Orange Owned Spotlight: Forensic Forgery Detection

“How did a degree in General Science with minors in Home Economics and Secondary Education and a career in food business management prepare you to become a forensic document examination/handwriting expert?” 

It’s a question Anne “Sam” Smith (’71) been asked in the courtroom and has a very simple answer: vision.

Successful business owners anticipate future markets’ needs and devise and implement plans to meet those needs.

Affluent Baby Boomers hold more than half of US wealth, and tens of thousands of them turn 65 every day. Knowing these statistics led Smith to anticipate the increased demand for document examination and handwriting identification services regarding forged signatures on wills and related estate documents.

So, after a successful 30-year career in food business management, she embarked on a new venture and became a court-qualified Forensic Document Examiner.

Smith was pleased to learn the Cornelia Pearson Campbell House is now the Office of Alumni Engagement. When she attended Campbell, it was known as the “Home Ec House” where Home Economics majors spent nine weeks running the house. She recalls, “For one week, each of us was responsible for either planning and cooking breakfast and dinner and a VIP dinner party or keeping the house clean or laundering all household linens or completing one home improvement project or planning a social activity for the group. Not only did we manage the house, we still attended classes and labs and, of course, we made time for our personal social lives.”

Smith feels time spent at the “Home Ec House” and in Secondary Education classes helped prepare her how to “plan your work and work your plan.”  Her major in General Sciences prepared her to apply the scientific method in her forensic document examination cases.

Since completing a two-year apprenticeship/mentor forensic document examination training course in 2006, Smith has amassed more than 525+ hours of continuing education in forensic document examination and handwriting and signature identification techniques. Included are specialized Photoshop techniques to examine and compare digital image signatures (JPGs/Tiffs) in alleged forged signature cases. Other Photoshop techniques are used to assess digital document images (PDF) to opine whether or not sections of documents and/or signatures have been digitally manipulated. Having held the title Spreadsheet Queen among her peers, Smith frequently employs spreadsheets to analyze patterns found among large batches of questioned checks. Thus, the tag lines Smith uses are: “Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.” from “Pretty Boy Floyd” by Woodie Guthrie” (used with permission, of course) and “However, document examiners are also trained to detect fraudulent documents involving more than just handwriting.”

When she began her forensic document examination career, Smith’s biggest challenge was learning how to market her services in order to make the phone ring and which all-important keywords to use within her website. Years ago, she also learned the marketing strategy of always giving “everyone you meet” three business cards.

The power of networking with other Orange Owned businesses and exhibiting at legal conferences, like the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (VAELA) are ways to help her continue to grow her business.

By providing clients with comprehensive scientific-based examinations and delivering well written, detailed, illustrated opinion reports, she has built a network which has paid off. She credits the Secondary Education program at Campbell for teaching her skills to design and use visual aids and in her direct mail campaigns. Smith says, “’A picture is worth a thousand words’ when illustrating significantly similar or significantly different handwriting characteristics in a report and when using PowerPoint presentations in court.” In this blog are some illustrations from brochures Smith designed and uses as handouts at legal conferences and which she mails to attorney-clients.

Smith’s document examination work ethic demonstrates her commitment to her profession. She is a sought-after expert in her field and is available nationwide. Working from her main office and examination facility in Virgilina, VA, she has examined hundreds of thousands of signatures and documents in over 300 cases for attorneys, businesses and individuals in 14 other states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Trinidad. Now, almost 20 years later, most of Smith’s work is repeat business from law firms and word-of-mouth law firm referrals.

She is an active participant in two professional associations: the Scientific Association of Forensic Scientists (SAFE) and the National Association of Document Examiners (NADE). Her food service event planning background prepared her to serve as the 2013 NADE international conference co-chair. Smith is always on the lookout for presenters for her professional international document examination association conferences. She solicited a VAELA co-exhibitor who spoke about “Presidential Signatures-Autopen or Not? and Autographs, Auctions & Answers.” She, too, presents at NADE and SAFE international conferences and currently serves on the NADE journal peer-review editorial committee.

Although she never taught in a school, Campbell’s Secondary Education program helped Smith teach/train others throughout both her careers. She mentors less experienced forensic document examiners and views it as some of her most important work. She finds this career so intriguing that she has no plans to retire any time soon.

So, how did a degree in General Science with minors in Home Economics and Secondary Education and a career in food business management prepare her to become a forensic document examination/handwriting expert?

Smith answers, “Recipes and signatures have much in common. If anyone has accidentally put one cup of salt instead of one cup of sugar into a cake batter, the cake doesn’t ‘look right’. That’s because the proportions are wrong. Proportions are only one element analyzed in order for me to opine if a signature is genuine or not.”

Although Smith loved her career in food business management, she became equally fascinated with the field of forensic document examination and handwriting identification. She has had the unique opportunity to pursue two distinct careers and find success in both. Her willingness to learn continues to provide many opportunities to expand her horizons and continues to lead her down a road with many distinctive experiences. Who knows? Maybe a career as an author of a forensic document examiner mystery book series leading to movie deals is next. And of course the mysteries would include handwritten recipes and scenes would take place where food is prepared and served…maybe even a university cafeteria!

Anne Smith owns Forensic Forgery Detection, a registered Orange Owned business. Orange Owned connects Campbell alumni with businesses owned and operated by fellow alumni. Visit our web page to learn more about Orange Owned, find local businesses near you, or register your business.

Detecting Fraudulent or Genuine Signatures on Questioned Documents

Transmitted light technique was used to discover two different fiber pens which were used to trace over traced signature marks.

Multiple pen lifts.

Questioned signature copy/pasted composite from two other signatures.

Individual letter comparisons.

Indented writing.

Detecting Fraudulent Documents May Involve More Than Just Handwriting

Font comparisons.

Page substitution: microscopy fluorescence.

Page substitution: different staple hole patterns.

Altered numeric dollar amount.

Ballpoint pen ink (left) and gel pen ink (right).

Pattern analyses using spreadsheets.

Onscreen protractor measures and compares angles.

Anne Smith, FDE has permission to use actual case examples above.