CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Kannapolis notary said a con man copied her signature and stamp and is using them to trick people out of money across the country.
FBI aware
The FBI said it is aware of the case. It won't say whether it's formally investigating, which is standard this early on. But, either way, the notary wants to warn consumers.
Notary: Forgery "obvious"
Vanessa House said the scammer went by the name Robert Kramer.
Apparently, he met her in person in the Charlotte area and asked her to notarize some real estate papers, which is common enough.
"I applied my notary stamp, signed it, and that was it," she said.
But she said, about four months later, a Florida man called her and said Kramer sold him property, there was a problem with the deed, and her signature and stamp were all over it.
"It's obvious that my stamp had been copied and pasted and my signature forged," she said.
Then, three months after that, a California woman contacted her, also with a problem involving a real estate deal, also with House's signature and stamp, and also involving Robert Kramer.
That person emailed House, saying he conned her out of roughly $1,300 on property in Detroit, and she wanted House to be aware "he is using you to further execute his fraud."
No response
Action 9 called the number House had for Kramer, a Charleston number, but the person who answered said she'd never heard of him.
Action 9 also emailed the company Kramer said he worked for-- South Florida Sales.
It was a "Gmail" address-- strange for a business-- and Action 9 hadn't heard back as of Monday.
House assumes he's still out there and wants you to know, so you don't fall victim.
"Unfortunately, it's probably happening right now as far as we know," she said.
Advice
Charlotte lawyer Chris Gelwicks said, "If you are buying property, your title insurance may protect you in the event of a forged notarization, especially if the problem surfaces when you go to sell the property.
Notary irregularities are not generally significant but they can point to forged signatures of the parties to the transaction.
Customers should always make sure to sign the documents in the presence of the notary and observe the notary sign and affix the stamp to the documents.
If customers have any questions about authenticity, they should request that the notary produce a notary certification which would be issued by the county where the notary took their oath."