How do I verify a PDF is authentic without the original to compare against?
You don’t need a copy to compare against: you read the evidence inside the one PDF you were sent. A PDF records how and when it was made, and many edits leave traces in that record. HTPBE? reads those traces in the one file you were sent.
What one-sided analysis looks at
- Metadata — dates, creator and producer, and what they say about where the file came from.
- File structure — whether the file shows signs of having been changed after it was first written.
- Signatures — whether a signature is present, was removed, or was followed by changes.
- Embedded content — scripts and attachments that an ordinary document does not need.
HTPBE? runs exactly this analysis and returns Intact, Modified or Inconclusive.
How to do it
- Get the file as it was sent: the original attachment, not a screenshot, a print or a forwarded copy. Each of those is a new file.
- Run the check and read the verdict, the named findings and, for Inconclusive, the stated reason.
- Compare the origin the file reveals with the origin the document claims. A bank statement that comes from an office tool or an online PDF editor is a reason to ask questions.
- For anything important, confirm with the issuer.
What the verdict does not tell you
It tells you whether the file was edited after it was generated — not whether the content is true, and not who sent it. A document whose content was false from the start can carry no trace of later editing. Check whether a PDF is real →
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Verifying Specific Documents
Check the file and then the facts. HTPBE? shows whether a bank statement PDF was edited after the bank produced it. It does not confirm the account holder’s identity or that the balance is true — for that, get the statement straight from the bank.
Most start by eyeballing logos, fonts and totals, which a careful forger can copy. Lenders increasingly add an automated file-integrity check through the API alongside identity and income verification, and route anything flagged to a human.
Check that the net pay, pay dates and employer details are consistent, then check how the file was produced. HTPBE? tells you whether the payslip PDF was edited after it was generated. It does not confirm that the employer or the salary is real.