[Collect Equity]

In the last few years I've started to seriously get back into collecting, because I loved the hobby as a kid and now have discretionary money to spend. However, I've recently become concerned that counterfeit cards will eventually ruin the hobby. I guess my concerns boil down to:

1) With printing technology improving, how can you be certain that cards aren't counterfeit. Isn't it possible to duplicate the original printing process and cardboard enough that you can't tell the difference? If it's not now, how close are we to having advanced enough printing techniques to not be able to tell the difference?

2) I know that grading companies play a large role in authenticating and helping to ensure that counterfeits don't infest the hobby. But how hard is it to counterfeit a PSA holder? Couldn't someone send PSA a real T206 Cobb and then when they get it back crack the holder and put the real tag in a new holder with a well-done counterfeit Cobb? With a thick layer of plastic between the card and a loupe it would only make it more tough to tell a good counterfeit?

3) How can I protect myself from counterfeits? Is there a top ten list of things I should look for? Does anyone have good high-res pictures that they can show to help demonstrate these tips?

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience with a relative newbie!!