How to Detect a Fake or Tampered Invoice PDF

Invoice fraud, fake vendors, altered bank details, inflated totals, costs businesses billions every year, and a single changed line can redirect a payment. Before you pay, upload the invoice to the free PDF Verified checker: it reads the PDF’s structure and history for the signs an edited invoice leaves behind, so a doctored total or swapped account number doesn’t slip through.

Verify a document free →

Drop your document here and sign it now. PDF, Word and Excel all work: a .docx or .xlsx is laid out in your browser exactly as it was written, so there is nothing to convert first. Add a signature, a date, a company stamp or a watermark, then download it sealed. Free to start, no account, and the file is never uploaded to open it.

Step by step

  1. Open /verify.
  2. Upload the invoice PDF before approving payment.
  3. The forensic engine checks structure, metadata and revisions.
  4. Treat any flags as a prompt to confirm the invoice out-of-band.

What to look for

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to detect a fake invoice?

Yes. Upload the PDF to the PDF Verified checker and get a verdict for free, no account needed. The file is analysed and not shared.

Do I need the original to compare against?

No. If the document was sealed by PDF Verified, the SHA-256 fingerprint is embedded and checked automatically. For any other PDF, the forensic checker inspects the file's own structure, metadata, and revision history.

Is my document kept private?

The file is processed only to produce the verdict and is not published or shared. Verification of a PDF Verified document can also be done with just the QR code or short code, without uploading the file at all.

How can I verify an invoice is genuine?

Upload the invoice PDF to the free checker at /verify. It inspects the file for tampering, appended revisions, re-encoded content, and producer/metadata mismatches, and flags AI-generated origin. For invoices you send, sealing them with PDF Verified lets your customers confirm authenticity from a QR code.

Does this help prevent invoice fraud?

It adds a fast forensic check to your payment process. Flagging edited totals, changed bank details and appended revisions before you pay is a practical control against the most common invoice-fraud tactics, alongside confirming any change of bank details directly with the vendor.

What PDF Verified is, and what it is not

These checks are a screen, not a verdict. A clean result means nothing was found by the checks that were run, which is not the same as proof that a document is genuine, and a flagged result can have an innocent explanation such as a re-save or a scan. Read the findings rather than the headline, and where a decision carries real consequences, confirm the document with the party that issued it. It is a tool for examining a document, not for producing a forged or altered one.

PDF Verified is a tool for preparing, signing, stamping and checking documents. It is not a law firm, a compliance service or a forensic examiner, and nothing here is legal, financial or compliance advice. Requirements differ by country, by document type and by the party asking, so check what applies to your document before you rely on it, and take advice where the document matters. You are responsible for the documents you create, sign and send, and for having the authority to do so: signing or stamping in somebody else name, or as an organisation you do not represent, is forgery whatever tool is used. To the extent the law allows, we accept no liability for how a document made with this tool is used or relied on. The full position is in our terms of service.

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