A notary who had worked for a document services office in California received the surprise of their life when a former customer contacted them about a notarization they’d done, even though they’d quit months ago. Under the username CybertronFife, the notary explained their predicament on r/legal: they left in June but received an inquiry about a power of attorney they notarized in August. The issue is that they have the notary stamp and journal, and no one else has access to them.
After reviewing this former customer’s message, the document allegedly included CybertronFife’s name, commission number, expiration date, official seal, and signature, even though they weren’t the responsible notary. OP got in touch with their old boss to see what was going on, and he claimed it was “an old template that someone reused” that they shouldn’t worry about. “That did not make me feel better,” wrote CybertronFife.
“I have no idea whether this happened once or twenty times,” CybertronFife added worriedly. They claim there’s a real possibility that their employer, or someone else at their old office, cropped their seal and signature from past notarized documents for reuse. Now, they’re asking Reddit whether the California Secretary of State or police should get involved, to which many commenters said: both.
Redditors Are Certain the Former Employer Is Guilty of Illegal Forgery
“Report to both + the issuer of your surety bond,” suggested one Redditor. “There is no situation under the sun that this is a mistake,” remarked another. “This is straight up forgery,” said a third.
Other people strongly urged OP to document anything and everything, including the recent dialogue with their former employer. One commenter claiming to be a California notary said CybertronFife will need to inform the authorities about this incident, for legal reasons: “You absolutely need to report it as knowing about it, and not reporting will potentially get you in trouble.”
OP’s old boss did say no one physically used their stamp, but according to California law, that argument holds no merit since signatures must be in the notary’s own handwriting, not a template. Not to mention, it’s illegal for an employer to use a notary’s seal even after they’ve left their role in the organization.
If what CybertronFife is saying about their old employer is true, this document services office has some very big questions to answer to them and presumably the authorities.
