How fraudulent PDFs are created and the telltale signs to watch for Fraudulent PDFs often begin as legitimate templates that are manipulated to alter critical information such as payee details, invoice totals, dates, or bank account numbers. Attackers rely on the flexibility of the PDF format—its ability to mix images, text layers, embedded fonts, form fields and scripts—to hide changes or to make forgeries appear authentic. Understanding the underlying structure of a PDF helps in spotting inconsistencies: look for mismatched fonts, unusual layering where text is actually an image, or extra embedded objects that serve no clear purpose. Technical indicators of tampering include metadata anomalies, such as creation and modification…