Fighting Fake Receipts: Why Real-Time Digital Receipts are the Future

AI is transforming how we work—and unfortunately, how some commit fraud. With the ease of snapping a photo to submit business expenses, innovative tools can now generate fake receipts that appear frighteningly real. If unchecked, these AI-generated fakes could cause major financial and compliance headaches for businesses worldwide.

The Rise of AI-Generated Fake Receipts

Now, anyone with access to AI tools can generate a surprisingly convincing fake receipt with just a few simple prompts. There are many prompts available that can alter the authenticity of a receipt, such as modifying VAT numbers or swapping out expensive items with cheaper alternatives. In just seconds, an AI tool can craft a receipt that looks indistinguishable from the real thing.

This is where the problem starts.

In the past, submitting physical receipts for expenses and VAT returns always carried some degree of fraud risk. However, the process of snapping a photo and submitting it electronically made the task more convenient—and much easier to manipulate. With the advent of AI-generated fakes, this risk has escalated exponentially. A fraudster no longer needs to rely on physical receipts—they can now simply create their own.

How Companies are Fighting Back

Some companies, like Ramp, have responded quickly to this new challenge. They’ve implemented detection mechanisms that track the metadata associated with images, specifically targeting AI-generated content. The idea is simple: AI tools often leave behind unique metadata signatures that make it possible to identify an image as artificially generated. By detecting these markers, companies can block fraudulent receipts and prevent them from being submitted.

However, even this solution has its flaws. A slightly more sophisticated fraudster can simply print the AI-generated receipt and then snap a photo of it, effectively removing the AI metadata. But the truly savvy fraudster can go one step further and manipulate the metadata itself. This creates a problem that traditional photo-based receipt systems just can’t keep up with.

The Need for Real-Time Digital Receipts

So, what can be done to tackle this emerging issue? The answer lies in eliminating photos of paper receipts altogether and removing the element of human trust from the equation. What businesses truly need is a solution that provides real-time digital receipts—authentic, tamper-proof, and automatically linked to a specific transaction.

This is where ReceiptHero comes in.

ReceiptHero is the backbone of real-time digital receipt issuance, providing a secure, automated solution that integrates directly with banks and card networks. By eliminating the need for photos of paper receipts, we take human error—and fraud—out of the equation. Every receipt is securely issued in real time, from the point of sale (POS) device, through the card network, and directly to the bank and expense solutions. This seamless, tamper-proof process ensures that every transaction is properly recorded, verified, and linked to an authentic receipt. This futuristic approach is already a reality with partnerships like Eurocard, Visma, Zevoy and many more partners already using the ReceiptHero solution.

Convenience and Fraud Prevention in One

At its core, the digital receipt solution from ReceiptHero was designed for convenience. Gone are the days of manually uploading photos, sifting through receipts, or dealing with human error in accounting. The solution streamlines expenses management and VAT returns for businesses, while also providing the added bonus of fraud prevention.

As the risk of AI-generated fake receipts grows, the need for secure, real-time digital receipts has become an essential part of any corporate card program. What was once a convenience feature has now become a crucial anti-fraud tool—helping businesses protect themselves from malicious expense submissions and ensuring that their financial processes are secure.

Real-time digital receipts aren’t just about fraud prevention; they also streamline the entire bookkeeping and VAT return process. This automation reduces the accounting workload, ensures compliance, and saves money.

The era of AI-generated fake receipts is here, but that doesn’t mean businesses are helpless. By embracing real-time digital receipts, finance teams can eliminate guesswork, significantly reduce fraud, and bring new levels of efficiency to expense management. If you’re ready to safeguard your organization against the evolving landscape of AI-driven fraud, learn more about how ReceiptHero powers secure, convenient, and tamper-proof digital receipts.