Gefälscht

Gefälscht is the past participle of the verb fälschen and is used as an adjective to indicate that something has been forged or counterfeit. It denotes that the object or information is not authentic and has been altered, fabricated or misrepresented with the intention to deceive. In ordinary language it is commonly applied to money, documents and goods, for example gefälschte Banknoten (counterfeit banknotes), gefälschte Urkunden (forged documents), gefälschte Markenware (counterfeit branded goods) and gefälschte Daten (manipulated data). The term also extends to digital content and modern forgeries such as gefälschte Profile or gefälschte Bewertungen, including deepfakes.

Although gefälscht is widely used in media and everyday speech, the standard noun for the act of deception is Fälschung. The verb fälschen emphasizes the act of making something false; fälschung denotes the result or the deception itself.

Legal context: In German law, the words and related compounds describe crimes such as Geldfälschung (counterfeiting money) and Urkundenfälschung (forging documents). Prosecution may cover other forms of forgery, including data manipulation and counterfeit goods, depending on the jurisdiction. Efforts to combat gefälscht content include authentication measures, anti-counterfeit technologies and digital forensics.