Fraud, which is deception used for economic or personal gain, has been around since the beginning of human history. Although the technologies used to commit fraud have evolved over time to adapt to structural changes in society (e.g., fraud in person vs. fraud online), many fraudulent schemes have withstood the test of time. Human social behavior, the way we think, how we connect and relate to others, and how we are taught to trust people we do not know well are products of human nature and have remained persistent and predictable throughout the years. This predictability makes us, and the organizations we work for, susceptible to fraud.
However, fraud schemes are rarely successful without a person or thing making the fraudsters' actions unnoticeable or credible. Documents are one such category of thing that has made fraud easier to commit and more difficult to detect. Documents are pervasive throughout society, and we have been programmed to generally trust the authenticity of the documents presented to us. For example, when presented with an identification credential such as a driver's license or passport, the receiver rarely questions the document's validity. After all, the person presenting the identity document went through an identity verification process. Another example is when a certificate of analysis (COA) is presented to the customer by the supplier to demonstrate that the shipment received meets the agreed-upon specifications, the customer rarely questions the authenticity of the COA. The supplier has presumably been vetted, is likable, and appears trustworthy.