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Handwriting Analysis25 hoaxes that had us fooled Hitler Diaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3oDHem9lrs

Dreyfus Affair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDKQipKFT0k

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CLASS OR INDIVIDUAL EVIDENCE?

CLASS EVIDENCE

INDIVIDUAL EVIDENCE

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What can we analyze in a document and how?

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What influences our handwriting?

• Sex?• Age?• Gender?• Religion?• Personality?• Background?• Mood?• Fatigue?

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12 MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS

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7Forgery

Forgery:

Blind Forgery:

Simulated Forgery:

Traced Forgery:

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• Forged documents include:• checks• employment records • legal agreements• licenses• wills

• Fraudulence—___________• Cheque forgery can include:

• ordering another’s cheque’s from a deposit slip • altering a cheque• intercepting another’s cheque, altering, and cashing it• creating a cheque from scratch

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Analyze Signatures Using Letter Angle Plate

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Obliterating Handwriting

• Obliterate: to remove writing• Chlorine or sodium hypochlorite can make ink

colourless• UV light, Infrared light, and microscopes can be used

to reveal alterations.• Indented impressions can be left on the paper beneath• DO NOT rub with pencil but use oblique light• Indentations also increase a paper’s capacity to hold an

electrostatic charge. • Electrostatic detection apparatus (ESDA) is used• Pour toner powder over charged sheet of plastic

covering the paper which creates an image which is then photocopied.

• Iodine crystals can be used too

11Technologies

• Biometric Signature Pads • “Learns” to recognize how a person signs• Evaluates speed, pressure, and rhythm of

the signature • Recognizes forgeries by the detection of

even slight differences

• Computerized Analysis• Compares handwriting samples objectively• Compared with samples stored in databases

12Authentication

• Evidence in the Courtroom

• Shortcomings in Analysis

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Avoiding Forged Cheques

• Chemically sensitive paper• Large font size requires more ink and makes alterations

more difficult• High resolution borders that are difficult to copy• Multiple color patterns• Embed fibers that glow under different light• Use chemical wash detection systems that change color

when a cheque is altered

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Making Something That its NOt

• Best forgeries aim to duplicate the materials found in the original: • old paper• chemically treated materials to fake an older look • inks mixed from substances that would have been used at

the time • watermarks that add the appearance of age • tools and styles that would have been popular at the time