How to Spot an Edited Rate Con: Saved Versions, White-Out Boxes and Typed-On-Top Text
A changed rate on a forwarded rate con leaves traces inside the PDF. Here is what editing looks like, and what is normal and should not worry you.
Here is how it usually goes. A broker sends a rate con for $1,625. Someone in the middle, often a dispatcher, opens the PDF in a free online editor or in Acrobat, changes the 6 to a 5, saves it, and forwards the $1,525 version to the driver. The driver hauls the load and never sees the real number.
The good news is that editing a PDF almost always leaves traces inside the file.
PDFs keep the earlier version
When a PDF is edited and saved, most programs do not rewrite the whole file. They add the changes to the end and keep the original inside. That earlier version can be rebuilt and compared with the current one, page by page, so you can see exactly which text changed and when.
Signs of editing
- Text that changed in a later save. The strongest sign: the earlier version said $1,625.00 and the current one says $1,525.00.
- A white box over text, with new text on top. The classic cover-up when an editor cannot change the original text directly.
- A typed text box sitting on the page. Some editors add a text box on top of the original number instead of changing it.
- Acrobat's edit marker. When text is retyped with Acrobat's Edit Text tool, it often leaves a marker on that text.
- Online editors in the file's history. Tools like free web PDF editors often write their name into the file.
- Hidden text drawn invisibly on a page that is not a scan.
- Changes after a digital signature, when the signature covers an earlier version only.
What is normal
Not every change is fraud, and a good check tells you that too.
- Filled-in form fields are meant to be filled in after the document is made.
- Digital signatures add a saved version. That is how signing works.
- Scanned pages with a text layer carry invisible text so they can be searched. That is OCR, not hiding.
- Accessibility tags and re-saves that do not change any visible text or drawing are harmless.
What to do when the check says edited
- Ask for the rate con straight from the broker, not forwarded.
- Call the broker on the phone number FMCSA has for them, not the number on the PDF, and confirm the rate and load number.
- Keep both versions of the file. If money is involved, the earlier version inside the PDF is evidence.
Haulock's PDF check opens the file itself: it rebuilds every saved version, shows the exact text that changed (for example $1,625.00 to $1,525.00), finds white-out boxes, typed-on-top text and hidden text, and highlights each spot on a preview of your PDF. It also tells you what is normal, like filled-in form fields and signatures. No AI, and the file is never stored on our servers.