Detect a fake
ID document
Every passport and modern ID card carries its own proof: a machine-readable zone with check digits. Holofin recomputes them, reads the MRZ against what is printed, and compares the holder with the rest of the case.
Identity card
Front and back · TD1
The problem
Four ways
to fake an ID.
An identity document anchors every other piece of a case. The four fakes below do not leave the same trace, so they are not caught by the same check.
The generated document
Made from a template sold online or drawn by an image model.
Caught by MRZ check digits
Someone else's document
Genuine, but it belongs to a relative or was bought.
Caught by holder vs the case
The edited document
A real card with a birth date or a name changed on the scan.
Caught by MRZ vs printed zone
The expired document
Real and unedited, but no longer valid on the day it is sent.
Caught by dates
How Holofin checks it
Six checks,
from proof to clue.
The MRZ follows the ICAO 9303 standard on passports, ID cards and residence permits across Europe, so these checks do not depend on the issuing country. Each alert names the field and the two values it compared.
- 01
The MRZ check digits, recomputed
The machine-readable zone carries a check digit for the document number, the date of birth and the expiry date, and a composite digit over all of them. Holofin recomputes each one. A forger who changes a digit in the MRZ without recomputing the keys is caught on the first line.
strong
What it reads
- Document number
- Date of birth
- Expiry date
- Composite digit
- 02
The MRZ against the printed zone
The same facts are written twice: once for people, once for machines. Surname, date of birth, expiry, document number, sex and nationality are compared field by field. An edit made on the printed side rarely reaches the MRZ as well.
strong
What it reads
- Surname
- Date of birth
- Expiry
- Document number
- Sex
- Nationality
- 03
The holder against the rest of the case
The name and the date of birth must be the ones on the payslip, the bank statement and the contract. A genuine document belonging to someone else passes every check on its own and fails this one.
strong
What it reads
- Holder name
- Date of birth
- Payslip
- Bank statement
- Contract
- 04
Dates and validity
An expiry date before the issue date, a validity window that does not match the document type, a document already expired on the day it was sent. Each is reported with the dates it read.
medium
What it reads
- Issue date
- Expiry date
- Submission date
- 05
Screenshots and screen captures
An image taken from a screen or produced by a screenshot tool is flagged, because it is not the document itself in the applicant's hands.
medium
What it reads
- Screenshot tool
- Screen capture
- Camera data
- 06
The file itself
An image retouched around a date or a name, an editing tool in the file's history, a PDF assembled from several images. These clues open an enquiry; they never refuse a document on their own.
What it reads
- Retouched regions
- Metadata
- Edit history
Use cases
Wherever an identity
starts a relationship.
Lending
The borrower's identity, consistent with every other piece of the case.
Tenant screening
Applicant and guarantor identified before the lease is signed.
KYC onboarding
Documents checked at upload, before a human opens the file.
Insurance claims
The claimant's identity against the policyholder's.
By API, upload portal or SFTP
Send the front and back as images or a PDF; get back the extracted fields, the MRZ and every check with its result. The same document can then be compared with the rest of the case.
FAQ
Fake ID documents
Test Holofin on your ID documents
Send us the identity documents your team already reviewed, including the ones you rejected. We return every check, document by document.
