I understand that back in the day forging a seal or signature wasn’t easy and the results could be poor and stand out.
Today though it is trivial to scan a signature and transfer it on another document in seconds, then print it with a high quality printer. The result would be so convincing that one would have to do paper tests, ink composition analysis and the like to find the forgery.
So, what is the reason we still use signatures and stamps?
That’s why not everyone will accept a computer sent signature. It’s still pretty easy to distingush a signature printed by a computer versus a computer printed document with a signature signed by pen.
That’s also why a lot of professional engineers, when signing across their stamp, use blue ink for the signature and black ink for the stamp. It makes it easier to spot a forgery.
Part of the purpose of a signature is not so much to authenticate something, but to make the signer aware that something is official. If it comes up in court or the like and the other side asks “Did you sign this?”, an answer of “Yes, but I didn’t mean it” won’t hold up.
As a notary, I insist on using a stamp that embosses the paper. The stamp is virtually invisible if you try to scan or copy it and you certainly won’t get the same impression in the paper without having the original embossing stamp. So, faking a notarization like that would mean:
stealing my stamp
stealing my log book
forging my handwriting in the log book to make the entry
forging my signature on the original document
getting all this back into my office before I notice.
Looking to the future… encrypted digital signatures are likely to be much more secure than ANY seal or signature has ever been in the past. We’re starting to see digital signatures in some areas, and I think they’ll become pretty standard within a decade.
Not too long ago, a Doper asked about using blue pen to sign some SSDI documents. There’s some discussion about ink and digital signatures in that thread.
I’m a professional engineer, and I threw out all of my black pens.
This is after I submitted an application to a state agency that required two original signed applications. That’s exactly what I turned in, but the agency apparently assumed that because all of the originals were signed in black ink, we had not complied with this requirement.
Now I sign everything with blue ink, and it’s much easier to distinguish between an original and a copy. Even the newer color copiers don’t usually copy blue ink very well.
Come over here to South Korea and see what officialdom requires for the use of a stamp. One has to register their name stamp at the local district office. That office will then give you a certificate of authenticity to deliver to the entity (individual/business/etc.) that requires you stamp a document for them. Luckily, you only have to do that once–once per entity, that is.*
We foreigners don’t have to go through that unless it’s something really complicated like transferring vehicle ownership. In that case, we have to hie to your embassy and get a certificate of authentication for our signature itself. Of course, some foreigners have registered name stamps but it depends on the transaction and the entity if a foreigner can use their registered name stamp or must just sign the document concerned.
*You can check the news reports about some of the big wigs getting into serious trouble by “lending” their name stamps to a relative to engage in transactions prohibited for elected officials.
In 1996, I was invited to spend a month visiting the CS dept at Stanford. Since this was part of my sabbatical, my dean insisted on seeing a formal invitation. So I was sent the invitation as an email attachment and printed it out and the dean was satisfied. Then I wrote to the inviter and pointed out that I now had a digital copy of his signature and Also Stanford’s letterhead. What would stop me from attaching them to something outrageous. His answer was that it was the same thing that prevented my from forging his name on any document. If a court case ensued he would simply deny having the signed the outrageous document and we would see who ws believed. Of course, I never did any such thing.
Does it really require all that? I understand that the above list would make it very difficult for you to refute a forgery, but is it really necessary to do all that just to make a forgery? If you were to lose your logbook or stamp, would that invalidate any of the things you’ve notarized? If not, then only steps 1,2, and 4, would be required.
Yes, I suppose 1 and 4 would be all you’d need to make it look good enough to fool someone initially. The purpose of the log book is to make sure there’s an independent way to verify what I did or did not do. Partly, it’s a way to verify that I followed all of the necessary steps, such as checking identification.
If I lost the log book or stamp, my state requires me to report that it went missing as soon as I become aware of it. So it would not necessarily invalidate everything I’ve done; courts can look at how close an alleged forgery is to the date I reported it missing.
Also, when the stamp expires or if I ever dispose of it, I’m required to deface it so that it can’t be found in the trash and used.
