# Detect tampered and deepfake Property Deed > A deed is the instrument that moves ownership from one party to another, so forging one is an attempt to manufacture a transfer that never took place. The classic version targets property nobody is watching: an unoccupied house, an inherited plot, a landlord living overseas. A deed is executed in the real owner's name, presented as registered, and the property is sold or mortgaged before anyone notices. TamperCheck examines the execution page and the seal. **Canonical URL:** https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/property_deed **API document class:** `property_deed` **Last updated:** 2026-10-07 --- ## What a genuine property deed contains A deed is an operative document, so it reads as a sequence of recitals and clauses rather than a summary. It names the transferor and transferee with parentage or identity references, states the consideration paid, and recites how the seller came to hold the property. The schedule at the end describes the land precisely: survey or khata number, plot and sub-division, extent, the boundaries on four sides, and any built area. Execution closes it, with both parties' signatures, two witnesses, the stamp duty paid, and the sub-registrar's endorsement and seal. Nothing in a deed stands on its own. The consideration recited drives the stamp duty, which is a proportion of value, so an understated price and a correctly paid duty cannot both be true. The schedule has to close geometrically, since boundaries on four sides that do not enclose the stated extent describe an impossible parcel. The recital of the seller's own acquisition points at a prior deed with its own number and date, and the registrar's endorsement is what turns a private agreement into a registered transfer. ## How property deed forgeries are made ### Transferor substitution A genuine registered deed is taken and the seller's name and identity references are replaced, so an unrelated person appears to have held and sold the property. It is the edit behind most fraudulent sales of empty and inherited property, and it usually touches only the recital block and the execution page. ### Schedule and boundary edits Survey number, boundaries, or extent are altered so a deed for one parcel appears to cover a larger or more valuable one. The four boundaries and the stated extent have to describe the same piece of ground, and an edited figure leaves a schedule that cannot be plotted. ### Stamp duty understatement The consideration is written down, or the duty block is altered so a deed appears properly stamped when it was not. Duty is a fixed proportion of the recited value, so the two figures check each other, and an altered adhesive or franked block rarely matches the impression texture of a genuine one. ### Registrar seal and endorsement forgery The sub-registrar's seal and the registration endorsement are the only parts of a deed a private party cannot lawfully create, so they are copied from a real document. A true impression deforms and grips the paper; a reproduced one lies flat and prints with even coverage across its whole face. ### Page substitution Deeds run to many sheets and are initialled page by page, so a single page carrying the price or the schedule can be swapped and the rest left intact. Substituted pages differ in paper tone, scan skew, and the position of the initials at the foot. ### Wholly fabricated deeds A complete deed is drafted, printed on stamp paper, and presented as registered, sometimes with a registration number in the correct local format. Nothing has been recorded anywhere, so the fraud is not visible in the text, and it is the seal, the endorsement, and the production history of the file that give it away. ## What TamperCheck checks on a property deed 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. ### Embossed seal analysis A physically embossed seal deforms the paper it sits on. A seal that was scanned and reprinted is flat, and the two separate cleanly under analysis even when they are hard to tell apart by eye. ### Stamp authenticity and placement Stamps are assessed for whether the ink was impressed onto the page or printed as part of it, and for whether the impression was placed digitally after the fact. ### Reference and document number checks Document, account, and reference numbers are checked for issuer format conformance and against every other place the same value appears on the page. ### And many more checks The three above are the layers that carry the most weight on a property deed. 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 property deed, and why Banks, conveyancers, and land registries confirming ownership. 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 property deed in 4 steps 1. **Pull a certified copy from the sub-registrar.** Apply for a certified copy of the registered instrument at the sub-registrar's office named in the endorsement, then set it beside the copy you were handed. Differences in the consideration, the parties, or the schedule are the whole point of the exercise. 2. **Plot the schedule of property.** Take the survey or khata number, the extent, and the four boundaries from the schedule and confirm they describe one closed parcel, that the survey record agrees, and that the land on the ground matches what is written. 3. **Trace the chain backwards.** The recital states how the seller came to own the property. Find that earlier deed by its number and date, then the one before it, going back far enough to cover the local limitation period. 4. **Run a forensic check on the file.** A certified copy exposes a substituted party but not a seal reprinted at high resolution or a schedule figure edited in a PDF. TamperCheck runs 200+ forensic checks on the deed and scores it from 0 to 100 within seconds, naming the region where anything moved. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I verify a property deed is genuine? Obtain a certified copy from the sub-registrar's office where the deed was registered and compare it against the copy you were handed, field by field. Then read the schedule, since the four boundaries and the stated extent must describe one parcel, and check that the prior deed recited in the seller's chain exists. A forensic check on the file covers the seal, the execution page, and any field edited after printing. ### How does deed fraud happen? Deed fraud usually begins with a property nobody is watching. A fraudster identifies an unoccupied, inherited, or absentee-owned parcel, executes a deed in the registered owner's name using forged identity documents and signatures, then sells or mortgages the property to a buyer acting in good faith. The paperwork only has to survive one transaction, because after registration the fraud becomes a legal dispute rather than a documentary one. ### What is the difference between a property deed and a title deed? A deed is the instrument that transfers ownership; a title is the ownership itself and the chain of transfers behind it. A deed is executed once, on a particular day, between two named parties. Title is what you hold afterwards, evidenced by the register and by every deed that came before yours. Forging a deed fabricates an event, while title fraud misrepresents a standing record. ### Can a registrar's seal be forged? Yes, and it is the most commonly copied element on the document. A seal lifted from a genuine deed and printed onto a new one loses the physical behaviour of the original: embossing deforms the paper and leaves a texture signature, and an inked impression varies in coverage where pressure was uneven. A flat, evenly saturated seal sitting above the text rather than through it has been reproduced. ## Related document types - Title Deed: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/title_deed - Mortgage Document: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/mortgage_document - Lease Agreement: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/lease_agreement - Rental Agreement: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/rental_agreement - Utility Bill: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/utility_bill --- Try TamperCheck now: https://tampercheck.ai/dashboard · Docs: https://tampercheck.ai/docs · Pricing: https://tampercheck.ai/pricing