Why Fake Salary Slips Are So Common
A salary slip is a simple PDF. With widely available PDF editors, anyone can change a number in seconds — inflate a basic salary, remove a deduction, change the company name. There is no digital signature or watermark on most salary slips that a standard PDF viewer would flag.
The motivation is straightforward: candidates inflate their CTC to negotiate a higher offer from the new employer. A candidate earning ₹8 lakh per annum might edit their slip to show ₹12 lakh — expecting the new employer to offer 20-30% above that.
The good news: most fake salary slips are not carefully constructed. They change the salary numbers but forget to fix the PF, or they inflate the gross without updating the net. The mathematical errors are there — you just need to know where to look.
The 10-Point Fake Salary Slip Checklist
Run through these checks on every salary slip before making a hiring decision. Each one targets a specific error pattern common in fabricated documents.
PF is not 12% of basic salary
Under the EPF Act, PF deduction is fixed at exactly 12% of basic salary. Multiply the basic salary by 0.12 — if the result does not match the PF figure on the slip, the document has been altered. This is the single most reliable check.
Example
Basic ₹30,000 → PF must be ₹3,600. If slip shows ₹1,500 or ₹2,800 — fake.
Net salary equals or exceeds gross salary
Net salary is take-home after all deductions. It must always be lower than gross. Net ≥ Gross is a mathematical impossibility and the clearest sign of a fabricated document.
Example
Gross ₹50,000, Net ₹52,000 — impossible, document is fake.
Every component is a perfectly round number
Real salary structures involve tax calculations, PF percentages, and allowance formulas that rarely produce round numbers across every field. A slip where Basic = ₹20,000, HRA = ₹10,000, PF = ₹2,400, Net = ₹30,000 — all perfectly round — is suspicious.
Example
Genuine slips typically have amounts like ₹18,450 or ₹32,175, not neat multiples of 1,000.
Salary date is in the future
A salary slip dated for a month that has not yet occurred is always fabricated. This happens when candidates create slips to show a current CTC they are not yet earning.
Example
A slip dated June 2026 submitted in May 2026 could not genuinely exist.
Total deductions are suspiciously low
For a gross salary above ₹20,000, total deductions below 2% of gross are unusual. PF alone should be 12% of basic — typically 8-10% of gross. A slip showing only ₹200 deducted from a ₹40,000 gross has not been constructed correctly.
Example
Gross ₹40,000, Basic ₹20,000 → PF alone should be ₹2,400. Total deductions of ₹500 is a red flag.
Employer name is missing or unverifiable
Every genuine salary slip shows the employer's registered name and address. A slip that only says 'ABC Company' with no address, no CIN, and no contact details cannot be traced to any real entity. Search the company on MCA21 — if it does not exist, the slip is fabricated.
Example
Search mca.gov.in for the employer name. Not found = not a registered company.
ESI missing for gross salary at or below ₹21,000
ESI (Employee State Insurance) applies to all employees earning ₹21,000 or below. The deduction is 0.75% of gross. A slip showing gross ₹18,000 with no ESI is either from an exempt establishment or has been edited.
Example
Gross ₹18,000 → ESI should be ₹135. If absent, flag for review.
Standard salary components are absent
A genuine salary slip from a registered company shows at minimum: Basic, HRA, Gross, Total Deductions, and Net. A slip that just says 'Salary: ₹X' with no breakup is either from an informal employer or fabricated.
Example
No HRA, no Basic breakup, no deduction line — not a standard payslip format.
Salary amount is inconsistent across months
If the candidate provides multiple months, the basic salary should remain stable between appraisals. A basic that jumps from ₹20,000 in March to ₹35,000 in April with no appraisal letter suggests the slips were edited separately.
Example
Request at least 3 months — inconsistent basic salary across months is a strong red flag.
Net salary does not match bank statement credits
The most definitive check. If you have the candidate's bank statement, the net salary on the slip should match the employer credit in the statement — same amount, same month. A ₹20,000 net salary on the slip but ₹12,000 credited from the employer means the slip was inflated.
Example
Cross-check slip net salary against bank statement for the same month.
What to Do When You Suspect a Fake Salary Slip
If one or more of the above checks fail, do not reject the candidate immediately. First, investigate:
Ask for a bank statement
Request the last 3-6 months of bank statements. The employer credit in the statement should match the net salary on the slip. This is the most definitive cross-check.
Ask for Form 16
Form 16 is issued by the employer and certified by the Income Tax department. The income declared in Form 16 should be consistent with the salary slips. Discrepancies between the two documents are a strong fraud signal.
Ask for the EPFO passbook
The EPFO passbook shows government-maintained PF contribution records. The employer contribution in the passbook — which is linked to actual salary — should match what the salary slip implies.
Call the previous employer directly
Contact the HR department of the previous employer using a number found independently — not one provided by the candidate. Confirm the candidate's last drawn salary and employment dates directly.
What an Automated Fake Salary Slip Checker Does
Running 10 checks manually on every salary slip for every candidate is time-consuming and prone to human error. An automated fake salary slip checker does this in seconds — extracting the numbers from the PDF and running every mathematical and logical check automatically.
BGV Support is a free online fake salary slip checker that runs all the checks described above when you upload a salary slip:
- PF deduction accuracy — checks 12% of basic rule
- Net vs gross math — flags if net exceeds gross
- ESI deduction check — flags missing ESI for low-salary slips
- Future date detection — flags slips dated ahead of today
- Low deduction warning — flags suspiciously small total deductions
- Employer name verification — checks company on MCA21
- Missing standard components — flags absent Basic, HRA, Gross, Net
- Cross-document employer name check — if multiple documents uploaded
The result is an instant report showing which checks passed, which failed, and exactly why — so HR teams can make an informed decision rather than a gut call.
What No Checker Can Catch
Automated tools — including BGV Support — cannot catch a perfectly constructed fake. If someone inflates their salary but correctly recalculates PF, net salary, and all deductions, and uses a real company name — the document will pass all rule-based checks.
For high-stakes hires, the bank statement cross-check and direct employer call remain the only definitive verification methods. Use an automated checker as a first-pass filter — it will catch the majority of fake salary slips quickly and cheaply, letting you focus manual effort only on the candidates who clear the automated screen.