Book Inspiration: Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." – Napoleon Bonaparte

Fraudsters have always found ways to manipulate verification systems, but one of the most effective defenses against deception is third-party data. This is why credit bureaus are so powerful in consumer finance—no matter how convincing a scammer’s personal documents may be, they can’t easily manipulate independent sources that track financial history.

But what happens when the verification system itself becomes the loophole?

The book Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art tells the fascinating story of how art forgers exploited a surprising weakness in third-party verification. Instead of faking paintings outright, they focused on falsifying the provenance—the official paper trail that authenticates a work’s history. Because these records are stored in highly secure institutions but not scrutinized as closely as the artwork itself, forgers found a way to "retroactively" create history. By slipping forged documents into archives, they built a legitimate-looking past for fake artworks, deceiving even top museums and collectors.

This highlights a critical lesson in fraud prevention: when relying on third parties for verification, even legitimate sources can be unknowingly manipulated. A scammer may interact with you in seemingly harmless ways—submitting routine paperwork, making a small purchase, or requesting a simple favor—all to establish a false historical record that enables fraud elsewhere.

In finance, this risk is well understood, which is why lenders expect data providers to maintain strict security measures to ensure the integrity and reliability of their information. But as AI advances, fraudsters are becoming even better at generating convincing fake documents, making third-party data more crucial than ever.

The Takeaway

Third-party verification remains one of the best tools to combat fraud, but it is not infallible. Your own data systems might be vulnerable in unintuitive ways as part of a larger scam. Just like the Tate’s records were used to legitimize forgeries for others, your own interactions with a potential fraudster could help them commit fraud against another target. Be wary of unusual behavior, even if your business is not the one at risk.