Supported document type
Detect tampered and deepfake Cedula de Ciudadania (Colombia)
The cedula de ciudadania is Colombia's citizen identity card, issued by the Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil, and the primary identity proof for banking and fintech onboarding. The number has no self-validating code, so verification rests on whether the card behaves like its own generation, from the older yellow card to the polycarbonate card, and on the consistency of its printed fields.
API slug: colombia_cedula
Last updated:
What a genuine cedula de ciudadania contains
The card shows the NUIP, surnames, given names, birth date and place, height, sex, blood group and RH, the date and place of issue, signature, and photograph. The polycarbonate card also carries an expiry date and a QR code on the reverse linked to biometric verification, while the older yellow card carries a barcode.
The yellow card, issued from 2000 and still valid, shows no expiry, whereas the polycarbonate card of the digital cedula expires every ten years, and the app version is generated from the physical card. Colombian names are usually two given names and two surnames, and the sky-blue tarjeta de identidad for minors is a different document, so each generation is judged against its own layout.
How cedula de ciudadania forgeries are made
Generation conformance
The yellow card and the polycarbonate card behave differently, so an expiry date on a yellow card, or none on a polycarbonate card, contradicts the claimed design.
Code-region presence
The polycarbonate card carries a QR code on the reverse. A missing or flattened region where the generation requires one signals a reprint.
Name-order and accent coherence
Two given names and two surnames, with accents consistent across the fields, are normal. Names that break that order or change accent treatment mid-field point to edited lines.
Field and font consistency
Edited numbers, birth dates, and issue lines show baseline shifts and font substitutions against uniform issued print.
Photograph region
Portrait swaps show cut-line edges and a compression history that differs from the surrounding card.
What TamperCheck checks on a cedula de ciudadania
TamperCheck runs 200+ forensic checks across three layers and returns a risk score from 0 to 100 with plain-English findings tied to specific regions of the document. These three carry the most weight on this document class.
Portrait substitution and face-swap analysis
The document is isolated from whatever it was photographed on, then the portrait region is assessed against the card surface around it. A pasted or generated face rarely matches the substrate it was placed onto.
Signature forgery analysis
Signature regions are assessed for ink consistency and for how the stroke sits on the page, which distinguishes a genuine pen stroke from a pasted image of one.
Barcode and QR payload comparison
Encoded payloads are decoded and compared against the human-readable values printed alongside them. Editing the visible text without re-encoding the barcode is a common and highly detectable mistake.
And many more checks
The three above are the layers that carry the most weight on a cedula de ciudadania. Every upload runs the full suite of 200+ checks regardless of document class, spanning file structure and metadata, pixel-level forensics, font and text rendering, optical and print characteristics, provenance signals, AI-generation signatures, and many more checks.
Who verifies a cedula de ciudadania, and why
Colombian banks, fintechs, and telcos. In each case the document is being used to unlock money, access, or a legal status, which is exactly what makes it worth forging.
How to verify a cedula de ciudadania in 4 steps
Capture both sides
Photograph front and back flat at full resolution so the printed fields and any QR region survive close analysis.
Identify the generation
Decide whether the card is the older yellow type or the polycarbonate type, and check its expiry and reverse elements against that type.
Compare the fields
Check name order and accents across the fields, and the issue and birth dates for plausible sequence.
Run a forensic check on the file
The layout carries the structural story, and the print carries the edit history. TamperCheck runs 200+ forensic checks including generation and field checks and patch detection, returning a risk score from 0 to 100 with findings tied to specific regions of the image.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Colombian cedula have a check digit?
No, the cedula number is not a self-validating code, so there is no checksum to recompute. Verification relies on layout, field consistency, and the behaviour of the card's generation.
Do Colombian cedulas expire?
The older yellow card shows no expiry, while the polycarbonate and digital cedula expires every ten years. An expiry on the first or its absence on the second is a structural red flag.
What is the difference between the yellow and polycarbonate cards?
The yellow card circulated from 2000 and remains valid, and the polycarbonate card began in 2020 with an expiry date and a QR code. Both are legitimate and are judged against their own layouts.
How does TamperCheck verify a cedula?
TamperCheck compares the layout and expiry behaviour with the card's generation, checks name and accent consistency across the fields, and inspects the portrait region for patching. Uploads run through a single REST endpoint, are processed ephemerally and not stored, and findings tie to specific regions.
TamperCheck analyses cedula de ciudadania (colombia) uploads with a hybrid forensic and AI pipeline tuned for this document class. Upload endpoints accept PDF and common image formats; class is inferred automatically. See the API documentation for authentication, async jobs, and webhooks.