How to verify an invoice is real before you pay it
To check that an invoice is real, confirm it through a channel you already trust, not through the invoice itself. Phone the supplier on a number you already hold, and compare the bank account, amount and reference with your own records.
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To check that an invoice is real, confirm it through a channel you already trust, not through the invoice itself. Phone the supplier on a number you already hold, and compare the bank account, amount and reference with your own records. Do this before you pay any invoice that is new, changed or marked as urgent.
In short: an invoice is only as trustworthy as the check behind it. Confirm the details with the supplier on a number you already hold, and compare them with your own records before you pay.
How to verify an invoice: the short answer
Can an invoice be changed after it was sent?
What to check on an invoice before you pay
Steps to confirm an invoice before you pay
If you have already paid, replied or shared details
How to verify an invoice online, and where an Authentikor check fits
What a check result shows
How to verify an invoice: the short answer
Verify an invoice by checking it against information you did not get from the invoice or from the email that brought it. A familiar logo, a correct supplier name and a neat layout are not proof, because all of them can be copied. The proof is a confirmation from the supplier through a contact you trusted before this invoice arrived.
ITWeb reports, in a TechForum piece issued by a security company and published on 30 September 2026, that SABRIC recorded just over 110 000 digital banking crime incidents in 2025, with losses of R2.4 billion, which the piece works out at roughly R21 800 per incident, and that the bulk of the losses came from impersonation and manipulated trust rather than attacks on bank systems. Those rounded figures are the piece's own and cover all digital banking crime, not invoice fraud on its own.
Can an invoice be changed after it was sent?
Yes. Standard Bank says criminals often gain access to email conversations, watch them for weeks and then send updated banking details that redirect the payment into a fraudulent account, using the same branding, logos and signatures as the real business. ITWeb reports that such an email often looks right because it arrives in the genuine thread, taken over part-way through the conversation once a mailbox had been compromised.
Standard Bank advises that you never rely on one message alone to change payment details, and that you stop and verify any banking change through a trusted channel. ITWeb reports, in the same piece published on 30 September 2026, that business email compromise, in which a supplier's invoice can arrive with new banking details, is not counted in the R2.4 billion that SABRIC recorded for digital banking crime in 2025.
Treat a new or changed bank account on an invoice as a reason to stop and confirm before you pay. A request to change banking details is not confirmed by the email that makes it.
What to check on an invoice before you pay
Before you pay, check the bank account, the sender, the amount, the reference and the way the request is made. Each of these can show a problem that the look of the invoice hides.
Compare the bank account with the details you have paid before. If it is new or different, Standard Bank advises phoning the business on a number already in your own records, rather than any number given in the email, before you pay.
Standard Bank advises looking beyond the display name at the full email address, because fraudsters make small changes that are easy to miss, such as a missing letter, an extra character or a different domain ending.
Check that the amount and the order or quote reference match what you expected. An invoice for work you did not order, or for more than you agreed, needs a question before it needs a payment.
Standard Bank warns that a fraudulent email may push you to pay quickly, for example by claiming a payment is late or has to go through at once, and advises that an urgent message is even more reason to verify it.
Steps to confirm an invoice before you pay
Follow these steps for any invoice that is new, changed or urgent.
Standard Bank advises that you ignore any phone number or link given in a suspicious email.
Find the supplier's number in your own records, such as a signed contract or an earlier invoice you checked and paid.
Phone the supplier and confirm the invoice number, the amount and the bank account.
Standard Bank advises checking that the name on the bank account is the name of the business or person you mean to pay.
If any detail does not match, do not pay, and ask the supplier to explain the difference.
If the invoice carries a code or seal from its sender, check that too, and compare what the check shows with the invoice in your hand.
If you have already paid, replied or shared details
Standard Bank says that if you suspect you have been targeted by a scam, or have been the victim of fraud on your bank accounts, you can call the Standard Bank Fraud Line or report fraud on its Banking App by tapping Help, selecting Report Fraud and following the prompts. If you bank elsewhere, contact your own bank as soon as you can.
BusinessTech, reporting on SABRIC's 2025 Annual Crime Statistics Report on 26 August 2026, says suspicious transactions should be reported without delay.
How to verify an invoice online, and where an Authentikor check fits
Authentikor's home page says it puts a unique code on emails, invoices and contracts, that anyone can check it, and that for an altered invoice the check shows the original amount and the last digits of the bank account. Authentikor's home page also says the file check can read an invoice dropped in as a PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG or PDF, and that a real message carries a code or seal that leads to its record in the Authentikor Vault. Without one, confirm the invoice with the supplier directly, as set out in the steps above.
Authentikor's Verify page asks you to type the code from the email or document you received. Authentikor's home page says the code can also be checked by scanning its QR code.
Authentikor's file check page lets you drop in a picture of a seal, certificate or logo as a PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG or PDF file. It looks for an Authentikor seal or code and says what it was issued for. The page says the file is not kept.
Compare what the check shows with the invoice in front of you.
What a check result shows
Scan the code or the seal: Authentikor shows what it was issued for, so a changed document or a wrong sender stands out. Authentikor's Verify page says the scan shows what the record was issued for, such as the original invoice number, the amount and the last digits of the bank account, so you can compare it with the invoice in front of you.
Authentikor's Verify page describes results including Verified, Invalid and Expired. Verified means the code is valid and was issued by the company named in the result. Invalid means the code was not recognised: check that you typed it correctly, and if you did, do not trust the email or document. Expired means the code was valid, but its time is over.
Authentikor's Verify page also describes a Blacklisted result: the issuer has withdrawn the code, so do not trust the email or document, and contact the sender on a number you already know.
If nothing is found, Authentikor's pages say there is no seal or code to show for it, and that this never means the document is fake. In that case, confirm the invoice with the supplier on a number you already trust.
Questions and answers
How do I check if an invoice is real?
Check it against information you did not get from the invoice or from the email that brought it. A familiar logo, a correct supplier name and a neat layout are not proof, because all of them can be copied. The proof is a confirmation from the supplier through a contact you trusted before this invoice arrived.
Can an invoice be altered after it was sent?
Yes. Standard Bank says criminals often gain access to email conversations, watch them for weeks and then send updated banking details that redirect the payment into a fraudulent account, using the same branding, logos and signatures as the real business. ITWeb reports that such an email often looks right because it arrives in the genuine thread.
What should I check on an invoice before paying?
Check the bank account, the sender, the amount, the reference and the way the request is made. Each of these can show a problem that the look of the invoice hides. Compare them with your own records, and confirm anything new or changed with the supplier on a number you already hold.
How do I verify an invoice online?
Authentikor's home page says it puts a unique code on emails, invoices and contracts that anyone can check, and that for an altered invoice the check shows the original amount and the last digits of the bank account. The file check can read an invoice dropped in as a PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG or PDF. Without a code, confirm the invoice with the supplier directly.