Is there any way of telling if a file has been edited?
Discussion
Good morning, i am being told some information which I know to be false but the person telling me this states that they can provide proof. This is likely to be via Facebook messenger posts, texts or screenshots.
If I receive these from the person is there anyway of proving that they have been edited/tampered with in some way without having the original? Im thinking file names or similar but i am not at all computer savvy.
To be clear i know they are false and the only reason i would be interested in receiving this “proof” is to provide a rebuttal and stop the matter.
If I receive these from the person is there anyway of proving that they have been edited/tampered with in some way without having the original? Im thinking file names or similar but i am not at all computer savvy.
To be clear i know they are false and the only reason i would be interested in receiving this “proof” is to provide a rebuttal and stop the matter.
)
Sheetmaself said:
Ah so no chance of detecting then. To be honest I presumed as much but just wanted to be sure as i know there is a wide breadth of knowledge in this joint.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
The answer is we dont knowThanks for taking the time to respond.
Do you mean they will provide screenshots of facebook messages?
If so, someone may be able to tell that text has been altered.
If you add something to a picture, it’s unlikely to be of the same resolution/quality as what you’re adding it to.
So a system I use in investigations at work basically takes the image, saves it as a jpeg hundreds of times. Each time the photo is saved again, it degrades in quality slightly. So the altered parts should degrade at a different rate to the rest, which tells you it’s been altered.
I reckon that link above that someone put up will do a similar thing. If not, send it over and I can have a look.
So a system I use in investigations at work basically takes the image, saves it as a jpeg hundreds of times. Each time the photo is saved again, it degrades in quality slightly. So the altered parts should degrade at a different rate to the rest, which tells you it’s been altered.
I reckon that link above that someone put up will do a similar thing. If not, send it over and I can have a look.
Tweaking a screen shot requires quite a bit of skill to make it look genuine. Often the font's not quite right, colour looks odd, doesn't line up and generally doesn't 'look' right. It can be done but 99% of the time, it will be apparent that someone's interfered with it.
Adjusting PDF documents is easy (if you have Acrobat Pro). That said, if the adjustments are major, then it does take a bit of skill to make the changes look 'right'. There's always the tell-tale of the 'date-modified' date but this can easily be manipulated through re-setting the computer's time.
My advice would be to view the original messages within the platforms. It's very difficult (though not impossible) to fudge this. If they are genuine, they won't mind you having a look.
Adjusting PDF documents is easy (if you have Acrobat Pro). That said, if the adjustments are major, then it does take a bit of skill to make the changes look 'right'. There's always the tell-tale of the 'date-modified' date but this can easily be manipulated through re-setting the computer's time.
My advice would be to view the original messages within the platforms. It's very difficult (though not impossible) to fudge this. If they are genuine, they won't mind you having a look.
You don't need to edit the images in Photoshop (or Paint), there are webpages that make it easy to create fake screenshots for most popular social media sites.
eg https://ifaketextmessage.com
eg https://ifaketextmessage.com
Mojooo said:
The answer is we dont know
Do you mean they will provide screenshots of facebook messages?
If so, someone may be able to tell that text has been altered.
My honest answer is I don’t know and would struggle to find out. At the moment i have ignored this person. In order to ask what the proof would be i would need to acknowledge them which may bring in a whole raft of issues so would prefer to leave it than ask what the proof was if there is a chance I can’t rebuke it. Do you mean they will provide screenshots of facebook messages?
If so, someone may be able to tell that text has been altered.
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