How landlords in South Africa get caught by edited payslips
Landlords get caught by edited payslips because an altered PDF looks exactly like a real one, and a credit check never tests the document itself. The answer is a short routine before every lease: get the files from the source, compare them with each other, confirm employment yourself and check each PDF for signs of editing.
Why an edited payslip gets through
A rental application usually arrives as a handful of PDFs by email or WhatsApp: an ID, a payslip or two, and three months of bank statements. You open them, see a salary that covers the rent comfortably, and move on to the credit check.
The problem is that nothing on the screen tells you whether a figure was changed after the payroll system produced the payslip. A payslip with a higher gross salary, a different employer or a new date looks the same as the original. The layout is familiar, the numbers add up, and the file opens without complaint.
Fake documents are also cheap. In March 2026 MyBroadband reported that fake payslips and bank statements were on sale in South Africa for as little as R400. The figure came from a bond originator, who described an applicant who had paid R400 online for a fake statement. That was a home loan, not a lease, but the same documents are used for both.
Most private landlords are not trained to spot a forged document, and they should not have to be. What catches people is not carelessness. It is the reasonable assumption that a PDF from an applicant is the PDF the employer or the bank issued.
What the numbers say
No one publishes a fraud figure for rental applications alone. The closest data comes from credit providers, who ask for exactly the same payslips and statements that landlords do.
The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) says document fabrication, including fabricated payslips and forged bank statements, was the dominant fraud enabler in 2025. Its annual report breaks down the listings for fraudulent documents. Source: SAFPS Annual Report 2025, p. 15, figures for 2025.
These are shares of fraudulent-document listings, not of all fraud. Together, bank statements and payslips make up 44% of them:
| Document type | Share of fraudulent-document listings, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Altered identity documents | 34% |
| Forged bank statements | 33% |
| Multiple documents | 17% |
| Fraudulent payslips | 11% |
The same pattern in home loans
The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) sees the same pattern in home loans. In its Annual Crime Statistics 2025, SABRIC names false or inflated information about income or employment as the most common form of home loan fraud, and lists falsified payslips, employment letters and bank statements as examples. Source: SABRIC Annual Crime Statistics 2025, p. 18, figures for 2025, published August 2026.
An applicant who would inflate a salary for a bond would do the same for a flat. The difference is that a bank has a fraud team, and a landlord with two units usually does not.
What a credit check does and does not tell you
A tenant credit check is worth doing. It tells you things an applicant cannot easily hide, but it answers a different question from the payslip.
- It shows: the applicant’s credit accounts, how they have been paid, and any judgments or defaults on record.
- It does not show: whether the salary on the payslip is the salary the employer actually pays.
- It does not show: whether the bank statement you were sent is the statement the bank issued.
- It does not show: whether the employer named on the payslip exists or still employs the applicant.
Five checks before you sign the lease
None of these take long, and together they close most of the gap. Do them for every applicant, not only the ones who make you uneasy, so nobody is treated differently.
- Ask for PDFs, not screenshots or photos. The payslip should be the PDF the employer or payroll sent. Bank statements should be downloaded from the bank’s app or online banking. See how this works for a Capitec statement or an FNB statement.
- Compare the payslip with the bank statement. The net pay on the payslip should arrive as a salary deposit from the same employer in the same month. If it does not, ask why before you go further.
- Use the bank’s own check where one exists. FNB’s Verify Statement service lets you confirm that the account details on a statement are valid, using the statement’s reference number and the account holder’s ID number. It works for verified statements from FNB Online Banking, the app and ATMs.
- Confirm employment yourself. Call the employer on a number you find independently, not the one printed on the payslip, and ask only what the applicant has consented to you asking.
- Check each PDF for signs of editing. A file check shows signs of editing the eye cannot see, in seconds, and gives you a report to keep with the application. See document checks for landlords.
When a file raises questions
A report that shows signs of editing is a reason to ask for more, not proof that the applicant is lying. A file can carry signs of editing for innocent reasons.
Ask the applicant to download the statement again directly from their banking app and send it to you, or to take you through it on their phone. Ask the employer to confirm the salary. A genuine applicant can usually do this within a day. Keep a note of what you asked and what you received, so your decision rests on the complete picture.
Treat every applicant the same way. A written routine, applied to everyone, is fairer and easier to defend than a hunch.
What a file check can and cannot tell you
Atomara checks a PDF for signs of editing and shows the report on screen straight away, with a PDF export for your records. There is no one reading your file on our side: the check is automated.
It has limits, and you should know them before you rely on it. A clean result means no signs of editing were found. It does not confirm that the employer or the bank issued the file, because an unsigned PDF can never be confirmed authentic. A scan or a photo saved as a PDF gets a report without a score, because a picture cannot show which document it was taken from. Only PDFs up to 10 MB can be uploaded, so if you were sent a screenshot, ask for the PDF. Uploaded files are deleted automatically within 30 days.
Your first 3 checks are free once you confirm your email. If you let several units a year, the Starter pack covers a few applications at a time; see pricing for the packs.