germany (counterfeit covers) | Real magazine | Real title — counterfeit covers |
The FMG Group cluster: Vanity Fair Germany, Variety Sweden, Rolling Stone Sweden and Forbes Bahrain run the same WordPress template, the same English filler texts and the same “© FMG Group” copyright. Vanity Fair Denmark belonged to the same pattern before it closed.
The Forbes-cities cluster: Forbes LA, Forbes Chicago, Forbes Europe and Forbes Liechtenstein share one template, an illegal “© Forbes Media LLC” line and AI-generated bylines. Forbes Media confirmed the cluster’s sites as fake (Press Gazette, August 2026).
L’Officiel UK has two sites: lofficiel.co.uk stands in the official network footer; lofficieluk.com is run by a different London company. On a live licensing dispute, verify which one your placement lands on. Forbes Georgia holds a real license — yet a placement agency sells articles there for $2,000, which says more about the agency than the edition. Forbes Nederland is an official launch, not a fake. And Glamour Germany is a real magazine with counterfeit covers circulating in its name — the brand is real, the covers are not.
The fakes exist because demand does: models, socialites, beauty-pageant contestants and visa applicants all need “a Forbes feature” or “a Vogue cover” — and guaranteed-placement agencies sell them, at $495 to $25,000 a pop, from the counterfeit mastheads above. When the domain answers the door, the illusion collapses. That is the entire purpose of this registry.
Forbes lists its official global editions on its own site; Condé Nast titles are at vanityfair.com and vogue.com (Scandinavia = Vogue Scandinavia); the real Swiss Forbes is forbes.swiss; the real UK L’Officiel is lofficiel.co.uk. When a “national edition” is not on the publisher’s list, it is a costume.
Press Gazette — Fake Forbes websites and the PR agency offering guaranteed coverage (12 Aug 2026) · Press Trip — Vanity Fair, Glamour Have a Counterfeiting Problem (30 Jun 2026) · direct verification of each domain, September 2026.
130 owned journals with public mastheads, authors and archives — plus premium outlets named in writing. Published or refunded.