A convincing image is not a reason to skip the prescribed check. Equally, the existence of generative AI does not make every manual right-to-work check invalid or every reviewer responsible for detecting a forensic forgery.
Review the route before the image
Use the Home Office employer guide to choose the method available for the person. A manual check involves the required original documents and employer actions. An emailed photograph alone is different. For eligible people, the online service provides an employer result that must still be checked against the person and job.
Do not accept a physical biometric residence permit as a substitute for the required online result. Generic identity software, OCR and a bank statement are not interchangeable with the prescribed right-to-work process.
Handle a concern without inventing certainty
Record the document or result concerned, the inconsistency and the next review action. Check details through the appropriate official process. Avoid asking a candidate for sensitive material unrelated to the requirement or describing them as fraudulent before the facts are established.
The guidance addresses documents whose falsity is reasonably apparent. This is not a promise that a reviewer can detect all AI manipulation, nor a requirement to use a product claiming access to every issuing authority's database. Obtain advice where identity or permission remains uncertain.
Use fraud statistics accurately
Cifas Fraudscape 2026 reports 242,003 identity-fraud filings in its National Fraud Database during 2025, 3% fewer than 2024. These are member filings in a defined database, not all UK fraud and not a count of AI-generated employment documents.
Keep the check result, date and reviewer together. Certifyd helps organise worker evidence and review actions; it does not promise forensic document authentication, issuing-authority database access or an automatic statutory excuse.