Forgery Detection. Handwriting Examination: Kinds of handwriting, phases and process of scientific handwriting examination.

FORGERY

Forgery involves a false document, signature, or other imitation of an object of value used with the intent to deceive another .
Those who commit forgery are often charged with the crime of fraud. Documents that can be the object of forgery
include contracts, identification cards, and legal certificates. Most states require that forgery be done with the intent to commit
fraud or larceny.

Forgery- is a crime against public interest on making or producing an illegal copy of something so that it looks genuine, usually
for financial gain

Forgery applies to:

1. signing the name of a person who cannot write;
2. the unauthorized use of another's signature, by transferring of a genuine signature to a document for which it was NOT
intended, or
3. the fabrication of an entire document.

INDICATIONS OF FORGERY
1. EVIDENCE OF TRACING - can be detected through:
a. Microscopic Observation
b. Oblique Writing
c. Infrared Photography
d. Transmitted Light Examination
2. PEN PRESSURE – refers to the average force the pen is held against the paper. Forgers usually have greater pressure
when imitating signatures or handwritings.
3. HESITATIONS – evidenced by unnatural spread of ink in one part of a written character due to the stoppage of the pen of
the writer.
4. RETOUCHING or RETRACING – done by habitual retouching or superimposition of the lines of the stroke in a character.
5. PATCHING – the act of going back over a defective written character.
6. ABSENCE OF SPONTANEITY – the lack of smoothness of letters

Conclusive Indicators of Forgery:

1. Slowness of execution
2. Retouching
3. Pressure (change of hold)
4. Tremors (wavering)
5. Uncertain interrupted strokes
6. Marked variations of angles
Note: There is a possibility that all six of these conditions can be found in the writing of one with severe illness.

KINDS OF FORGERY
1. SIMPLE FORGERY – the forger simply signs the name of other person without having knowledge on the design or
style of the genuine signature. He may sign the document in his own handwriting or disguised handwriting. The
signature is called also as SPURIOUS which means false or fake.
2. SIMULATED FORGERY – the process of copying or imitating a genuine signature. This is also known as FREEHAND
FORGERY.
a. SIMULATED TECHNIQUE - The forger makes an effort to obtain a copy of the model signature as basis in
forging, stroke after stroke.
b. DIRECT TECHNIQUE – the forger after observing the model signature imitates directly with ink pen in a
document.
c. INDIRECT TECHNIQUE - forger works first with pencil and afterwards covers the pencil strokes with ink.
3. TRACED FORGERY – an act of following the outline of a genuine signature with a writing instrument.

KINDS OF TRACED FORGERY

a. LIGHT BOX TECHNIQUE - tracing is made with the aid of transmitted light. Also known as Transmitted Light
Technique.
b. TRACE OVER METHOD - the document to be forged is placed under (below) the genuine document bearing the
model signature. The signature is traced with inkless pen or any other sharp objects. To make the signature visible,
writing material is applied. Also known as Indentation Method.
c. CARBON METHOD - the forger places the document to be forged on the bottom, inter-leaves a piece of carbon paper
and places on top a document containing the genuine signature
4. MECHANICAL PLACEMENT – is a method of placing signature into a document through technology.
a. STAMPING – use of rubber-stamped or imprinted facsimile signatures.
b. PHOTOCOPYING – the contents of a document can be edited by obliterating the contents and photocopying to
appear as original.
c. COMPUTER SCANNING – with the use of computer, signatures, handwriting specimen, pictures, and other
body parts pictures can be transferred to a document through technology.
HANDWRITING IDENTIFICATION AND EXAMINATION

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

HANDWRITING – It is the result of a very complicated series of acts, being used as

whole, combination of certain forms of visible mental and muscular habits acquired
by long, continued painstaking effort.
NATURAL HANDWRITING – any writing executed normally without any attempt to control or alter its identifying habits and
usual quality of execution.
DISGUISED WRITING – a writer may deliberately try to alter his usual writing habits in hope of hiding his identity, writing skill is
poorer, change in slant, size, altered of capital letters.
STROKE – series of lines or curves written in a single letter.
– one of the lines of an alphabet or series of lines or curves within a single letter.
– The path traced by the pen on the paper.
STROKE STRUCTURE – are series of lines or curves within the letters o the alphabet.

OTHER TERMS RELATED TO HANDWRITING EXAMINATIONS

ALIGNMENT – is the relation of parts of the whole of writing or line of individual letters in words to the baseline. It is the
alignment of words. The relative alignment of letters.
CHARACTERISTICS – is any properly or mark which distinguish and in document examination commonly called to as the
identifying details.
KINDS OF CHARACTERISTICS:
CLASS CHARACTERISTICS – not all characteristics encountered in document examination are peculiar to a single person or
thing and one which is common to a group may be described as class characteristics.
INDIVIDUAL OR PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS – Characteristics which is highly personal ors peculiar and it is unlikely to
occur in other instances.

RECOGNITION OF WRITING CHARACTERISTICS

The following are the writing characteristics commonly involved in the examination of handwriting:

1. Form –refers to the shape or design of the individual letters.

2. Slope or Slant - It is an angle or inclination of the axis of letters relative to the baseline.
3. Size – as a writing characteristics is somewhat divergent under varying condition and may have but little significance
when applied to only one example, or to small quality of writing like a signature unless the divergence is very
pronounced.
4. Proportion – Individual characteristics in relative proportion of letters or proportion of a part a letter or relative height of
one letter to another letter can be found in different writing. Proportion of letter is one of the hidden features of writing.
5. Ratio – The relation between the tall and short letters is referred to as the ration of the writing.
6. Connecting Strokes – this refers to the strokes of links that connects a letter with the one following: In signatures, it is
a common practice among many writers to write their signatures with the initials and connected without lifting the pen.
In writing, many writers habitually drop the connection before certain letters (particularly small letters within words).
7. Technical Strokes and Initials Strokes – when a letter, word or name (signature) is completed in a free, natural writing,
the pen is usually raised from paper while in motion with a “flying finish” (or what is also referred as “vanishing”,
tapering or “flourishing” terminal strokes) and with many writers, the motion of the pen also slightly precedes the
putting of the pen on the paper at the beginning with “flying start” so that the strokes at the beginning and end of
words gradually diminish or taper to a “vanishing point”
8. Pen-lift – It is an interruption in a stroke caused by removing the pen from the paper.
9. Hiatus – is a gap between strokes due to speed in writing and defective writing instruments.
10. Lateral Spacing – lateral spacing is considered as a common characteristic when it conforms to the ordinary copy-
book-form.
11. Shading – it is the widening of the ink strokes with increased pressure on the paper surface.
12. Line Quality – refers to the visible record in the written stroke of the basic movement and manner of holding the
writing instrument.
13. Alignment – is the relation of the parts of the whole line of writing or line of individual letters in words or signatures to
the baseline.
14. Rhythm – it is the balanced quality of movements of the harmonious recurrence of stress or impulse.
15. Pen pressure – it is the average force in which the pen makes contact with the paper or the usual force involved in
writing.
16. Tremor – the deviation from uniform strokes due to lack of smoothness perfectly apparent even without magnification.
17. Natural variation – variation is: due to lack of machine-like precision of the human hand, it is also caused by external
factors, such as the writing instrument and the writing position, influenced by physical and mental condition such as
fatigue, intoxication, illness nervousness and the age of the writer, due to the quality of the writing prepared in the
course of time, variation in genuine signature appears in superficial parts and does not apply to the whole process.
18. Rubric – or Embellishment - This refers to additional unnecessary strokes not necessary to the legibility of letterforms
or writing but incorporated in writing for decorative or ornamental purposes.
Standard
Are condensed and compact set of authentic specimen which is adequate and proper, should contain a true correction
of the material from a known source. They are used by the Document Examiner as the basis for his identification or
non-identification of the questioned document as, for example, for the known handwriting which serves to establish who
wrote the disputed letter.
known writings which indicate how a person writes.
THERE MUST BE NO DOUBT ABOUT THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE STANDARDS. THE DOCUMENT EXAMINER
NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO RELY ON THE STANDARDS, AND THE STANDARDS MAY NEED TO BE ACCEPTED AS
EVIDENCE IN COURT

1. STANDARD- known writings which indicate how a person writes.

2. EXEMPLARS- specimen of the writing of suspects.
The term standards is a general term referring to all authenticated writings of the suspects while exemplars refer more
especially to specimens of standard writing offered in evidence or obtained or request for comparison with the questioned
writing.
3. SAMPLE- a selected representative portion of the whole.

Kinds of Standard Documents:

a. Procured or Collected – are known (genuine) handwriting of an individual such as signature, commercial, official, public,
and private documents and other handwriting such as letters, memoranda etc. written or executed in the person’s day
to day business, official, social or personal activities.
b. Requested – Those which are given or made upon the request of an investigator for purpose of making a comparative
examination with the standard writing.
-are signature or other handwriting written by an individual upon request for the purpose of comparison with other
handwriting or for specimen purposes.
c. Post Litem Motam Exemplars-writings produced by the subject after evidential writings have come into dispute and
solely for the purpose of establishing his contentions.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE SELECTION OF STANDARDS

A. The amount of standard written

1. at least ten to twenty-five signatures.(PNP-CLO recommends at least eight (8) standard signatures)
2. writing-usually four or five pages of natural writing.(PNP-CLO recommends at least five (5) pages of handwriting
standards and observance of similar language or dialect).

B. Similarity of subject matter.

o if the questioned writings are hand printed, then get hand printed standard or exemplar.
o Extended writing- determine whether the questioned writing is purely cursive, or script or block or combination of the
three or two styles of writing.

C. RELATIVE DATES of the questioned and the standard writing or standard signatures must be those written five (5) years
before or five (5) years after the date of the questioned signature or writing.

This means that the investigator should collect standards that were written nearest to the possible date of the writing in
question.

IMPORTANCE OF CONTEMPORANEOUS STANDARDS

1. helps to determine or trace gradual changes in one’s handwriting or signature.

2. aids in tracing the development of any writing variation
. Condition under which both the questioned and the standard are prepared.

-look for standards prepared under comparable circumstances such as: paper rested on the knee; standing; sitting; lying
down; and or while on moving vehicle.

E. Writing Instrument and paper

-same instrument used in the preparation of the questioned document must be obtained in the standards.

BASIC CARDINAL RULES IN TAKING

REQUESTED OR DICTATED STANDARD
1. DO NOT coach the writer on how to make the letter forms
2. DO NOT show the writer the Questioned Writing
3. DO NOT let the subject copy the writings from the Questioned Writing.
4. DO NOT coach the writer with spelling, grammar, or arrangement of words.
5. DO NOT tell how the date is written whether in words, figures, or a combination.

ADMISSIBILITY OF STANDARD WRITINGS

1. Standard writing witnessed
2. Standards writings admitted
3. Record maintained in regular course of business as standard writings
4. Government document as standard writings
5. Familiarity sometimes establishes standard writings.

What is a Disguised Writing?

 Disguised writing is the deliberate attempt on the part of the writer to alter his writing habit by endeavoring to invent a
new writing style or by imitating the writing of another person.
Physical Methods of Disguising Handwriting

◆ By changing the direction of the slant. The forger may employ a backhand slant, instead of the usual forehead slant.
◆ By increasing or decreasing the speed in writing.
◆ By deliberate carelessness that will produce inferior style of writing.
◆ By making the letters unusually large or small.
◆ The forger may use the left hand instead of the right hand.
◆ Hand printing may be substituted for script.

KINDS OF DISGUISES
1. Change of slant- from right to left or vice versa
2. Change of letter either from cursive to block style or vice versa
3. Change from cursive to block form or vice versa
4. Change of style from small to big or vice versa
5. Deteriorating one's handwriting
6. Using the wrong hand (AMBIDEXTROUS)

Effects of alcohol in handwriting

1. Physical and mental effects- intoxication affects the physiological being of an individual hence, the manner of
handwriting is also affected.
2. Evidence of alcoholic intoxication in handwriting- Bizarre letter forms, greatly enlarged writing, illegible forms and
writing generally, uneven baseline, meaningless blobs or extraneous strokes in the writing, inconsistency in slant of
writing, inconsistency in the form of repeated letters.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF HANDWRITING CHARACTERISTICS
1. CLASS or GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS – refers to the general design of letters and figures that can be found in
handwriting of several people.
2. 2. INDIVIDUAL or PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS – refers to the personal design of letters and figures by a person
that cannot be found in others’ handwriting.
3. CHARACTER is any letter, numeral, punctuation mark, symbol or ornament found in a document.
4. ABSENT CHARACTER is the term that refers to a character or character combination which is present in one body of
writing but is NOT present in another body of writing.
5. ACCIDENTAL CHARACTERISTICS – is a single occurrence of a characteristic that is not a usual stroke of the writer.
These are the results of some interference with the normal formation of the characteristics.

TYPES OF HANDWRITING ACCORDING TO MUSCULAR CONTROL

1. LOOSE WRITING- this is characterized by too much freedom of movement and lack of regulation. This is noticed
especially in tall letter forms.
2. RESTRAINED WRITING- there is a lack of freedom and inhibited movements. This writing is small. There is a
distortion of letter forms which may lead to illegibility.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. PERMANENT - this characteristic can be found always in a handwriting of a person.
2. COMMON or USUAL - this characteristic can be found in a group of writers who studied the same system of
writing. Example: Stenography.
3. OCCASIONAL - this characteristic is only found occasionally in one’s handwriting. This is unique stroke that
makes the writer different from others.
4. RARE - this characteristic is special to the writer and perhaps found only in one or two persons in a group of 100
individuals.

INDICATIONS OF SPEED IN WRITING

 1. Smooth, unbroken strokes
2. misplaced & misshaped i dots & t-crosses
3. joining of initials or of words
4. letters are tapered illegibly towards the end of words
5. marked difference in pressure on up & downstrokes
6. wide writing and spacing
7. simplification of letters especially in capital letters

INDICATIONS OF SLOW WRITING

1. broken strokes & wavylines
2. I dots & t-crosses made & placed perfectly
3. pauses unnecessary marks & angles retouching
4. carefully made final pen pressure & spacing
5. narrow writing & spacing
6. little difference in pressure on up & down strokes
7. ornamental or flourishing letters

INDICATIONS OF DISGUISED WRITING

1. Abnormally large writing
2. abnormally small writing
3. alteration in slant
4. usual variation in slant within a single unit of writing
5. printed forms instead of cursive forms
6. diminution in the usual speed of writing
7. unusual widening or restrictions of lateral spacing

KINDS OF DISGUISES
1. Change of slant- from right to left or vice versa
2. Change of letter either from cursive to block style or vice versa
3. Change from cursive to block form or vice versa
4. change of style from small to big or vice versa
5. deteriorating one's handwriting
6. using the wrong hand (AMBIDEXTROUS)
Ambidextrous – the term that refers the situation when a person is able to use the right and the left hand with equal skills in
writing.

It came from the Latin word “dexter” which means “right-handed” and from its old Latin term “ambidexter” which means “right-
handed on both sides.”
SIGNATURE IDENTIFICATION
SIGNATURE- A name or a mark that a person puts at the end of a document to attest that he is its author or that he ratifies its
contents. It is used as a sign of acknowledgment

Two kinds of signature

 conventional – letters are readable

 Highly conventional/ individualized – consist of many intertwining strokes and ornamentations

Types of Signature

1. Formal- This is a kind of signature in which the person writes his whole name as a signature
2. Informal- Informal signature is usually done by writing the first name, surname, or initials in a signature.
 Personalized signature contains distinctive marks (personalized) purposely to easily identify the fake signature.
 Formal signature is done usually in writing the full name which is readable

A. Genuine Signature which the written refuses to admit not genuine.

Generally, the indications of forgery are the presence of tremors, retouching, and poor-line quality, when this is not
present, but instead, the obvious feature is the one absent and provided that the minute details are present or correctly
reproduced.

Produced, the probability is of genuineness

B. Genuine Signature – Deliberately Modified

 Examination of this kind of signature confidently discovers that the modification is only on the prominent features of the
letter designs that are pointed out by the disclaimer, while the rest appear to be normal. There are unnatural tremors and
retouching. The minute details in genuine signatures are present.

Three Classes or forged Signatures:

1. Simulated signature – the freehand drawing in imitation of model signature.

(a) Simulated with the model before the forger – He makes an effort to obtain a reproduction of the model signature. He
works slowly, stroke after stroke.

1. Direct technique – forger works directly with ink

2. Indirect techniques – forger work first with a pencil and afterward covers the pencil strokes with ink.

(b) Simulated free hand forgery – Used by forgers who have a certain skill in writing. After some practice, the forger tries
to write a copy of the model quickly.

2. Traced Signature – a tracing of a genuine signature outline.

(a) direct tracing – copy is made transmitted light.

(b) Indirect tracing – forger uses carbon paper and places documents on which he will trace the forged signatures under
the document bearing the model signature with carbon between the two.

Types of traces signatures:

(a) Carbon Process:

The forger places the document to be forged on the bottom, inter-leave a piece of carbon and places on top a
document containing the genuine signature. The forger then traces over the genuine signature with pencil, pen stylus, or other
pointed instrument.

The pressure of this over-tracing against the carbon paper imprints the signature outline in carbon on the bottom
document. This type could be easily detected by the smattering of carbon remnants on the forged document.

(b) Indentation Process:

The document containing the model signature is placed on top of the forged document. The forger traces with
considerable pressure, over the genuine signature using a pencil, pen stylus or similar instrument and creates an indented
signature outline on the document being forged. Alter this depression outline is overwritten using pencil, or foundation pen.

(c) Transmitted light process:

The document to be forged is placed on top of the document containing the genuine signature.

3. Simple Forgery – Forgery does not try to copy a model but writes with something resembling we ordinarily call a
signature. For this he used a false name and makes a rapid stroke, disturbing his usual writing by adopting a
camouflage called disguise.