Is there any danger of my neighbor having my wife's signature?

Question

On Monday my next door neighbor came over and asked my wife for her signature. He said they were having a contest at work (he works at the local grocery store) that whoever got the most signatures got a $200 gift certificate. I would have thought nothing of it. He is in his late 50s/early 60s, we have lived next to him for 5 years and always been friendly. What stuck out to her was that the signature was in a plain notebook with no letterhead. After thinking about it I called the store and spoke with a manager. The manager said they would never do something like that. I spoke with him this morning and he told me the same thing he told my wife, but if I was worried he would get the paper back from his manager.

I don't think he is telling the truth, but don't want to start a big fight with my neighbor over something that could be innocent. Is there anything he can do with her signature?

Edit: I wanted to add for anyone following that I spoke with the store manager at lunch and he said under no circumstance would they do something like this. He would really like the name of the employee. I told him I would like to talk to my neighbor one more time first.

Answer 1

He COULD use the signature to forge her name on a check or a contract. Of course that would be wildly illegal. Just because she gave him the signature voluntarily (under false pretenses) doesn't mean he's authorized to sign anything in her name.

At a minimum, you should watch your bank statements and get copies of your credit report for the next few months. If checks show up on your statement that she never wrote, or if new loans show up on your credit report that you never applied for, I'd promptly get in touch with the bank and the police, and your neighbor would be a prime suspect.

It's possible that the neighbor is telling the absolute truth and you spoke to a manager who didn't happen to know anything about this contest. It's possible that the neighbor is planning a scam of one sort or another. It's possible that he has a signature fetish or something. Without knowing your neighbor, it's impossible to say.

Personally, from what you've said I wouldn't be calling the police or lawyers or anything over this at this point. It MIGHT be a scam, but it could be legitimate or something silly.

If it is a scam, it's a pretty lame one, because by asking for the signature, he made himself a prime suspect. If you do see your money disappearing somewhere, he'll be the first name you give to the police, they'll presumably investigate, and unless he was a lot more clever about hiding the money than he was about getting the signature, they'll quickly find it. Example: if $20,000 suddenly goes missing from your bank account , and the next day he pulls into the driveway in a new car, that is awfully suspicious.

Answer 2

Lots of places have your wife's signature already. She signs greeting cards, letters, receipts, contracts, and all sorts of forms. Her signature is already out in the world. What makes this suspicious is that it's a signature with no apparent reason and an odd stated reason.

Given your comment that you live in a suburban area with an unsecured mailbox, my concern would be that your neighbor would be rifling through your mail and then copying the signature to cash checks. In the US at this time of year, I'd be specifically concerned about tax refund checks.

A more extreme, but unlikely, risk could also be some sort of contract forgery.

Comments on other answers have pointed out that these cases are all pretty weak hypothetical issues since signatures are no longer really verified against a master signature card. Further checks being cashed require an ID, so unless your older, male neighbor has a good dress-up set and a forged ID these risks seem even less probable.

I would follow up on this and just ask your neighbor how his work contest is going. Gauge his response.

Answer 3

Highly related to this question

I'd post this on the LegalSE, too.

As others have suggested, your wife's signature is already out in the world. The fact that this person in particular also has it wouldn't make me any more afraid of possible forgery of her signature than normal. I would, however, be worried about her own signature being placed on a blank document.

It's seen on other stacks (workplace and legal most commonly) where people are asked to sign blank documents or documents with blank fields. The biggest risk in this case is that someone with her signature on that piece of paper can fill in the blanks however they desire and pretend as though she agreed to it (she signed it, after all).

Ask if you can add your name to the list... see how he reacts. If all he has is still just her name on a blank sheet I'd ask him to destroy the paper or call a lawyer.

Answer 4

It is likely that the neighbor did this for fraudulent purposes. So what can you do about it?

Assuming this is the US, you will need to carefully monitor your bank and credit. This person could attempt to use this signature to either open new accounts, or withdraw from existing ones. All that does not matter, if your wife did not actually sign, then it is still fraud. Use the existing tactics if something occurs:

1. Report to the company that there is fraud on the account and take their recommended actions.
2. File a police report.
3. Provide that report to the company.
4. In the unlikely event that the police follow up, press charges.

If so inclined you could call your local non-emergency police line and file a report. You can also go talk to your neighbor, but be non-confrontational. Simply ask why he did that, and that you know it was not true about the contest. See what he has to say.

Edit: Freiheit brings up an excellent point in the comments. If someone sends you a check, this neighbor could then intercept the mailed check and deposit into his own account. You may want to make sure none of your loved ones sent you such a check.