Fraudsters fake documents to gain access to sensitive information, commit financial fraud, or steal one’s identity. They achieve this by leveraging existing loopholes in a document security system. Various documents are forged every day in various countries.
Let’s have a look at the top 10 documents that are often forged.
- Passport
A passport is an important travel document issued by any government. Passport documents are often falsified to hide one’s identity to execute financial fraud or other criminal activities. Although forging passports and visas has become increasingly difficult due to robust security features, such as sophisticated laser perforations, fingerprints, and photos embedded with microchips, fraudsters are finding innovative ways to overcome these checks. According to federal data, in 2020, around 100 million travel documents were reported lost or stolen.
Blockchain can help limit the falsification of passports and visas. It can be used to provide people with full control of their identity. Governments across the globe can employ blockchain to provide digital passports to easily detect passport and visa fraud.
- ID Cards (Aadhar, PAN, Driver’s License, etc.)
‘Not all 12-digit numbers are Aadhaar’. This is what the UIDAI, the government body that issues the Aadhaar card, an identity document for Indian citizens, said recently. There are daily new fake Aadhaar cards across India. As there is no convenient way for instant verification of Aadhar, PAN, and driver’s licenses, criminals use them for financial gains such as procuring loans or credit cards.
Law enforcement agencies in India have unearthed various ways fraudsters use to make counterfeit Aadhar cards. In one such case, the culprits tampered with client applications at enrolment agencies to forge new IDs.
- Educational Certificates
Fake degrees and various educational certificates are rampant in developing and developed countries. This shady business has gone online and you will find many websites, such as DiplomasAndTranscripts, PhonyDiplomas, and Cheaper Than Tuition, calming to give you crisp fake diplomas and degrees, especially from foreign universities. According to George Gollin, a U.S. Council for Higher Education Accreditation board member, nearly 100,000 fake degrees are sold in the U.S. annually.
Attestation or communication from an applicant’s university or college to confirm a degree or certificate is a lengthy and unreliable process. This process can also be costly. Print2Block has developed a robust and trustworthy platform using blockchain to address the issue of fake degrees, passports, visas, and other documents. The platform issues secure digital credentials, such as diplomas, degrees, and certifications, employers and other organizations can verify that.
- Tax Forms
Fraudsters use fake tax forms to gain personal and bank identification from taxpayers. Some even make a frivolous tax claim to avoid paying taxes. Tax evasion is a very big business in most of the countries worldwide. According to a report in 2016, global revenue losses were valued at around US$ 650 billion annually. Around 33% of this loss was reported in developing countries.
Tax scams have gone online with many social media handles encouraging people to use tax software to manually fill out a fraudulent tax form for a larger tax refund. One scam on social media claims a tax refund while the other involves fake IRS agents that text, call, and email unsuspecting people to lure them into tax fraud.
- Invoices
Invoice frauds have become more sophisticated over the years, with fraudsters using digital channels to extract information about a certain company or supplier. These invoices look more credible and are hard to detect with the naked eye. Many fraudsters leverage social media to familiarize themselves with a company’s staff to obtain confidential information or to persuade for payments.
In a recent case, a former Apple employee was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay the tech company restitution of over US$ 19 million. The employee inflated invoices, took kickbacks, and stole parts. He even avoided paying taxes on the money earned from the fraud.
- Financial Statements
Fraudsters use various channels to commit financial statement fraud. They might overstate a company’s revenue, show fictitious revenue and sales, inflate a company’s net worth, or falsify expenses. These frauds deceive investors into believing that they are more profitable than they are. Some top financial statement scams date back to the early 19th century. In the 1860s, Crédit Mobilier, a railroad firm, inflated the price of its work to defraud the U.S. government of millions of dollars.
In India, the Satyam scam that came to light in 2009 was valued at Rs. 7000 crores. It was dubbed India’s Enron scam. Enron Corporation was a U.S.-based company that dealt in the energy sector. The company’s leadership fooled regulators with fake holdings and off-the-books accounting practices.
- Business Filings
Many businesses or individuals submit false information to regulatory agencies to gain a competitive advantage or avoid regulatory compliance. These scammers provide fraudulent financial statements to overstate profits or understate losses. Some businesses even run Ponzi schemes
- Cheques
When you talk about cheque frauds, you never fail the mention Leonardo Di Caprio’s “Catch Me If You Can”, a real-life story of Frank Abagnale. He printed false cashier and certified checks and forged the signatures of the bank officials to encash money.
Fraudsters often use the ‘overpayment’ trap wherein high-value items are bought using an overvalued stolen or counterfeit cheque. Once the cheque is cleared, the fraudsters ask victims to transfer this ‘overpayment’ to a third party.
- Birth & Death Certificates
You can be scammed from birth to death using fake birth & death certificates! Fraudsters are hacking online portals to issue fake birth and death certificates. These certificates are often used to obtain passports and visas. They are also used to open bank accounts or apply for credit cards.
Many developing countries face the issue of fake birth & death certificates. These countries even have a low registration rate of birth and death. Using blockchain can not only address the issue of counterfeit birth & death certificates but also boost registration rates.
- Wills & Deeds
Fraudulent wills can be used to deceive others by misrepresenting or altering the terms of a will. In deed fraud, fraudster steals the title to a property and illegally transfers it to themselves or someone else. Property record frauds are a growing problem in many countries and are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Blockchain technology can be used to maintain real estate records. The technology provides a secure, immutable ledger of a particular property. This makes it difficult for anyone to tamper with the records.
Conclusion
Document forgery can hurt the economy. It can lead to financial losses for both individuals and companies. Government organizations are also adversely impacted by counterfeit documents as they put extra strain on public resources.
Current security measures of digital signatures and accounting software cannot single-handedly address the issue of document forgery. Blockchain technology must be employed to issue digital certificates that cannot be altered by any person.
DocChain.io by Print2Block makes your documents (e.g., academic credentials, professional certifications, official letters & records) authentic and verifiable. It is one of the most secure platforms that makes any document immutable and trackable.