handwriting analysis

When Creepy Stalker Notes Turn Out to be Something Else

Marti found the first anonymous note lying on top of paperwork on her desk when she came back from lunch break. It was hand printed on common lined paper that was folded in half. The printing was bold and slanted slightly to the left. To Marti, it looked like a man’s writing. The note said, “I’m watching you.” At the time, Marti dismissed it as a joke by a bored co-worker and threw it away. A few days later, Marti found the second anonymous note on her car windshield when she was leaving work for the day. This note looked just like the first one but this time it said, “Pretty in pink.” She was wearing a pink blouse that day. Marti was upset and [...]

I Didn’t Sign That! Handwriting Analysis May be the Answer

Forged signatures are not limited to the bottom of checks. Forged signatures on documents can have a much greater impact on the lives of people. In a recent medical liability case, a device manufacturer is under scrutiny because an official of the company said she did not sign the application and documents submitted to the FDA. She said she knew the device was not ready to be released for public use. A handwriting analysis by a forensic examiner can shed some light on the denial. The way a handwriting analysis expert conducts a handwriting analysis is through a comparison of minute similarities and differences in signatures (or written text). In the case of suspected forged signatures, the subject is asked to submit signature exemplars. These [...]

Using Handwriting Analysis to Prove a Forged Will

While a forged or fraudulent will may seem like a plot twist in a novel or movie, it’s a crime that happens more often than people think. For example, a home care aide who takes care of an elderly shut-in decides she deserves more money once the family patriarch has died since she’s cared for him more than his children. She creates a new will and forges the signature of the sick man to scam his family out of some of their inheritance. However, more often than not, document forgery of a will is committed by a relative of the deceased. The family member may feel he is entitled to more assets than what’s outlined in the will, or she may have a grievance with [...]

Handwriting Analyst Vindicates Parents’ Beliefs

Investigators are sought out during some of the more tumultuous and trying times in people’s lives. For instance, here at , we see… People who have lost touch with loved ones or want to find their birth parents Families in the midst of hostile divorces and contentious child custody cases People whose lives have been thrown into chaos by public accusations or acts of defamation Parents whose hearts are broken over the loss of a child, whether by their being missing or having died Once such set of parents were devastated by the death of their only son, Paul*. The circumstance was that Paul and his girlfriend had been found dead. The police determined that Paul had murdered his girlfriend and then committed suicide. His [...]

Today’s Investigative Skills

Unfortunately, some people continue to hold onto old stereotypes. Uninformed members of the general public still envision a private investigator as a trench coat-wearing figure, hiding behind a newspaper in a motel lobby. Of course, more informed members of the community, those who actually stay in touch with the times, know better. They not only know, they deeply respect the fact that many private investigators are amazingly talented researchers. We have many resources at our fingertips. We also have the ability to think fast on our feet. The investigators in this firm are all of those things plus a lot more. Intellectually, we are at the top. At , we take great pride in our skill sets and our track record. Most of the time, [...]

Missing Person Investigation is Search for Identity Thief

Until Maria was denied a marriage license, she had no idea that someone had stolen her identity. For sure she never imagined a need for a private investigator like . According to Maria, detectives from the local police department moved too slowly when she reported the alleged crime. Identity theft is often put at the bottom of the case load due to so many other more violent crimes. The authorities didn’t devote much time to investigating her case. And because of that, Maria worried that she and her fiance would be forced to cancel their wedding and lose the large deposit already paid to the reception hall. Trying to assist a client with identity theft is very similar in many ways to a missing person [...]

Do You Need a Handwriting Analyst or a Computer Forensics Analyst?

Forgery isn’t always a signature. Generally speaking, forgery is creating a false copy in an effort to defraud someone or something. Through the years, has seen that something to be valuable; money, land, custody or control. A New York man was charged with felonies in two states for allegedly forging checks. But it wasn’t the signature that was forged – it was the amounts of the checks. The signatures were valid, but he was able to cash 13 checks for more than $8,000 over the original check amount. With handwritten checks, it is possible to complete a thorough handwriting analysis to determine if the maker of the check actually wrote the amounts on the check. Sometimes, in medium-sized businesses, the bookkeeper might make out the [...]

Handwriting Analyst Can Reveal Forged Signatures

The recent case of two inmates convicted of murder walking out of a Florida prison easily with forged release papers brings to light how common forgery is today. No one questioned the documents and out they walked. I read that the forgery accounts for 1.7% of the crime in America during the last decade. That might not seem huge, but it ranks almost equal with embezzlement (1.9%). Robbery, which you hear about every night on the news, comes in at 9%. But that puts the incidence of forgeries in perspective – there is a lot of it happening. Forgery can be a lot of things, but in the end, it is used to get something by illegal means. Before the prolific use of debit and [...]

Forensic Examiner Resolves Case with Handwriting Analyst Investigation

We could hear someone sobbing in the background. The attorney on the phone said he was with a very distraught client and wondered if we thought could help. The client had fathered a child with a woman and she had died. They were engaged to be married and the little girl was the center of their lives, but the father wasn’t in a position at that moment to take custody of the child. So while he was getting a new life in order for him as a parent, he accepted the offer of her parents to take care of the baby. He’d done it all – moved, gotten a new job that paid more, arranged for daycare and had even set up a support network [...]

Handwriting Analyst Can Reveal Forgery

Forgeries of paintings may be the stuff of movies, but forgery of signature on documents happens more often than the public realizes. For example, recently had an inquiry about a home that was being sold on a lease-to-rent agreement. The original tenant/buyer died during the term of the sales agreement. His sister and her husband, who had lived with him for the last several months of his life, were not parties to the agreement. However, when the landlord/seller went to the property to discuss the situation, the sister produced a signed sales contract between her, her brother (the original tenant/buyer) and the landlord/seller and his wife outlining different terms for the sale. Their attorney contacted us because they believed that someone had forged signatures on [...]

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