How to spot fake documents: Ultimate guide
In 2025, knowing how to spot fake documents — and how document fraud detection solutions expose them — goes a long way toward fighting fraud in your business.
Document fraud cases are increasing every day, especially among documents used for fintech onboarding and verification purposes. Being able to detect these forgeries is more important than ever.
In this guide, we will outline the most commonly faked documents, how to spot them, and link to complete summaries on everything to look for when checking these documents for fraud.
How to spot a fake proof of address
Proof of address can present a problem for traditional fraud detection: fake utility bills, manipulated bank statements, or fake Social Security awards are just a few examples of common forgeries we've come across.
Keeping up to date with every possible issuing authority simply isn't possible, especially for multinational businesses dealing with customers all over the world. But the documents that can be used as proof of address are also usually straightforward, and so are frequently made from scratch by unskilled forgers or template farms.
For instance, some fake proof of address documents appear frequently, such as documents from major energy companies and large banks.
However, the frequency of these fakes might lead to their eventual downfall. It's easy to verify incoming documents using previous examples. Logo detection can flag out-of-date designs or page layouts inconsistencies and machine learning pattern detection can eventually spot overuse of the same fake template (i.e., all submissions have the same rip in the paper or similar lighting effects).
For documents that are less commonly submitted from lesser known authorities, minor qualities that can go unnoticed by humans (like copy-pasted letters or inconsistent image qualities) can certainly point to a fraudulent document.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
How to spot a fake bank statement
Bank statements are important tools for confirming proof of funds, proof of income, and proof of address, especially for online lenders aiming to carry out the underwriting process.
Skilled fraudsters will probably skip outright document forgery, choosing instead to edit PDF versions of bank account statements—these can easily be found online or downloaded from an email or banking app.
While the altered end product may be convincing to the human eye, this approach leaves an obvious technological trail that the file has undergone unauthorized changes.
In addition to the logo detection and image attributes mentioned above, these attempts at creating fake bank statements also leave "fingerprints" in the metadata of the files themselves.
Anything from timestamps to the software used to create the document (as well as dozens of other small details) can distinguish between a real bank statement and an illegitimate one.
Of course, these red flags of fraud require forensic analysis of the file in question.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
How to spot a fake W2
W2 forms come into play during tax season as well as when lenders and government services need to verify proof of employment and other personal details.
Fraudsters often present fake W2s to inflate their income, resulting in the ability to be approved for loans or interest rates they aren't qualified for or which they never intend to pay back at all.
Fake W2s and other very common standardized forms might seem like easy targets for forgery and manipulation, but their consistency actually helps catch underhanded dealings.
If certain fields don't align with the rest of the form or non-standard fonts appear, there's a good chance that you're dealing with a fake form.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
How to spot a fake pay stub
Pay stubs are employer-provided documents that outline an employee’s earnings and deductions for a specific pay period. They typically include: gross wages, taxes withheld, benefits contributions, and net pay.
Pay stubs maintain transparent payroll records, help employees understand their compensation, and ensure compliance with tax and labor regulations.
Fraudsters create fake pay stubs to deceive lenders, landlords, or government agencies by inflating income or fabricating employment. They're often used to secure loans, rent properties, or qualify for benefits under false pretenses.
Spotting fake pay stubs and tax forms also comes down to metadata. Businesses both large and small typically rely on accounting software to generate these all-important records, leaving specific markers.
Quality fraud detection software uses these to note whether a bookkeeping program was the originator of a given file and whether any alterations have occurred between the time of output and the time the document is submitted.
If one of these checks turns up something unexpected, a fake pay stub or a fake tax document is very possible.
It's important to note that metadata inconsistencies alone aren't proof of a fraudulent document; cross-checks with other analyses (in our case over 500 different detectors) usually tabulate a long list of evidence that indicates a high likelihood of document fraud.
How to spot fake merchant onboarding materials
Merchant onboarding or know your business (KYB) can carry even higher stakes than KYC onboarding processes:
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Penalties for doing business with inappropriate figures can be higher.
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More overlapping jurisdictions might come into play.
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Losses for the SME lenders themselves are often much larger.
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Fake merchant onboarding materials like certificates of incorporation or business licenses can have the added complications. They contain information from many localities and obscure institutions, sometimes in languages and government structures most review teams aren't well versed in.
However, uncovering what is and isn't valid doesn't always require assembling expensive teams of specialists or reaching out to overloaded civil servants.
Again, a forensic look at the documents a business provides can reject many instances of attempted fraud right away. Completely language and nationality agnostic, fraudulent merchant onboarding materials can be spotted via:
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Variations in image qualities
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Font inconsistencies
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Reused images properties
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Additionally, attributes unique to business documents such as digitally added official stamps or notarizations can offer even more opportunities to find fake documentation attempts.
How to spot a fake ID
Since they are the foundation of most know your customer (KYC) onboarding processes, it's crucial to be able to detect fake ID cards like driver's licenses or passports.
One of the primary ways fraudsters manipulate IDs is through image doctoring, altering the photo, name, or other details on the ID itself.
This can be quite crude: it's often evident when words have been inserted or an all new photo has been imported into the image file.
These modifications usually leave traces in the image metadata as well as in image attributes that don't match across different portions of the card.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
Stolen, unaltered IDs being reused or IDs that have undergone pre-digital modification, meanwhile, can still present problems for more traditional fraud detection software.
However, these can be detected by noting image similarities across a collection of images. A recurring background is usually a dead giveaway: the same person taking the same type of photos in the same place.
Even if the fraudster is clever and uses different backgrounds, lighting, effects, etc, if they match characteristics seen elsewhere, or attributes of the device that has uploaded the photo, the fraudster can be caught red-handed.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
How to spot a fake invoice
An invoice is a formal document issued by a seller to a buyer, detailing goods or services provided, their quantities, prices, and payment terms. Companies use invoices to request payment, maintain financial records, and ensure accurate accounting. They are essential for tracking sales, managing cash flow, and fulfilling tax obligations.
Fraudsters manipulate invoices to deceive businesses and siphon funds. Common tactics include:
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Altering invoice details using editing tools
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Creating fake vendors with fabricated contact and payment information
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Compromising vendor emails to redirect payments.
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Red flags of invoice fraud include: discrepancies between purchase orders and invoices, unusual pricing that doesn't align with market rates, missing product identifiers like serial numbers, and inconsistencies in contact details or payment information.
To detect invoice fraud, companies should implement thorough verification processes, cross-check invoice details with purchase orders, and remain vigilant for any anomalies or unexpected changes in vendor information.
These document are not real, but recreations meant to demonstrate the fraud techniques described for illustrative purposes only.
How to verify a document's authenticity?
There are two ways to verify documents' authenticity: manual reviews or using an AI-powered fraud detector.
With the rise of template farms (e.g., Doc Juicer), online editing tools, and advanced defrauding techniques, manual reviews are becoming less reliable.
The human eye struggles to detect subtle changes in metadata, formatting, and fonts, making AI-powered solutions more effective in detection fraud.
Conduct manual reviews
For manual reviews of documents, identifying signs of forgery is crucial for verifying the authenticity of documents. Here are some general tips for all documents:
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Cross check with official registries and fraud databases.
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Validate document contents with third-party information.
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Scan publicly available information about the applicant or company.
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Assess the contents to see if they make sense (i.e., everything adds up and isn't an outlier for that specific document/industry)
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Use AI and machine learning
One of the best ways to verify the authenticity of a document is by using document and language-agnostic software.
This approach preserves customer privacy while accurately detecting signs of forgery and falsification — regardless of document type.
With Resistant AI's document forensics solution, combating document fraud in any industry is no longer a challenge.
Efficient, effective, and AI-powered, our solution verifies a document's authenticity in under 20 seconds, detecting reused, template-farmed, and AI-generated fraud.
From mortgage underwriting to tenant screening, fraud detection becomes automated with detailed, actionable risk assessments.
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