A notary is considered as that part of the state law where the assigned person has to make sure that the signing person is what one is claiming to be and one is signing the document solely by their wish. However, a notary’s role sounds quite simple and easy but being a legal witness and performing a notarial act includes a considerable risk. However, the state laws are pretty strict everywhere. Still, some people try to commit fraud in various ways in a notarial act. Therefore, being a notary Pennsylvania, you must check every single detail of the signer, beginning from the signer’s ID. But sometimes, people commit fraud forging the ID so smoothly that it looks like the original one. To avoid becoming a victim of such frauds, there are some hacks to identify a suspicious ID that we will enlist in this blog. So, let’s begin.
Know the ID rules in your state
Before going any further, you must know the state guidelines about identifying a signer. Every state’s Notary asks for different identifying documents. For instance, notary Pennsylvania permits notaries to accept the driving license, passport, or government-issued identity card. All these documents should be current or unexpired. Apart from the documents mentioned above, Notary Pennsylvania can also accept any government identification issued to an individual. The Notary should accept government identification documents only if it is satisfactory to the current document, and the document should have individual photographs and signatures.
There will be challenges in just identifying the ID like sometimes something will seem wrong with the photograph, occasionally, the signatures might raise an issue. In such moments, you will have to take a call.
The photo does not Resemble Signer’s Face.
Photo not resembling the signer’s face is suspicious, but there can be many reasons for that. For instance, the photo on the ID must have been taken a few years ago, or the individual will gain or lose weight years after the identity was made. So, to assure the signer’s identity verify all the other details mentioned on the ID, ask for another ID to verify the photograph.
Not having any Acceptable ID.
Not having an acceptable ID is a big sign for the Notary to investigate the absence of ID or deny notarizing the document. But we cannot deny the fact that many people in the country do not have an acceptable identity because either they are poor or minority. Therefore, to tackle such situations, you can notarize a document by asking for any kind of document they can provide, such as a birth certificate, work proof, house agreement, anything of that sort. Some states also accept expired documents in necessary conditions, but you must be sure about the expired documents that your state accepts.
ID looks a bit Odd to You.
Sometimes when a signer presents an ID notary immediately gets suspicious that there is something off with the ID. It might not match the standard ID. There can be many things like different colors different photo positions. You can find out what’s wrong with the ID by using the magnifying glass or blue UV light that exposes holograms, ghost photos, and anything mysterious done with the ID.
Being a notary, you must know how identity is handed over to people in the state. For instance, some states provide the ID with lamination already done on it. If you find double lamination on an ID or one without a lamination, there are high chances the ID has been modified. In such suspicion, you should not accept that ID. You can also identify the fraud in ID by using the scanner application on your phone. The benefit of this application is you do not have to carry a machine or set up wires to make it work.
You can also find out the actual status of ID by looking carefully at its physical form, its edges, structure, weight, and quality.
How to Proceed Notarial Act in Such Suspicious Conditions?
Denying the notarial act on suspicion is not always ideal for dealing with it. Therefore, you can make alternate choices.
- Ask for another ID
This is the first thing you must do in suspicion. State guidelines in each permit to accept more than one identity. Therefore, you can ask for any other ID acceptable according to guidelines. You can also ask for another ID if the submitted ID looks fine, but the person seems suspicious to you.
- Find another Witness for Person without ID
As we mentioned above, sometimes people genuinely do not have an ID due to their financial status or are a minority. In such a case, you can ask the signer to arrange for two witnesses who can be their guarantors and provide their acceptable ID.
Conclusion
Hence, these are the circumstances in which you should be suspicious and identify the document to do the right thing later. Blue Notary is the people’s first choice for online notary services to notarize documents in less than 10 minutes. Avail of the opportunity now.