The Certificate Authenticity Checklist
A step-by-step checklist anyone can follow to confirm a certificate is authentic, from the quick visual scan to the verification that settles it.
Confirming a certificate is authentic does not need to be guesswork. Work through this checklist in order and you will catch the lazy fakes early and settle the convincing ones with a single verification.
1. Check the basics make sense
Read the certificate as a document first. Do the recipient's name, the qualification, and the dates line up? Is the issuing organisation named clearly? A date that predates the course, a grade outside the institution's scale, or a vague issuer with no contact details all deserve a closer look. This step is quick and filters out careless forgeries.
2. Look for a verification method
A serious modern certificate tells you how to check it. Look for a QR code, a short verification code, or a verification link. If there is no way at all to confirm the certificate independently, that absence is itself a red flag, because legitimate issuers want their credentials to be checkable.
3. Verify it yourself
This is the step that matters most. Do not rely on a screenshot or a forwarded confirmation, those can be faked as easily as the certificate. Instead, scan the code or enter it yourself and watch the official result load. You are checking the issuer's record, not the holder's file.
4. Match the result to the document
When the verification page loads, compare it carefully with what you were handed:
- Recipient name matches exactly.
- Qualification or course matches.
- Issue date and certificate ID match.
- Issuing organisation is the one you expect.
If everything lines up and the result says valid, the certificate is genuine. If any field differs, treat it as unverified and investigate.
5. Confirm the issuer's identity
Make sure the verification names a real, identified issuer, ideally tied to a known domain or registered business, rather than an anonymous page. A convincing fake can host its own verification screen, so confirming who stands behind the result is part of confirming the certificate.
6. Check it has not been revoked
A certificate can be genuine yet no longer valid, for example if a result was overturned or an award withdrawn. A good verification result will show current status, not just that the certificate once existed. If it is marked revoked or expired, treat it accordingly.
Do it with QRCertificates
Certificates issued through QRCertificates pass this checklist in seconds. Each is signed with Ed25519 over its canonical data fields, so we sign the data, not the PDF, and any altered character fails verification. A built-in QR code and short human-readable code give one-click public verification on any device, with no login and no blockchain, and the result confirms a verified issuer along with the certificate's current status, including revocation. Verification is always free, so you can run this checklist as often as you need without cost or friction.
