How to spot a fake bank statement

Check the arithmetic

This is the check most fakes fail. On a real statement, every running balance equals the previous balance plus money in, minus money out. The opening balance plus total money in, minus total money out, equals the closing balance. If any summary box shows totals, they match the transactions. A forger who changes a salary figure has to change every balance after it, and the summary, and the next statement’s opening balance. Converting the PDF above runs all of these checks in seconds.

Check the PDF itself

• Was it made by a bank? A statement produced in a word processor, a spreadsheet or an online PDF editor is a warning sign. The converter reports this.
• Is there text on top of other text? Typed-over figures often leave the original underneath. The converter reports this too.
• Is it a scan or photo? Banks issue statements as text PDFs. A scan isn’t proof of anything wrong, but it hides the clues above, so ask for the original PDF.

Check the content

• Does the money make sense? A salary that arrives on a weekend, round-number pay with no tax deductions, or a balance far larger than the lifestyle the other transactions suggest.
• Do the dates work? Transactions on dates that don’t exist, statement periods that don’t join up, or a weekday printed against the wrong date.
• Is it consistent across months? The same rent, the same subscriptions, the same employer reference each month. Ask for three to six consecutive months rather than one; inconsistencies show up between statements.
• Do the details match? Name and address as on the application, and a sort code that belongs to the bank named on the statement.

Verify, don’t just inspect

The strongest checks don’t rely on the document at all:

• Use an Open Banking income verification service, where the applicant connects their account and you see transactions straight from the bank.
• Watch the applicant download the statement from their online banking.
• Confirm employment and salary with the employer directly, using contact details you find yourself.

Be fair

Genuine statements sometimes look odd: an unusual layout from a smaller bank, a PDF someone re-saved by mistake. Use warnings as a reason to ask questions, not to accuse. And handle applicants’ statements carefully; they are sensitive personal data. StatementToCSV reads them in your browser without uploading them anywhere.