How to Spot a Fake Pay Stub – 2024 Guide

When you create a valid pay stub that is valid, you enter data about the company, employees, income. After a few more very simple steps it is done. However, there are people who want to bypass this process for several reasons. It is wrong to think that some can save them from being discovered because there are many ways to stand in the way of such fraudsters. Although it is legal today to own your own pay stub, it is not permissible to use it for the wrong purposes. Therefore, attempting to apply for loans with a false one is a violation of the law.

However, we are sure that the law knows how to take care of them. You are probably interested in how to be one hundred percent sure that you have not encountered a falsified example. We have a few tips for you that can help you distinguish between original and copy very easily. Keep reading and find out all about it.

Pay stub layout

Amateurs will sometimes not notice that they have made serious mistakes that indicate forgery of this document. So, documents like this are mostly created in Word and we know that because it reveals even a few things. For example, a common mistake is to ignore the difference between a number and a letter, and this refers to O and 0. We will agree that our eye currently notices the difference, but this is not the case with many who make a mistake due to high typing speed or completely ignore this difference from for some other reason.

On the other hand, accountants use a different font, all other information is entered consistently and automatically. There is no room for mistakes because nothing is done manually. The fake pay column may also contain some modern font and layout.

Balance

The figures must be perfectly accurate, and it is very rare for a company to make a mistake. To avoid making mistakes, everyone uses online generators such as paystubsnow, because they know that mistakes like this can cost them dearly. However, this often happens to fraudsters who record the wrong salary compensation. So calculate yourself to check that all the necessary figures are in one place, and you will do that if you take into account the entire earnings and deductions.

This also applies to check numbers, insurance, phone numbers as well as amounts. When a company has a lot of employees, and you notice a large number of checks increasing, it can mean that you have come across a red flag. So pay attention to the hourly rate and whether it is compatible with the salary or it is a difference that is not realistic.

Form W-2

Therefore, the superior is obliged to enclose a W-2 form to his employees as proof of payment. Of course, the employer will be able to provide the employee with this form only if he has the right information about him, place of residence, etc. Only then can an error occur so that the employee does not get this. Gross earnings, deductions and taxes were recorded on it. There are people who fake things like this, but don’t think it’s easy. It’s actually a lot harder than with pay stubs. So go ahead, ask for one example and check if this is a scam.

Details

Don’t be lazy and check all the data several times. Whether it is some very simple and obvious information, know that everything is important in this case. So, look again at the name, surname, address, and information about the employer. If you notice that some things do not match, you most likely have a forgery with you. This means that successfully forged documents were created via the Internet, but a certain section did not go well or an error occurred while typing. This means that they did not use the pay stub generator, but entered the information manually.

Legitimate pay stubs

It would be good to always have such an example by your side. While there is always the possibility that you have a really great fake pay stub in front of you, it’s much easier to spot some worse ones if you have the original next to you. So compare them. Of course, it happens that some changes occur over time, but the quality must always remain similar. Pay attention to printing and think about it a little. Ask yourself if this is a lower quality print, as this might mean that something is wrong.

Salary

Confirm earnings. So, you will check the accuracy of the earnings so that the figure should be a deposit. Of course, all other very important information, such as the name of the company, is needed. This refers to the one who paid them. These things need to match, and if they are missing or you have become suspicious due to lack of other information this is a bad sign. You can do this by requesting verification or copies of tax returns. Compare that to earnings. This way you can more easily calculate the salary and thus be sure that they are approximately equal.

Contact their boss

An employee may not be able to give you information about his boss if he does not have permission to do so, but you can access them yourself. In fact, some private data is not as important to you as the mere existence of this person. That way you would remove all your doubts if you get in touch with him. This way you will at least have some clue and so never skip this step. So take your phone in your hands and call him or send him a message via email.

Believe us, it often happens that people fake an employer precisely because they know how obvious this is and that not everyone will check its existence.

Conclusion:

So, we are sure that it is now clearer to you what you should pay attention to when checking the pay pillar. We hope that we have helped you to do this as well as possible and remove any potential doubts you may have. Be patient and consistent enough when checking, keep in mind that a fake pay pole can do a lot of damage.