Posted by GOLDGIRL/CA on 7/24/12 12:09pm
Msg #427860

Is someone checking on me?

I occasionally get e-mails like the one posted below. After the last few I got, I started thinking they were a "plant" from the CA SOS office to see if I knew my stuff because they're all along the same line... allegedly from out of country asking me to do something I can't do, i.e. notarize their signature when they're in New Zealand. (Hey, I could refer them to the VA e-cam folks!) In any case, I get more of these loony requests then I do standard GNW. Am I turning into a conspiracy theorist? Of all the hundreds of thousands of notaries in California, why me? Do other people get similar e-mails? In any case, I don't even know the answer to this latest one. I'd have to do all sorts of Hague research:

"Dear Sir/madam, I got my BS and I need a public notary to autheticate it and then have it apostillate athttp://www.sos.ca.gov/contacts.htm. The problem is that I live in Spain and I can not do it myself, and I am looking for someone who can have the degree authenticated and then apostillated and sent back again. I wanted to know if you can do this, and if not if you knew of someone who could do it. Thank you.
Sincerely, Maria So-and-so."

(I never even knew there was such a word as "apostillated." Sounds painful.

Reply by HisHughness on 7/24/12 12:16pm
Msg #427863

She saw your picture, GG, & just wanted the prettiest notary n/m

Reply by SharonMN on 7/24/12 12:33pm
Msg #427871

This sounds like a very simple request. He needs to contact the registrar at the school where he got the BS and ask for a certified copy with apostille. They should be able to comply.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 7/24/12 12:41pm
Msg #427872

Actually, sounds like what she needs is:

1. find out location of school where she got her degree;
2. find notary willing to go to that school;
3. send that notary a letter addressed to school custodian of records requesting authentication of degree;
4. notary notarizes that custodian;
5. authentication then goes to SOS for apostille or certification; and
6. completed documentation gets returned to wherever hiring party indicates.

Did this for someone in New York for documents going to one of the Balkan counties.

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 7/24/12 12:46pm
Msg #427873

I believe that the key word is "BS" You might

however want to put her in touch with my buddy in Nigeria, who keeps sending me
info about the millions of $$ available if I just pretend to be some dead guy's next of kin.

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 7/24/12 12:49pm
Msg #427875

You also might want to check with Hugh about getting

apostillated.
I heard that he used to do that a lot until he became a vegetarian.

Reply by HisHughness on 7/24/12 1:07pm
Msg #427879

Re: You also might want to check with Hugh about getting

***apostillated. I heard that he used to do that a lot until he became a vegetarian.***

Actually, much more since I became a vegetarian; I'm eating a lot more cheese, which tends to make me apostillated.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 7/24/12 1:25pm
Msg #427885

Could be bogus or legit

There are a lot of scams going on with fake degrees. At the same time, imagine trying to navigate a university telephone answering system while calling from a foreign country. It's easy to imagine someone giving up in frustration and being willing to pay someone to go to the university and figure it out in person. If I ever received a request like this, I would bear in mind that the requester supposedly graduated from an American university; if their English skills were sub-par, I would presume it was bogus. And of course visiting a university and figuring out something like this would involve a substantial fee.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 7/24/12 2:14pm
Msg #427899

This is a different situation, but I once got a request from someone in Taiwan who needed a signature of someone local notarized, then verified via apostille. After a good bit of negotiation and back and forth discussion, we had a friend here in the US arrange to pay me in advance and I took care of it for him, including the shipping back and forth to the US SOS. Even after I deducted my expenses, it was the most I ever made for notarizing one signature! [For the record, I actually did only charge the allowed $10 for the notarization, but I was paid handsomely for the rest of the work.]

But you can't be too careful. I just deleted an email purporting to be from someone somewhere in the UK looking for a realtor to help with a home purchase. How they found me, I have no idea (I'm not a RE agent), but my guess is that they're casting a very wide net and that there's a scam waiting to happen behind it somewhere.

Reply by HisHughness on 7/24/12 2:34pm
Msg #427901

Sometimes I get foreign emails looking for an attorney

Generally, I tell them I have given up lawyering and become a male escort, a far more lucrative form of prostitution.

Reply by JimAZ on 7/24/12 4:04pm
Msg #427916

Re: Sometimes I get foreign emails looking for an attorney

You made me laugh Hugh. Thanks

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 7/24/12 4:27pm
Msg #427921

What's the diff? n/m

Reply by Stoli on 7/24/12 9:02pm
Msg #427945

Re: What's the diff?

The cut of the underware, of course.

Reply by 101livescan on 7/24/12 11:42pm
Msg #427954

Re: Sometimes I get foreign emails looking for an attorney

The next time I need an an attorney who admits he's a prostitute and APOSTILLATES, I'll be sure to call on you!

Reply by Clem/CA on 7/25/12 12:43am
Msg #427957

Re: Sometimes I get foreign emails looking for an attorney

I APOSTILLATED once. My wife made me sleep on the couch.