A T4 sets the borrower’s reported income for the year – and an edited one cascades through underwriting
Mortgage brokers and B-lenders trust the T4 the borrower brings as primary income proof. HR onboarding teams trust the T4 a new starter shares as evidence of prior compensation. When that T4 is fabricated or tampered, the wrong figure is the figure the file is built on.
HTPBE? analyzes the structural layer of the PDF file – the layer that records every edit, even invisible ones. We don’t inspect holograms, phone photos, or ID biometrics. If your fraud problem is a digitally altered or fabricated T4, we’re the most specific tool for it.
When HTPBE? returns INCONCLUSIVE on a T4, that is a reason to escalate to manual review, not proof of fraud – it means HTPBE? cannot confirm the file as an untouched original.
The problem
Modern document fraud is invisible to visual review
A growing class of document fraud opens a genuine PDF, edits a balance, a date, or a beneficiary, and re-saves it. Visually nothing changes – the document passes pixel-level review, layout review, and KYC.
Structural PDF analysis reads the layers rendering engines never expose: revision history, object structure, signature coverage maps. That is where edits leave fingerprints they cannot wipe.
Common tampering patterns
- Modified balances or totals after export
- Swapped IBAN or beneficiary on invoices
- Post-signature edits on contracts
- Backdated issue and modification dates
- Fabricated documents from consumer PDF tools
What this looks like
How fake and tampered T4 PDFs actually look
Three real fraud mechanics we catch at the structural PDF layer.
Real T4 edited and re-saved with a higher Box 14
The borrower takes the real T4 from the employer’s payroll software or CRA My Account, opens it in any PDF editor or spreadsheet, edits Box 14 (Employment income), exports as PDF. The edit typically leaves traces of the editor in the file.
T4 fabricated in Word from a template
A T4-shaped PDF authored in Word using the CRA form layout, populated with a desired employer and earnings, exported. However closely it copies the CRA form, the file does not come back INTACT: with nothing indicating later editing it returns INCONCLUSIVE and should go to manual review; with evidence of editing or fabrication, MODIFIED.
Character overlay on the original
Changing a figure on an existing T4 leaves a structural trace. HTPBE? flags it without reading the page – it never looks at what the figures say.
The scale
Why your existing checks miss this
CRA access requires the borrower’s consent. Most borrowers who edited the file don’t give it.
Both layers matter. The CRA call only works if the borrower lets you make it.
CRA Auto-fill My Return and similar consent-based tooling can check T4 figures directly with CRA – when the borrower agrees to grant access. Borrowers who edited the file rarely do. OSFI B-20 guidelines push lenders to check income, but that check is downstream and slow. Equifax Canada and TransUnion check identity and credit, not document integrity. HTPBE? catches the T4 PDF the borrower uploaded at the moment of intake – standalone, no CRA API, no consent required.
What HTPBE? checks
Detection capabilities
Deterministic structural signals. No probabilistic scores, no model training.
A familiar layout isn’t proof
A T4 saved as PDF from Word, Excel or LibreOffice does not come back INTACT, however closely it copies the CRA or payroll layout. With no sign of later editing it returns INCONCLUSIVE for manual review; with evidence of editing or fabrication, MODIFIED.
Post-issuance edit detection
Editing a T4 after issuance – in a PDF editor or in other software – leaves structural evidence behind. HTPBE? flags it as MODIFIED.
Character overlay on the original
Changing a figure on an existing form leaves a structural trace. HTPBE? flags it without reading the boxes – it never looks at what the numbers say.
Dates that disagree
When the dates recorded in a ‘freshly issued’ T4 disagree with each other, HTPBE? flags it – a high-confidence sign of editing after export.
Font inconsistencies across pages
HTPBE? flags font handling that is inconsistent with the rest of the document – a sign of post-issuance editing.
Pasted-element detection
Fabricated T4s often paste the CRA form layout from screenshots. HTPBE? detects logos, signatures and headers lifted from another document and pasted in.
Share with engineering
Wire this into your intake pipeline in under a day
Two API calls – one POST to submit the PDF, one GET to retrieve the verdict. Forward this page to your engineering team; the full API reference, quotas, and copy-paste examples in cURL, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Go, and Ruby are one click away.
Pricing
Self-serve plans, no sales call
All plans include the same forensic checks. Pick the quota that matches your monthly document volume.
manualStarter
30 credits/mo
Manual spot-checks and integration testing
most commonGrowth
350 credits/mo
Active document processing pipelines
high volumePro
1,500 credits/mo
High-volume automation and API integrations
Enterprise (unlimited, on-premise available) — see full pricing
API key on signup. Free test environment on every plan. No card required.
Customer Stories
Teams that stopped document fraud
Compliance, finance, and risk teams use HTPBE? to catch manipulated PDFs before they become costly mistakes.
Caught an invoice where the total had been changed by less than a thousand dollars. Without this I would have approved it without a second look.
Sarah M.
AP Manager
United States
We had three applicants in the same week with bank statements that looked completely fine. Two of them were flagged as modified. You simply cannot see this by reading the document — it is in the file structure.
Lars V.
Risk Analyst, Online Lending
Netherlands
Salary slips were coming with altered figures. We identified two problematic files before the placement was finalised.
Priya K.
HR Operations Lead
India
Since we started checking documents this way, we stopped two applications early in the process that would have been very difficult to reverse later.
Julien R.
Fraud Analyst, Fintech
France
Some applicants were sending PDFs that looked authentic but had been edited in ways not visible to the eye. We now ask for checked originals when something is flagged. Already saved us from a few bad decisions.
Marta S.
Compliance Coordinator
Spain
One invoice was caught because there was a mismatch between the document dates and structure. That particular case would have cost us significantly.
Tariq A.
Finance Manager
United Arab Emirates
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does HTPBE? work with T4s from any Canadian payroll provider?
Do I need to call CRA to check T4s?
Can it catch T4s fabricated entirely from scratch?
inconclusive – not intact – however closely it copies the CRA or payroll layout, and should go to manual review. The verdict is modified when the file itself carries evidence of editing or fabrication.What about T4s downloaded from CRA My Account directly?
modified when it carries evidence of that edit – the same as an edit to an employer-issued T4.What does an INCONCLUSIVE verdict mean for a T4?
Secure your workflow
Create your account – check PDFs on the web or with an API key, both ready on signup.
No sales call. Cancel any time.