Transcript Chapter 16 – Document and Handwriting Analysis

Chapter 15 – Document and
Handwriting Analysis
Document – Any fixed method of
communication between one
individual and another.
Questioned Document –
Any object that contains
handwritten or
typewritten markings
whose source or
authenticity is in doubt.
Example: letters, checks,
driver’s license,
contracts, wills, voter
registration, passports,
lottery tickets
Exemplar: (specimen) a
known sample that is
used for comparison.
• Experts say no two people write exactly
the same.
• Fact: Writing habits may be altered
beyond recognition by the influence of
drugs or alcohol.
Factors that can affect handwriting
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Health – various disorders, arthritis,
stroke, Parkinson's, tremors.
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Age – Senility
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Alcohol – drugs
Chapter 16 – Document and
Handwriting Analysis
Class characteristics –
features that are typical of a group.
The more different class characteristics
there are within the subject of attention,
the more the size of the group can be
reduced until, and ultimately, it is a
group of one. It is then unique or
individual evidence.
Individual characteristics – qualities that
cause the subject to be unique.
In cursive
• The quick red fox jumps over the lazy
brown dog.
Handwriting and hand printing
examine 12 characteristics.
• Line quality – lines smooth, free-flowing or
shaky, nervous
• Spacing of words and letters – is spacing
consistent with questioned and known
documents?
Ratio of relative height,
width, and size of
letters – is overall
height, width and size
of letters in known
and questioned
documents
consistent?
Pen lifts and separations
– forgeries may have
lifts or separations in
unusual places.
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Connecting strokes – compare how all
letters are connected
Beginning and ending strokes – compare
how the writer begins and ends a word,
number or letter.
Unusual letter formation –
Look for unusual
letter formation
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Shading or pen pressure – check for
pressure on the downward and upward
strokes.
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Slant – slant to the left or right, or straight
up and down? Most conspicuous feature
of handwriting.
Baseline habits – does writing follow
straight horizontal line or move
downward or upward? Below or above
the baseline?
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Flourishes or embellishments – any
fancy letters, curls, loops ect?
Placement of diacritics – check the
crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s, j’s.
Forgery – an item prepared with the intent to
deceive or defraud. It can be an autograph, a
book, a painting, a baseball card, almost
anything.
Types of Forgery:
• Blind forgery –
one made without a
model of the signature
or writing being forged.
Simulated forgery – one
made by copying a
genuine signature.
• Traced forgery – one
made by tracing a
genuine signature.
Backhand writing – writing in which the slant
of the letters is to the left of vertical.
Indented writing – impressions left under
paper that has been written on.
Obliterate – to remove writing. (through
chemical means) Seldom used.
Erasure – involves actual removal of writing
from a document through mechanical.
Most common way to alter a document.
Example: pencil eraser, sandpaper, razor
blade or knife.
Charred Document – any document that has
become darkened and brittle through fire
or heat.
Holographic – entirely
handwritten document
To id Paper, forensic scientist may look at these
characteristics:
• Material paper is made from
• Color
• Density
• Watermark – a design
incorporated into the
paper during
manufacturing.
• Dyes or bleaches
• Fluorescence under
UV light
• Thickness
Types of check fraud
Forgery – when an employee issues a check
without proper authorization.
Counterfeiting and alteration
• Counterfeiting - duplicating a check with
advanced color photocopiers.
• Alteration – using chemicals and solvents
to remove or modify handwriting and
information on the check.
• Paperhanging – writing
checks on closed
accounts (their own or
others) or reordering
checks on closed
accounts.
• Check Kiting – opening
accounts at two or more
institutions and using “the
float time” of available
funds to create fraudulent
balances.
Cybercrime – criminal activity committed on
the internet. Includes: hacking, viruses,
web jacking, worm, pharming, piracy.
Terms for cybercrime
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Piracy – downloading to copy and sell
material protected by copyright.
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Cyber terrorism – use of computers for
communications, propaganda all by
terrorist groups.
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Extortion/harassment – denial of
service, spam, stalking
• Web jacking – when a hacker
gains access to and control over
the website of another user.
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Hacking – unauthorized access
to computer systems or networks.
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Malware – software designed
to infiltrate or damage a computer
system without the owner’s
consent.
• Computer forensics – the application of
specialized investigative and analytical
techniques to identify, collect, examine,
and preserve data from computer systems
or networks so that it may serve as
evidence in a court of law.
Stats
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Stolen or forged
credit cards are the top
sale in underground
services
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With bank accounts
coming in second.