Handwriting Forgery

Handwriting forgery is the process used by criminals to fraudulently make, alter, or write a person's signature—so that in most circumstances it appears identical with the genuine signature—with the intent of profiting from the innocent party. Authentic signatures are included on such papers as checks, employment records, legal agreements, licenses, titles, wills, and any other type of personal or business transaction or agreement. Even slight handwriting alternations are considered as much a crime as the complete fabrication of a signature when the intent it to deceive. However, the consequences of being convicted of handwriting forgery are usually much less than many other major crimes in the United States, with the specific punishment generally being in the form of a misdemeanor and set by various state and federal statutes. As a result of these minor consequences and because most people are uninformed of the various tactics used by such skilled criminals, the illegal activity of handwriting forgery is growing at a higher rate than most other crimes.

There are several ways in which forgers commit handwriting forgery. The process of tracing is used when a real signature is possessed by a forger such as in a bank check. The signature is often placed under a pane of glass positioned over a light source while a blank paper is laid on top. The forger then traces the signature's outline onto the blank page, usually first with a pencil and later with a pen. This method will not produce a precise duplication of the original, but will be seen as acceptable for many uses of the forger. Sometimes forgers use freehand simulations, which involve copying a genuine signature until the forger can simulate its general style and characteristics without difficulty. In both cases, tracing and freehand, the forger is unable to exactly reproduce the various impressions and downward pressures used by the original writer.

Expert handwriting forgers, however, can more easily forge vulnerable signatures, such as those without complex characters. Absence of writing control, excessive use of variations, and weakly shaped character forms also contribute to vulnerable handwritings, making them easier to be forged by criminals. For all of these vulnerabilities, the forger will typically use personal checks as the preferred means of handwriting forgery.

The act of handwriting forgery annually takes many millions of dollars in cash and property from victims, primarily in the form of fraudulent checks, credit card purchases, invoices, identification papers, and passports. Within the field of forensic science , investigative experts use scientific handwriting analysis to examine the legitimacy of signatures and legal identifications. The latest of handwriting forgery detection methods used by forensic scientists involves a computer-generated hologram of a signature in order to analyze its tiny variations. Using the scientific techniques of image processing and virtual reality, the digital image makes it quite easy to analyze the differences between the forger's writings and those of the original writer.

see also Document forgery; Identity theft; Impression evidence; Ink analysis; Misdemeanor.