Detect a fake
invoice

An edited invoice still reads perfectly. Holofin recomputes the totals, compares the IBAN with the rest of the case and examines the file itself, before the money leaves.

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Invoice

14 October · EXAMPLE WORKS LTD

INV-0412
Press maintenance8,400.00
Spare parts (12)2,580.00
Net total10,980.00
VAT 20%2,196.00
Total due18,176.00
Recomputed13,176.00
3 signalsReview
The total is not the net plus the VATstrong
The IBAN is not the one on the bank detailsstrong
PDF modified after it was createdweak

The problem

Four ways
to fake an invoice.

An invoice triggers a payment, a claim or a drawdown. Each kind of fake is caught a different way, and no single check catches all four.

The edited invoice

A real invoice with the amount raised in a PDF editor.

Caught by recomputed totals

The fabricated invoice

Made from scratch, for work that nothing else in the case supports.

Caught by case comparison

The swapped IBAN

A genuine supplier's invoice with the fraudster's account in place of theirs.

Caught by IBAN vs bank details

The recycled invoice

The same invoice presented twice, sometimes rescanned to hide it.

Caught by duplicate detection

How Holofin checks it

Five checks,
from proof to clue.

They are independent and never blended into one score: every alert says which check fired, on which line, with the two values it compared.

  1. 01

    The totals recomputed

    The net total, the VAT and the total due are redone from the values read on the invoice. An invoice edited in one place breaks that sum, and the alert names the line that no longer follows.

    strong

    What it reads

    • Net total
    • VAT rate
    • VAT amount
    • Total due
  2. 02

    The IBAN and the rest of the case

    The IBAN's check digits are verified, then the account is compared with the bank details in the case. The supplier and the amounts are matched against the quote or the purchase order when they are attached.

    strong

    What it reads

    • IBAN
    • Supplier
    • Amounts
    • Purchase order
    • Bank details
  3. 03

    The invoice seen before

    The same document in another case, or the same page repeated in a file, even after a rescan or a crop. Medium, because a resend can be an honest mistake.

    medium

    What it reads

    • Document
    • Pages
    • Earlier cases
  4. 04

    Edits on scans and photos

    Holograin, our model trained on financial documents, detects a page redrawn by an image model. The image is also analysed region by region: a pasted figure, a cloned area, a white patch.

    How Holograin works
    The same electricity bill after an AI edit, dated 30/10/2026AI detected96/100
    A fictitious document after one prompt to an image model, as Holograin scored it.
  5. 05

    The file itself

    Modification dates, a PDF editor in the history, hidden text, editing remnants, even when the metadata looks clean. These clues say where to look and never refuse an invoice on their own, because a genuine file re-saved in good faith shows them too.

    What it reads

    • Metadata
    • Edit history
    • Overlaid text
    • Embedded fonts

File analysis

How to tell
if a PDF invoice was edited.

Clean metadata proves nothing: the software and the dates can be rewritten in a few clicks. The file keeps other traces that never show on screen, like the old amount left under the new one. They say where to look; the amounts and the rest of the case settle it.

ElementWhat is checkedWhat raises a flag
SoftwareThe PDF's producer and creatorA PDF editor or an online converter in the history
DatesFile creation and modificationA modification after the creation date
RevisionsVersions saved in the fileAn added version that changes a page, a broken signature
TextAll the text in the file, even what is never displayedThe old amount still there: under a box, transparent, off the page
StructureThe PDF's internal objects, displayed or notOrphan objects left by an edit
FontsEmbedded fonts, line by lineA font used on the total and nowhere else
ImagesRegions of a scan or a photoA pasted figure, a cloned area, a white patch

Use cases

Wherever an invoice
triggers a payment.

Asset finance

The price and the seller of the financed asset, before funds are released.

Invoice finance

An invoice assigned twice, spotted before it is funded.

Insurance claims

Repair quotes and invoices attached to a claim.

Accounts payable

The supplier's IBAN checked before payment, for invoices arriving as PDFs.

Your fields, your rules

Invoices differ, so we set up the fields to extract and the rules to apply with you, once. Then send the invoice or the whole case by API, upload portal or SFTP; you get back the extracted fields and the signals, with the page and line of every value.

Invoice rules, in Hololang

ASSERT @invoice.total == @invoice.net_total + @invoice.vat
VALIDATE @invoice.iban FORMAT IBAN
ASSERT @invoice.iban == @bank_details.iban
ASSERT @invoice.total == @purchase_order.total

FAQ

Fake invoices

Recompute it: the lines must add up to the net total, the net total times the rate gives the VAT, and the net plus the VAT gives the total due. Then compare the IBAN with the one you already hold, match the invoice to the purchase order, and open the PDF's properties. Holofin runs these checks on every invoice and says which one fired.
Often, but not from the file alone. An editor leaves traces: a modification date after the creation date, an added revision, a font on one line only, text laid over text. Clean metadata settles nothing: it can be rewritten, while the old amount can stay hidden in the file. A file re-saved or scanned in good faith shows some of these traces too, so they open an enquiry; the proof comes from a total that does not add up or an IBAN the rest of the case contradicts.
No. A tradesperson or a freelancer often invoices from a word processor or a spreadsheet, and the file is genuine. The originating software says little about an invoice, because a supplier has no single template the way a bank does. That is why the amounts and the case come first.
It can redo an addition, not judge a file. A general AI sees the image of the page: it does not read the PDF's revisions, and it lets a clean edit through. Holograin, our model, is trained to catch documents edited by AI on scans and photos.
In France, yes, against the national company registry. Elsewhere, Holofin compares the supplier named on the invoice with the rest of the case; it does not query national company registers outside France.
Holofin flags a document already received in another case and a page repeated in one file, even after a rescan or a crop. It compares documents: it does not replace matching invoice numbers in your accounting system, which still matters for an invoice retyped under a new number.
No. It returns signals ranked by strength, each with the values it compared, and your team decides. It cannot say whether the work was done: a correct invoice from an active company for work that never happened passes these checks.
Call your bank immediately to try to recall the funds, keep the invoice, the emails and the proof of payment, then report it to the police. Acting within hours gives the best chance of stopping the transfer.

Other documents

Fake payslip →A net pay raised in a PDF editor, or a payslip from an online generator.Fake ID document →A birth date edited on a scan, a generated card, or someone else's passport.Fake proof of address →A utility bill with the name or address changed, or one drawn from scratch.
Forensic analysis of the file

Test Holofin on your invoices

Send us real invoices, including the fakes you already caught. We return the signals document by document, and what we missed.

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