3 ms·

I work in a very bureocratic work and for some years I needed to sign a lot of papers each day. Actually all these was prepared by an assistant but need to had

I work in a very bureocratic work and for some years I needed to sign a lot of papers each day. Actually all these was prepared by an assistant but need to had my signature because of the position I had. To solve this I had made a stamp with my name and signature. I had visited a shop that sells stamps, put my signature on a paper and after some days they presented me a wooden stamp with a perfect copy of my signature on it. So when the papers needed signing I gave it to my assistant and she just stamped my sign to all the needed papers! Of course that means that she could also sign other things as myself but I trusted her and was careful to sometimes glimpse at the papers that were signed (they all had the same template). I have to confess though that it was really crazy how easy it was to copy my signature and have a way to sign every kind of paper. I presume that if some signature of me was in a non proper place I could complain and a specialist would recognise it...

londons_explore 6y ago
Signatures are not really anti-forgery proof as most people expect... Instead they are protected by law. If you sign something claiming to be someone else, you have broken the law. That's why credit cards required a signature for a long time, yet nobody ever checked the signatures on the receipt vs the card. It isn't hard to fake someone else's signature, but doing so is a crime. Using someone else's card without a signature would just be a breach of the T&C's, but not a crime.
- blattimwind 6y ago
  > Using someone else's card without a signature would just be a breach of the T&C's, but not a crime. Even without forging a signature, it would still constitute theft or fraud, no?
  - londons_explore 6y ago
    With the other persons permission, I wouldn't think it would be theft or fraud.
    - blattimwind 6y ago
      Okay, but in that case you're not breaking the law if you sign in their name -- at least in some countries. So it'd be probably back to "just a ToS violation".
  - voxic11 6y ago
    If you had their permission then no it wouldn't be a crime.
- kevincox 6y ago
  But if someone had signed the card and you signed your own name on the receipt then you didn't commit fraud right? It is this system assuming that the receipt signature was checked against the card?
- baddox 6y ago
  You’d think the law could just say that you can’t pretend (via any mechanism, a signature or otherwise) to be someone else in order to receive some material gain.
  - tialaramex 6y ago
    In the UK at least that is indeed a crime and I assume it's in one of the model criminal codes in the US. "Theft by deception" - basically you need to show intent to deceive and thereby permanently deprive someone of something of value. So "Lied about going to the same high school, she gave me her number" doesn't cut it, but "Showed my brother's ID to the dealer, drove away with a car" is definitely a crime.
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    It does already say that; that would come under the heading of "fraud".
  - pessimizer 6y ago
    You can do that passively by just not correcting people who assume you're authorized. If you require a clear cut act of deception in order to complete a fraud, such as signing someone else's name, it becomes very easy to prosecute.
thatha7777 6y ago
I was reading this, and I was like, wow that really sounds like a Greek gov't job, and . . . then I see your name. Geia sou re patrioti :P
- spapas82 6y ago
  Lol etsi akrivws einai :)

londons_explore 6y ago

Signatures are not really anti-forgery proof as most people expect... Instead they are protected by law. If you sign something claiming to be someone else, you have broken the law. That's why credit cards required a signature for a long time, yet nobody ever checked the signatures on the receipt vs the card. It isn't hard to fake someone else's signature, but doing so is a crime. Using someone else's card without a signature would just be a breach of the T&C's, but not a crime.

blattimwind 6y ago
> Using someone else's card without a signature would just be a breach of the T&C's, but not a crime. Even without forging a signature, it would still constitute theft or fraud, no?
- londons_explore 6y ago
  With the other persons permission, I wouldn't think it would be theft or fraud.
  - blattimwind 6y ago
    Okay, but in that case you're not breaking the law if you sign in their name -- at least in some countries. So it'd be probably back to "just a ToS violation".
- voxic11 6y ago
  If you had their permission then no it wouldn't be a crime.
kevincox 6y ago
But if someone had signed the card and you signed your own name on the receipt then you didn't commit fraud right? It is this system assuming that the receipt signature was checked against the card?
baddox 6y ago
You’d think the law could just say that you can’t pretend (via any mechanism, a signature or otherwise) to be someone else in order to receive some material gain.
- tialaramex 6y ago
  In the UK at least that is indeed a crime and I assume it's in one of the model criminal codes in the US. "Theft by deception" - basically you need to show intent to deceive and thereby permanently deprive someone of something of value. So "Lied about going to the same high school, she gave me her number" doesn't cut it, but "Showed my brother's ID to the dealer, drove away with a car" is definitely a crime.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  It does already say that; that would come under the heading of "fraud".
- pessimizer 6y ago
  You can do that passively by just not correcting people who assume you're authorized. If you require a clear cut act of deception in order to complete a fraud, such as signing someone else's name, it becomes very easy to prosecute.

thatha7777 6y ago

I was reading this, and I was like, wow that really sounds like a Greek gov't job, and . . . then I see your name. Geia sou re patrioti :P

spapas82 6y ago
Lol etsi akrivws einai :)